5th Grade History Lesson Plan

American Revolutionary Historical Figure Research Paper

Grade 5

Objectives  The students will choose an important historical figure from the American
Revolution to research. After researching, they will write an essay (2-3
pages) about the impact their historical figure had on the American
Revolutionary War.
Time needed  10 days

Materials  Computer
 Internet access
 Printer
 Books about the American Revolution
 Word Processing Software
 Vitalist account
Prerequisites  Basic research skills
 Basic writing organizational skills
 Basic outline writing skills

Procedures Teacher Component:

 Teacher will review the prerequisite skills (research skills, writing
organizational skills, and outline writing skills)
 Teacher will assign each student to an important historical figure from the
Revolutionary War.
 Teacher will create his or her own Vitalist account.
Student Component (over 10 days):
 Day 1: Each student will be assigned a historical figure from the
Revolutionary War to research. Students will be required to find research
from both internet and book sources (at least one book and one internet
source). There must be at least three sources total.
 Day 2: The students will be allowed class time to research their assigned
topic.
 Day 3: The students will be allowed class time to research their assigned
topic. At the end of class, each student will create a Vitalist account with the
help of the teacher.
 Day 4: The students will create a plan/outline for their research paper on
Vitalist. Their outline/plan must be approved by the teacher before moving
on.
 Day 5: The students will begin to complete their outline/plan by writing
their essay. Once they finish a part of their plan and get it approved by the
teacher, they can mark it as complete on Vitalist.
 Day 6: The students will continue to work on their essay.
 Day 7: The students will continue to work on their essay.
 Day 8: The students will continue to work on their essay and begin their
Works Cited page.

American Revolutionary War Unit 1

 5th Grade History Lesson Plan

 Day 9: The students will continue to work on their Works Cited page and
begin to edit their essay.
 Day 10: The students will finish final edits on the research paper and print
the final essay out at the end of the period.

Assessment  Grade the essays through a rubric grading research skills, writing skills,
organizational skills, and accuracy of historical accuracy.
Standards  Indiana’s Academic Standards:
o 5.1.10: Identify major British and American leaders and describe
their roles in key events of the war for independence.
o 5.4.4: Use organizational features of printed text, such as citations,
endnotes, and bibliographic references, to locate relevant
information.

American Revolutionary War Unit 2