Sydney Sniezek

Patriots vs. Loyalists

I. Title: Patriots vs. Loyalists

Date: --
Standards:
1. 8.1.4.B: Distinguish between fact and opinion from multiple points of view, and primary
sources as related to historical events.
2. 8.3.4.D: Distinguish between conflict and cooperation among groups and organization that
impacted the history and development of the United States
 Ethnicity and Race
 Working Conditions
 Immigration
 Military Conflict
 Economic Stability
II. Objective
1. Students will receive a personal whiteboard, dry-erase marker, and whiteboard eraser and
will either agree or disagree with prompts about the American Revolution to test how much
prior knowledge they have about the topic.
2. Using an EdPuzzle video as well as the text material, students will discuss both sides of
the Patriots and Loyalists argument in numbered heads together groups, then return to their
neighbor and explain it to their neighbor.
3. In small groups, students will use a Debate Team Carousel worksheet to debate the two
sides of the argument to understand both sides.
III. Materials
 Personal whiteboards for each student
 Dry-erase markers for each student
 Whiteboard erasers for each student
 Debate Team Carousel worksheet for each student
 Writing utensil for each student
IV. Procedure:
Before (Whiteboard Holdup) (10 minutes)
1. Each student will receive a personal whiteboard, dry-erase marker, and whiteboard eraser.
The teacher will ask the entire class agree or disagree questions about the American
Revolution based on what they have learned in the past lessons of the unit.
2. Teacher will read these prompts (in order) to the students, and they must respond with
either agree or disagree on their whiteboards.
 The American Revolution began because of high taxes. Agree or disagree?
 The American’s who wanted freedom believed that they had no rights under the British
crown. Agree or disagree?
 Before the war began, the British treated the Americans well. Agree or disagree.
3. Once each prompt is answered, the students will raise their whiteboards and we will discuss
up to three student’s opinions on the topic of discussion. Each student who share their
opinion must support their stance.
 4. After completing all the prompts, the students will return the materials used for this
activity. The students will return to their seats.
During (Numbered Heads Together and Explain it to your Neighbor (30 minutes)
1. Once the students are seated, the teacher will project on the front board/screen an EdPuzzle
video that will be viewed as a class. There are discussion questions embedded within the
video that will be discussed as a class while viewing the video.
 https://edpuzzle.com/media/58f284414c757034f270a651
2. After finishing the video, the teacher will have the students count themselves off by fours.
Ones will be a group; twos will be a group and so on. The students will put their numbered
heads together with their groups to read the text material togeter and the teacher will
assign odds to discuss the Patriot side and evens will discuss the Loyalist side. The students
will receive 15 minutes to discuss with the group the two sides of the argument.
3. After 15 minutes, the students will return to their seats. Once in their seats, students must
explain to their neighbor what they discussed in their larger groups and teach that side of
the argument to them. They will receive 10 minutes for this discussion.
After (Debate Team Carousel) (10 minutes)
1. After the students finish their discussion with their neighbor, they will be counted off by
fours once more, but this time each group of four is a group. This way, students who
discussed both sides of the topic will be in a group.
2. Each student will receive a Debate Team Carousel worksheet. The prompt of the debate
will be: Should the Americans have fought for Independence?
3. Each student will fill out the first box—“Give your opinion”—which will be based on the
prior discussion with their groups. Once finished filling out the first box, students will then
pass the paper to their right. The second student must then fill out the second box on their
neighbor’s worksheet. This will continue until all the boxes are complete. The fourth box
must be filled in based on their opinion, not what was discussed in the Numbered Heads
Together activity.

Total: Approximately 50 minutes

V. Reflection