At a Glance

Teacher Review

Aileen Sheehy

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Topics

Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride and Analyzing Paintings

Website

EDSITEment

Features

Focus on historical thinking, Further resources for teaching this content, Inclusion of multiple perspectives, Multiple Sources, Opportunity to analyze causation, Scaffolding of close analysis of text, Useful for differentiating instruction

Duration

1-3 days

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Lesson Format

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Blank Lesson Plan Rubric PDF

Midnight Ride of Paul Revere: Fact, Fiction, and Artistic License

Students assess a famous artistic depiction of Paul Revere's ride, based on historical documents.

Review

This lesson asks students to use primary source evidence to assess Grant Wood’s famous 1931 painting, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. Students must also determine the event's historical significance. This lesson offers a wealth of resources for analyzing artwork as historical evidence and provides a nice example for using artwork along with written documents to learn about the past.

The lesson opens up by asking students to note their initial impressions of Wood's painting. Additional resources are included to help students analyze the painting.

Following the opening activity, students read a series of primary accounts of the event from the British perspective and the colonial perspective. Teachers should consider the lesson plan’s suggestion to jigsaw this activity since the documents range in length and difficulty.

The lesson concludes with multiple assessment options including analyzing the poem "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, using evidence to distinguish between fact and fiction, and writing a short story. Teachers could also easily create a document-based question assignment to assess students' historical understanding.

Notes

Additional features include

an interactive map traces Revere’s route and has 8 images that users click on to view photos, quotes, and pictures that provide additional details about the journey.
LaunchPad, an online version of the lesson where students complete the activities through computer-based modules.
Nine valuable extension activities are included that prompt students to closely analyze art and consider it as historical source.

Teachinghistory.org Lesson Plan Rubric
Field	Criteria	Comments
Historical Content	Is historically accurate?	Yes
	Includes historical background?	Yes A wealth of background information is included about Revere's ride as well as relevant poetry and artwork.
	Requires students to read and write?	Yes Students are asked to read primary and secondary sources and write from the perspective of the historical actors.
Analytic Thinking	Requires students to analyze or construct interpretations using evidence?	Yes Students analyze artistic interpretations of the past and construct historical interpretations of the past.
Analytic Thinking	Requires close reading and attention to source information?	Yes Students are asked to consider the author’s perspective as they read and analyze primary sources.
Scaffolding	Is appropriate for stated audience?	Yes
Scaffolding	Includes materials and strategies for scaffolding and supporting student thinking?	Yes Includes guiding questions that scaffold thinking. However primary documents may need further editing and preparation depending on students' reading levels.
Lesson Structure	Includes assessment criteria and strategies that focus on historical understanding?	Yes Multiple assessment options
	Defines clear learning goals and progresses logically?	Yes
	Includes clear directions and is realistic in normal classroom settings?	Yes