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

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

Teachinghistory.org Lesson Plan Rubric

Field	Criteria	Comments
Historical Content	Is historically accurate?	Yes
Historical Content	Includes historical background?	Yes. Wealth of information about Revere’s ride, relevant poetry and artwork.
Historical Content	Requires students to read and write?	Yes. Read primary and secondary sources; write from the perspective of historical actors.
Analytic Thinking	Requires analysis/construction of interpretations using evidence?	Yes. Students analyze artistic interpretations and construct historical interpretations.
Analytic Thinking	Requires close reading and attention to source information?	Yes. Students consider author’s perspective when analyzing primary sources.
Scaffolding	Appropriate for stated audience?	Yes
Scaffolding	Includes scaffolding materials and strategies?	Yes. Guiding questions scaffold thinking. Primary documents may need further editing.
Lesson Structure	Includes assessment criteria focused on historical understanding?	Yes. Multiple assessment options.
Lesson Structure	Defines clear learning goals and progresses logically?	Yes
Lesson Structure	Includes clear directions; realistic for classrooms?	Yes