Resources

Web Sources:

Colonial Williamsburg: 18th Century—History Explorer: http://www.history.org/Almanack/almanack.cfm

This site provides links to information about life in the Colonies. The links lead to information about colonial people, historic places, everyday life in the colonies—including clothing and tools, and a timeline.  Information at this site will provide the student journalist with incite into daily life in the colonies and famous people for possible “human interest” stories.  The description of tools might help in planning an advertisement of a product.

Liberty: The American Revolution: Follow the links at this site that are listed below: http://www.pbs.org/liberty
    Chronicle of the Revolution: Read all about it! These newspaper Chronicles let you experience first-hand the excitement and uncertainty of the American Revolution as it happened. Click on a city to read about the riveting historical headlines that shaped the war and America.
     Perspectives on Liberty: Get to know the people and times of the American Revolution by clicking on the activities listed as 1). Daily Life in the Colonies 2). The Global Village 3). Military Perspectives
     The Road to Revolutionary:This site is sponsored by PBS (Public Broadcast System). Through a series of questions and answers, information regarding historical events of the Revolutionary War period comes to light.  Students will learn about specific events and important people of that time as they move from question to question.  Even if they give an incorrect answer to a question, they will be led to correct information and, thus, learn more historical facts.

The American Revolution: http://www.mce.k12tn.net/revolutionary_war/american_revolution.htm

Once you discover how to stop the continual playing of “Yankee Doodle” at this site, the links to lessons provide very short yet accurate information about Revolutionary events and famous people.  Student journalist will be able to incorporate information found at this site into many create stories or “news” accounts.

Revolutionary War Biographies:   http://www.42explore2.com/revolt3.htm

This site provides links to extensive biographies of many well-known and lesser-known people from the Revolutionary War era. The student journalists can use this site for information to write interviews or as background for other newspaper articles reflecting the Revolutionary period.

The American Revolution:
 http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/KSD/DE/research/revolution/index.html

This site offers everything from thought-provoking questions related to the Revolutionary War to a general Revolutionary War links. There are also links to Revolutionary War information about documents, maps, timelines, songs, and flags as well as many sites with biographical information. This site also offers quizzes and puzzles to help promote student learning.

America's Freedom Documents:
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/

This site provides the "Freedom Documents" from Early America — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  They are shown as they first appeared to the public at that time, along with the full text of each document.

Graphics/Clipart:

Historical Fiction (print book) Suggestions:

This is a non-fiction book that discusses the causes, events, campaigns, personalities, and aftermath of the American revolutionary war.

When fourth grader John and his sister Lisa move into an old house in Princeton, New Jersey, they find it haunted by the ghost of a Hessian soldier from the Revolutionary War and try to reunite him with the ghost of his beloved horse.

The outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775 brings drastic changes to Felicity's life in Williamsburg, affecting both her family and her friendship with Elizabeth.

This book examines how the once strong colony-mother-country relationship between America and Britain began to sour through the 1760s and 1770s, planting the roots for the once unthinkable idea of revolution.

 

A chance encounter with General George Washington in upstate New York during the Revolutionary War leads a young woman to volunteer for a dangerous mission involving the retrieval of valuable papers.

At the dawn of the Revolutionary War, Samantha Byrd must decide whether or not to seek revenge and join the troops in fighting.

In 1774 Williamsburg, Virginia, Felicity helps the irritable Mrs. Burnie do laundry and learns a secret that seems to explain her behavior. Includes notes on the history of eyeglasses and instructions for making a pair of lorgnettes, glass lenses attached to elegant handles.

 (Reading Level: 5.4)

Shortly before the Revolutionary War, nine-year-old Felicity, who lives in Williamsburg, is torn between supporting the tariff-induced tea boycott and saving her friendship with Elizabeth, a young loyalist from England.

During a visit to her grandfather's plantation in Virginia during the summer of 1775, Felicity's loyalty is torn between her father and Ben, her father's apprentice who needs her help as he runs away to join George Washington's army of Patriots.

Christmas in Williamsburg means a dancing party at the Governor's Palace for Felicity, but her mother becomes very ill and cannot finish the special blue gown.

All winter Felicity has waited to go to the Williamsburg town fair, but her foolhardy actions in trying to feed the racehorses spoils the fun and teaches her a lesson.

In her diary, a young girl writes about her life and the events surrounding the beginning of the American Revolution in Philadelphia in 1776.

For almost nine-year-old Hannah Perley of Fairfield, Connecticut, growing up means facing new challenges, both great and small--from saving the life of a baby lamb to helping the family prepare to send her brother Ben to join the colonial soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.

In 1779 in Fairfield, Connecticut, Hannah and her family try to maintain a sense of normalcy as the Revolutionary War rages around them, threatening to destroy their way of life.

As her tenth birthday approaches, Felicity is excited by her grandfather's visit, but she is also concerned about the growing tensions between the colonists and the British governor in Williamsburg.

During the Revolutionary War, thirteen-year-old Hope, seized by the band of Tories who attack her Connecticut home, finds herself enslaved in a Tory household on Long Island and uses all her resources to escape from her captors and make her way home.

In Williamsburg in 1775, as events threaten to plunge the colonies into war with Britain, eleven-year-old John feels caught between the revolutionary sentiments of his older brother and his father's insistence on a more temperate and patient course of action.

A young boy encounters many historical figures as he works as a horse boy for the local newspaper.

William, a twelve-year-old orphan, writes of his experiences in pre-Revolutionary War Boston where he joins the cause of the patriots who are opposed to the British rule.

Left in charge of the family when his father leaves their South Carolina home to fight in the Revolutionary War, thirteen year-old Joey Kershaw finds all his resources tested when General Cornwallis comes to town and chooses the Kershaw house as his headquarters.

Fourteen-year-old Frank leaves his mountain home in South Carolina to help the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War.

During the Revolutionary War, ten-year-old Joanne Clarke, living in a log cabin in the Mohawk Valley, delivers an important message to General Philip Schuyler at Albany after being kidnapped and abandoned by an Indian.

Mary Geddy, a ten-year-old girl in Williamsburg in 1776, is excited about the colony of Virginia's vote for independence, but sad that her best friend, whose father is loyal to the crown, will be moving back to England, and worried that the vote will mean her father must fight in a war.

Megan travels through the magic mirror to a masquerade ball during the Revolutionary War where she promises to help a girl who is desperate to get a message to Thomas Jefferson.

In Williamsburg in 1774, nine-year-old Felicity rescues a beautiful horse who is being beaten and starved by her cruel owner.

In the winter of 1781, with the Revolutionary War closing in on Williamsburg, eleven-year-old Thomas Hutchinson must decide how to handle his own battles with bullies at school and worries about the Loyalist sympathies of his best friend's family.

Ten-year-old Thomas Hutchinson struggles with his rebellious nature in the face of a stern father while also experiencing the rising tensions caused by the Revolutionary War.

Using their magic tree house, Jack and Annie travel back to the time of the American Revolution and help General George Washington during his famous crossing of the Delaware River.

When unrest spreads at the Revolutionary War camp in Morristown, New Jersey, under the command of General Anthony Wayne, a young woman cleverly hides her horse from the mutinous soldiers who have need of it.

The adventures of twelve-year-old Sarah, who has come from Kentucky to Williamsburg for schooling, only to become embroiled with Revolutionary War spies.

In the early years of the Revolutionary War, eleven-year-old Thomas and his family escape a bloody massacre at Wyoming Valley and endure innumerable hardships as they try to make their way to Philadelphia.

Sequel to: Thomas. Having lost their home when the Revolutionary War reached their part of rural Pennsylvania, Thomas and his family start a new life running an inn in Philadelphia, where Thomas finds new danger that takes him into captivity among the Iroquois.

During the Revolutionary War, a ten-year-old girl crosses enemy lines to deliver a loaf of bread containing a message for the patriots.

A free thirteen-year-old black girl in Connecticut is caught up in the horror of the Revolutionary War and the danger of being returned to slavery when her patriot father is killed by the British and her mother disappears.

Eleven-year-old Abigail presents a diary account of life in Valley Forge from December 1777 to July 1778 as General Washington prepares his troops to fight the British.  

In her diary, ten-year-old Hope writes about her life as a patriot in 1777 Philadelphia, as the Redcoats try to take over her city and defeat the Continental Army. Includes historical notes.