Starting the Revolution

In Social Studies, we have been studying the causes of the American Revolution, and what led up to the colonists finally throwing up their hands.

I've been going through the book, and various other resources, and taking notes on what I think the kids need to know- and what's appropriate for their age.

I started by doing a colonial tax simulation (more info found here). They were a little bummed about it at first, but most of them were okay with me taxing them (until earlier this week, but that's something different! ;)

I've been using my SMART Board to help teach about the causes, and things leading up to the revolution. They've been using their notebooks to take notes on the important information (which I emphasize greatly).

We started with the French and Indian War. Fortunately, most of the notes where on the SMART Board file, so the kids just had to copy from the board.

Next, we talked about some of the taxes that resulted from Britain needing money from fighting the French and Indian War.

This one was strictly a 'lecture' (although I did have some files to pull up).

 I had prewritten the notes and left some blanks. I copied my notes (and shrunk them a bit so they would fit in the notebook) for my LD kids. That way, they could focus on the important information without having to worry about coping down what I was saying.

Then, I was writing out my notes for the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Intolerable Acts and the 1st Continental Congress.

I took a look at the amount of information that I wanted them to have and got a little scared. My writing barely fit on one page...how was their's going to? What if they missed something?

Lightbulb!

I used my information and created fill-in the blank foldables!

This way, they get all the information I want them to, focusing on the important info to copy down, and it's nice and neat!

We did add some notes in between the foldables (random stuff they needed to know but didn't fit anywhere)

Closer Looks:

They were really excited about it!

Back to the taxation simulation-I've been slowly increasing the amount of taxes they get. Some of the kids became Patriots right away, while others were Loyalists (to Queen M-the ruler of all the land :).

Yesterday, I really increased their taxes-they had to pay every time they left and entered the room. (I called it Intolerable Acts ;)

Some of the kids who were on my side decided that what I was doing wasn't fair-and they switched sides!

We had some awesome discussions about how the colonists felt like this, and that is why they finally felt compelled to take action.

Next up: Paul Revere's Ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord! I'm loving teaching about the Revolution...what's your favorite topic?

In other news-my 1 year blogiversary is coming up! (hard to believe!) Does anyone want to help me with a giveaway? If you do, please email me (or leave a comment) by Friday, May 24th. Thanks in advance!

Today's Outfit

Sweater & Tank: Target
Shirt: Maurices
Jeans: JCP
Shoes: Payless




Happy Friday!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn