War of Independence Activity: Who’s in Camp?

Grade Range: 3-6
Resource Type(s): Primary Sources, Lessons & Activities
Duration: 45 minutes
Date Posted: 4/30/2010

Use artifacts and historical literature to bring the War of Independence to life for elementary students.  By playing the "Who's in camp?" card game, students develop a deeper understanding of the many civilian and military roles that supported the War of Independence, then use their knowledge for a role-playing writing assignment. This lesson plan, which includes background information and printable artifact cards, was produced to accompany the exhibition The Price of Freedom: Americans at War, by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.


National Standards

Historical Thinking Standards (Grades K-4)

United States History Standards (Grades 5-12)

Historical Thinking Standards (Grades 5-12)

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (Grades K-2)

2: Applying Disciplinary Tools and Concepts

D2.Civ.1.K-2. (Civics): Describe roles and responsibilities of people in authority.
 
D2.Civ.2.K-2. (Civics): Explain how all people, not just official leaders, play important roles in a community.
 
D2.Civ.3.K-2. (Civics): Explain the need for and purposes of rules in various settings inside and outside of school.
 
D2.Civ.5.K-2. (Civics): Explain what governments are and some of their functions.
 
D2.Civ.6.K-2. (Civics): Describe how communities work to accomplish common tasks, establish responsibilities, and fulfill roles of authority.
 
D2.Civ.7.K-2. (Civics): Apply civic virtues when participating in school settings.
 
D2.Civ.8.K-2. (Civics): Describe democratic principles such as equality, fairness, and respect for legitimate authority and rules.
 
D2.Civ.9.K-2 (Civics): Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions while responding attentively to others when addressing ideas and making decisions as a group.
 
D2.Civ.10.K-2. (Civics): Compare their own point of view with others' perspectives.
 
D2.Civ.11.K-2. (Civics): Explain how people can work together to make decisions in the classroom.
 
D2.Civ.12.K-2. (Civics): Identify and explain how rules function in public (classroom and school) settings.
 
D2.Civ.14.K-2. (Civics): Describe how people have tried to improve their communities over time.
 
D2.Eco.1.K-2. (Economics): Explain how scarcity necessitates decision making.
 
D2.Eco.2.K-2. (Economics): Identify the benefits and costs of making various personal decisions.
 
D2.Eco.3.K-2. (Economics): Describe the skills and knowledge required to produce certain goods and services.
 
D2.Eco.4.K-2. (Economics): Describe the goods and services that people in the local community produce and those that are produced in other communities.
 
D2.Eco.5.K-2. (Economics): Identify prices of products in a local market.
 
D2.Eco.6.K-2. (Economics): Explain how people earn income.
 
D2.Eco.7.K-2. (Economics): Describe examples of costs of production.
 
D2.Eco.9.K-2. (Economics): Describe the role of banks in an economy.
 
D2.Eco.10.K-2. (Economics): Explain why people save.
 
D2.Eco.12.K-2. (Economics): Describe examples of the goods and services that governments provide.
 
D2.Eco.13.K-2. (Economics): Describe examples of capital goods and human capital.
 
D2.Eco.14.K-2. (Economics): Describe why people in one country trade goods and services with people in other countries.
 
D2.Eco.15.K-2. (Economics): Describe products that are produced abroad and sold domestically and products that are produced domestically and sold abroad.
 
D2.Geo.1.K-2. (Geography): Construct maps, graphs, and other representations of familiar places.
 
D2.Geo.2.K-2. (Geography): Use maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations to describe places and the relationships and interactions that shape them.
 
D2.Geo.3.K-2. (Geography): Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places.
 
D2.Geo.4.K-2. (Geography): Explain how weather, climate, and other environmental characteristics affect people's lives in a place or region.
 
D2.Geo.5.K-2. (Geography): Describe how human activities affect the cultural and environmental characteristics of places or regions.
 
D2.Geo.6.K-2. (Geography): Identify some cultural and environmental characteristics of specific places.
 
D2.Geo.7.K-2. (Geography): Explain why and how people, goods, and ideas move from place to place.
 
D2.Geo.8.K-2. (Geography): Compare how people in different types of communities use local and distant environments to meet their daily needs.
 
D2.Geo.9.K-2. (Geography): Describe the connections between the physical environment of a place and the economic activities found there.
 
D2.Geo.10.K-2.(Geography): Describe changes in the physical and cultural characteristics of various world regions.
 
D2.Geo.11.K-2. (Geography): Explain how the consumption of products connects people to distant places.
 
D2.Geo.12.K-2. (Geography): Identify ways that a catastrophic disaster may affect people living in a place.
 
D2.His.1.K-2. (History): Create a chronological sequence of multiple events.
 
D2.His.2.K-2.(History): Compare life in the past to life today.
 
D2.His.3.K-2. (History): Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped a significant historical change.
 
D2.His.4.K-2. (History): Compare perspectives of people in the past to those of people in the present.
 
D2.His.6.K-2 (History): Compare different accounts of the same historical event.
 
D2.His.9.K-2. (History): Identify different kinds of historical sources.
 
D2.His.10.K-2. (History): Explain how historical sources can be used to study the past.
 
D2.His.11.K-2. (History): Identify the maker, date, and place of origin for a historical source from information within the source itself.
 
D2.His.12.K-2. (History): Generate questions about a particular historical source as it relates to a particular historical event or development.
 
D2.His.14.K-2. (History): Generate possible reasons for an event or development in the past.
 
D2.His.16.K-2. (History): Select which reasons might be more likely than others to explain a historical event or development.
 

Instructional Strategies