CULTURAL CHARACTERS - PAUL REVERE

 

Georgia Standards

 

South Carolina Standards

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Materials

• Illustrations/artwork of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride 
• Illustrations/artwork depicting the Acts and events that led to the American Revolution and major battles of the American Revolution
• Paper and pencil

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

*Classroom Tips: This activity works best in an open space with room for students to move.

 

• Project an illustration or artwork portraying the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (example from the Smithsonian Magazine).
• Ask students to work collaboratively to engage in the See, Think, Wonder Artful Thinking Routine. 
• First, students will identify what they see in the image. Emphasize that they should make objective observations about the image. 
• Next, ask students to identify what they think about the image. Emphasize that students should be creating inferences using visual evidence from the image. 
• Finally, ask students what they wonder about the image. 
• Facilitate a class-wide discussion around students’ observations, inferences, and questions.
• Provide context for the image stating that it is depicting the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.

 

 

Work Session

• Discuss Paul Revere, the Midnight Ride, and his place in American history and the road to Revolution. 
• Review the Stamp Act, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Sugar Act and French and Indian War. Show illustrations and paintings related to these events and topics.
• Pass out Paul Revere photo pages.  
• Each page will have an illustration/artwork depicting the Midnight Ride as well as a photo of one of the above mentioned events or acts (Stamp Act, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Sugar Act, French and Indian War).  
• Explain to students that the first/top picture is of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. The second/bottom is of one of the events or acts that were just reviewed.  
• Each of these events or Acts were important in the leading up to the Midnight Ride and revolution.  
• Ask students to write down the following: 
• The name of the event or act under the second/bottom picture 
• How this event or act made the American colonists feel towards the British
• Ask the students to study the first/top image and think about: 
• Where is this place? 
• What season is it? 
• What time of day is it? 
• What sounds and smells would you hear if you were in this picture? (even things you can’t see)
• Ask students to imagine themselves as Paul Revere riding in the Midnight Ride.  
• Instruct the students to place the picture in front of them and take the position that Paul Revere is in on the horse. 
• Then, ask students to close their eyes and take a deep breath of the clean air in this place. Listen to the sounds in the environment. Take another deep breath and smell the aroma. 
• Now, instruct students to open their eyes.  
• One at a time, each student should make a sound that they hear in their environment.  
• Pass out paper and pencils. On the left hand side, ask students to list:  Where – where are you?  When – what time of day and season is it?  Who – who else is in the picture?  What – what are you doing?  How – how do you feel about the event or act pictured at the bottom?  
• Next, instruct students to write down three descriptive phrases about their image. 
• Tell students that instead of writing, “the wind”, they should describe the wind. An example would be ”the blowing wind” or “the fierce cry of an eagle”. 
• Encourage/require students to use adjectives, descriptive and figurative language
• Students should now write six to eight short lines describing this environment and how this place makes them feel. 
• Students should include the date of the ride, the three descriptive phrases, a fact about the event or act in the bottom picture and a title for their poem. Students may also include details such as what thoughts are going through their mind. The lines should be written in first person, e.g., “I am standing”, “It makes me feel”.
• Ask a student to volunteer to come to the front of class and share their work.
• Have the student choose someone to bring to the front of the class to read their work to. 
• Tell students that they are now going to bring the picture to life.  
• Have the student cast their classmates as the three elements from their paragraph. They should announce the element and then choose the person (e.g., the blowing wind). Once a person is chosen, have them come to the front of the class and then show them the picture. Then cast the next element and student, etc. The author will direct the elements, indicating where they will be in the live picture and what sounds they will be making. 
• On calling action, have the author walk up or “ride” as Paul Revere into their environment and take their place in the live tableau then read their work. As they read the lines, the students who have been cast should make their sounds. 
• Finally, the student should show the photo around the room or the teacher should project it on the board.

 

Closing Reflection

• On the back of their papers, students should reflect on the process and how using theatre techniques helped them gain a deeper understanding of the historical event.
• Allow students time to share with the whole class.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ learning by observing students’ responses to class discussion and observing students’ engagement with the photographs through their writing.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST: 

• Students can explain the event or act depicted in their image using descriptive phrases in first person.
• Students can use acting techniques to take on the perspective of Paul Revere.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration: 

• Students can write a monologue from the perspective of Paul Revere as he is on the Midnight Ride.
• Students can write a scene that includes dialogue between Paul Revere and someone he encountered on his ride. 

 

Remediation: 

• Allow students to work with a partner throughout the process.
• Provide a graphic organizer or sentence starters to help students structure their writing.

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

 Ideas contributed by: Susie Spear Purcell

Revised and copyright: June 2024 @ ArtsNOW