Revolutionary War-Poems

Eli Schoeman, 5
th
Grade

Standards:
Social Studies: The American Revolution (1770s- 1780s)
o 1. Choices have consequences.
o 5. Relationships between people, place, idea, and environments are
dynamic.
MU:Cr2.1.3a Demonstrate selected musical ideas for a simple improvisation
or composition to express intent, and describe connection to a specific
purpose and context.
MU:Cr3.2.3a Present the final version of personal created music to others,
and describe connection to expressive intent.

Objectives:
Given a list of Revolutionary war terms and people, Students will create an 8
line rhythmic poem using at least 4 of the given terms recounting an
historical story of the war.
Using their created poem, students will add at least 4 different types of body
percussion to their poems.
Using their poem and created body percussions, Students will practice their
public speaking skill by performing their pieces to the class.

Materials: Paper, pencils, Revolutionary war terms and people

Background for teacher: This lesson is to go along with instruction on the history
of the revolutionary war. Students should be familiar with key terms and people
involved in the war.

Steps in the lesson:

Introduction/Building Background Knowledge:
Review the revolutionary war
The teacher will have a sample poem already created and will perform it for
the students

Body:
Give students a sheet with terms and people associated with the
Revolutionary War.
o Go over the terms the students have questions on.
Have students work in groups of 4-5 (pair up)
Tell the students the requirements of their poems (also add a visual of the
requirements)
o 8 lines long
o 4 terms or people
o Historically accurate
o Rhythmic
Let students create their poems, help students who may be struggling to
come up with ideas
After all groups are done have them add 4 different types of body percussion
to their poems.
o Repeat the sample poem to give students an idea of what to do
After each group finishes coming up with their body percussions have them
rehearse how they will perform it for the class until all the groups are
finished.

Closure:
After all groups have finished their poems with added body percussion have
Students perform their poems for the class.
o All group members must participate in some way.

Assessment:
Each group of students will be assessed by their composition of a poem that
is 8 lines long, contains 4 terms, and tells a historical story about the civil
war.
Each group of students will be assessed by the addition of at least 4 different
types of body percussion to their poems
Each group of students will be assessed by their performance of their poems.

Adaptations/Extensions (include at least one strategy for differentiation): The
teacher may need to give students who are struggling to come up with ideas about
their poems examples of historic scenarios that the students can create a poem
about.

Rationale: This is lesson is important for my students to learn because it is a great
way to encourage creativity and to review history in a fun way. It also integrates
language arts into the lesson by improving the students writing and poetry skills.

Next Steps/ Connections to Other Subjects: The teacher could use this lesson to
transition into either a poem unit or they could continue on with the history of
America after the revolution.