Today's Lesson: The Real Paul Revere

Notice that there is no quote today? That's because I could not find an accurate one.  The line that Paul Revere is most famous for, is one that he never said.  The phrase "The British are coming!" was actually said by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem "Paul Revere's Midnight Ride," the link will take you to a copy that can be printed, but I also found an interactive version.  But here is a coloring sheet to add our collection. A short biography, a biography with a short video and some interesting facts that you may not know about Paul Revere.  Then make print out this fun mini activities book.

 Finish up your day Watch episode 5 "Midnight Ride " of Liberty's Kids featuring Paul Revere.

Note: If you have older kids that would like to go more into depth, this link is from an 8th grade history book. http://www.glencoe.com/gln/glencoe_literature/downloads/grade_8.pdf 
Here are some worksheets that are better suited to older kids as well.

Have Fun Learning!

Update on Today's Lessons with Liberty's Kids

Just wanted to let you all know that I am currently updating my "Today's Lesson" post to correlate to "Liberty's Kids" episodes.  Since me and the minion are studying the American Revolution and have been watching "Liberty's Kids"  I noticed that most of the episodes that we have already watched have some of the people that we have already studied (or will be studying).  So I am going back and adding a link to the episode along with the lesson plans and will be adding a link to all new posts.  I hope this helps! You can watch Liberty's Kids for free on YouTube, or if you don't want to be bothered with all the nasty buffering and inappropriate pop up ads you can buy the whole series on DVD.  I paid 7 bucks for mine!

Today's Lesson: John Hancock and the Declaration of Independence

Today I decided to go way back in history and work on more of the founding of this country.  I love history, but I know is can be really, REALLY boring for little ones (and some big ones too) unless you have lots of interesting stories to tell.  This lesson ties in with the Samuel Adams one I did last week. 

"There, I guess King George will be able to read that without his spectacles!" -John Hancock
Here is the coloring sheet that we used, and here is worksheet the kids can use to make their own John Hancock trading card. (I plan on keeping the full sheet and having the kids make a founding fathers book.)
This quote led me to teach the kids about the Declaration of Independence.  Sonshine is working on this more advanced lesson for high school level kids. This one is just right for younger kids like Teenie, and she will also be making her own book. 
If you have time check out funwithhistory.com, it has some really cool interactive activities like this one about the Boston Tea Party.  My kids love watching videos and I was so happy when I found a couple of Schoolhouse Rock videos on YouTube, The Shot Heard Around the World, and No More Kings.  There is also a bunch of Liberty's Kids videos on YouTube that are great for getting the kids interested in history, here's one on with John Hancock and "The Second Continental Congress." (Episode 8)
  Have Fun Learning!

Today's Lesson: Samuel Adams & The Pups of Liberty

I thought I would do things a little differently today, just to mix things up a bit for the minions. So, while we still have a quote and a coloring page, the other lessons took a different turn.

"Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason." -Samuel Adams
The coloring sheet I used can be found here and includes a short paragraph on Sam Adams.

For the rest of the lesson we will be using a DVD that I got for FREE from izzit.org.  If you are not a member of this site you can become one for free and receive a free DVD every year.  Or you can pay 9.99 for a whole year membership and get a free DVD every 30 days.  It's really cool and they have lots of different topics that you can choose from.  They also have lessons that correspond to the videos, so all you have to do is print them out!  This is a really great site and it is well worth your time to check it out.  

Today we will be using the "The Pups of Liberty: The Boston Tea-Bone Party" DVD, teacher resources and some of the student activities.

This funny video resource explains the Boston Tea Party for older kids  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC_w4M2W3pI

We will also be watching Liberty's Kids, episode 1, "The Boston Tea Party."

Have fun learning!