American Revolution | Revolutionary War Unit

This American Revolution unit covers the causes, events, and effects of the Revolutionary War. But this unit proves that history doesn't have to be boring. Your students will love the week-long Revolutionary War simulation where they join the Continental Army and adopt a new identity as a soldier, spy, or officer.

Even better, I've made these Revolutionary War activities as easy as possible for busy teachers to implement. From thorough lesson plans to answer keys – it's all there. This unit will prepare you to teach about topics like the Road to Revolution, who fought in the Revolutionary War, the major battles of the Revolutionary war, the Treaty of Paris, and more!

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Table of Contents

Part 1: Context for the Revolutionary War

• The Road to Revolution—newspaper articles, jigsaw activity and student worksheets
• The Social Classes of Colonial America—informational article, discussion cards, and worksheet
• King George vs. George Washington—task cards and worksheet
• Who Fought in the Revolutionary War?—7 articles, worksheet, and group cards for sorting
• British Forces vs. Continental Forces—informational articles and student worksheet

Note: This unit is focused on the Revolutionary War rather than the entire American Revolution. For 18 lessons about the events leading up to the colonies declaring independence, check out my Road to Revolution unit.

Part 2: Events of the Revolutionary War (Simulation)

For this week-long simulation, students join the Continental Army and adopt a new identity as a soldier, spy, or officer. Each day, students learn about actual events in the war and make decisions that result in them gaining or losing points for the army. Each day they will also analyze a primary or secondary source and complete a journal entry.

• Choose Your Identity—students adopt an identity in the Continental Army (spies, soldiers, or officers), includes informational articles, and worksheet
• Early Battles Around New York—28 slide PowerPoint with student worksheet, primary source activity, simulation instructions, student journal page & teacher guide
• Trenton and Princeton—29 slide PowerPoint with student worksheet, secondary source activity, student journal page & teacher guide
• Saratoga Campaign—30+ slide PowerPoint with student worksheet, primary source activity, student journal page & teacher guide
• Battles in the South—30+ slide PowerPoint with student worksheet, secondary source activity, student journal page & teacher guide

Part 3: After the Revolutionary War

• Treaty of Paris—activity where students make their own treaties and article
• Problems Facing the Nation—informative article and multiple worksheets focusing on finding the main idea
• Guess Which Founding Father—Founding Father speeches, Guess Which Founding Father game, and cheat sheet
• How “revolutionary” was the American Revolution?—worksheet & writing activity
• Revolutionary War Reflection—worksheet & writing activity

Help for the teacher

• Table of Contents (also available in the preview)
• Suggested pacing guide
• 15 detailed lesson plans
• Answer keys (of course!)
• Editable end-of-unit test and study guide
• Easy printing file with all student worksheets and articles

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This unit also includes DIGITAL ACCESS via Google Slides.*

• I have created a Google Slides resource for each lesson. Each resource contains student instructions, student worksheets with editable text boxes, and articles/task cards if applicable.
• Google Slides can be assigned by teachers via Google Classroom. I hope this update will help teachers who are implementing distance learning. 

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Why I created this unit

1. I believe that history lessons should not be boring (despite what the movies say!)

2. Teachers deserve excellent social studies resources. Now, can someone please tell our school districts?

3. Planning complete units is tedious and time-consuming (um... I won’t even tell you how long it took me to create this). I want to save teachers precious time so they can focus on doing what they love—teaching!

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What people are saying about this unit:

“This was, quite possibly, the best companion I could've used alongside (and at times in place of) our curriculum text. My students enjoyed the simulation and my principal REALLY enjoyed watching me teach it for my observation."

—Ashley B.

“My favorite resource of all time, I adore the simulations as do the students! That is why I will always buy from this seller.” —Danielle D.

“I love every unit by the Clever Teacher! I love the different types of activities, and my students who start out the year saying they hate social studies, end up loving it! I especially love the Battle Simulation in this unit." —Caitlin R.

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How can this unit be for grades 5th-8th?

The articles are written at a 7th-8th grade reading level. If you teach one of those grades, your students will be able to complete the activities more or less independently. If you teach 5th or 6th grade, I recommend reading and analyzing the articles with your students. They will do great! Check out the reviews to see how teachers at your grade level have successfully used and loved this unit.

Where can I find more history units?

I have already created units for the following topics:

• Age of Exploration
• 13 Colonies
• Declaration of Independence
• US Constitution
• Early Republic
• Revolutionary War
• Westward Expansion
• Civil War

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Customer Tips:

For samples of what is included, download the preview file. I would love to answer any and all questions about this product. Ask a question by clicking on “Product Q & A”

All of my products are digital and non-refundable. This is a digital file. A physical product will not be shipped. Please make sure you have a way to open: a zip file, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, and a word document before purchasing.

This product is not editable. The only part of the unit that is editable is the end-of-unit study guide and test. The other elements (like lesson plans, student worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, Google Slides, etc.) are not. The PDFs are password protected. This protects my work as well as the work of graphic and font artists I've purchased from.