hISTOrY
Espionage in the American Revolution
This lesson is designed to follow discussions on the purpose of the Revolutionary War as well as the different viewpoints of the war. Students will view the primary source document of the mask letter written by Henry Clinton to John Burgoyne either in a printed version from the Spy Letter website, or going to the website. (See "Materials Needed" below.)
Students will use this document to understand how secret methods were used to communicate during the Revolutionary War. They will choose a side to support in The Revolutionary War, pretend they are a spy, and write a mask letter of their own. The secret message should include the “spy’s” viewpoint as a Loyalist or a Patriot during the war to summarize what they have learned so far.
Espionage
Intented Learners
Grade level: 5th Grade
Subject Area: History, the American Revolution
ISTE Standard
1.3c Curate Information: Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
ISTE Standards Website
State Standard
US History 5.6: Explain major events of the American Revolution.
(Click picture to see the full list of standards and objectives)
(Click the underlined words to open)
Materials
Student Materials
Teacher Materials
School supplied laptop Pencils Paper supplied by teacher Mask letter rubric supplied by teacher
Letter from Smart board to show class things or printed copy for each student
White board and markers for comparison
Paper: lined and construction (for masks)
Henry Clinton to John Burgoyne
Story about Letter
Mask letters rubric
Instructions
Day 1
1. The teacher will review purpose of war, loyalists’ views of war, and patriots’ views of war which have been previously discussed.
2. Have students discuss communication options during this time period and make predictions on how secrets could be kept with communication limitations
3. Display or pass out copies of primary source of Henry Clinton’s mask letter.
4. Read letter aloud to students and discuss main idea of letter.
5. Demonstrate how to reveal code using mask. Read letter aloud to reveal code.
6. Students compare and contrast first letter with the mask letter.
7. Lead students to mask letter rubric. Students read rubric with partner.
8. Explain to students this is what they will be creating tomorrow during class.
Instructions cont.
They will choose a side to support in The Revolutionary War, pretend they are a spy, and write a mask letter of their own.The secret message should include the “spy’s” viewpoint as a Loyalist or a Patriot during the war to summarize what they have learned so far in the unit.Answer questions students may have on assignment.Students will begin working on assignment next day.9. The students will each add a post to a padlet giving a small paragraph summary (4-6 sentences) of the lesson, what mask letters were for, and how they were created. Day 2 1. Review purpose of mask letters and how they were created. 2. Students create own masked letter using rubric to guide them on expectations of assignment. 3. Once completed, students get into groups of four. All masks are put into a pile, mixed up, and handed out again. Students also trade letters. Students must then figure out which mask correctly reveals the secret code. They then share the code with the rest of the group. 4. Collect mask letters and masks for evaluation.
Click feather to go to Padlet.com
Assessment Plan
The assessment will come in two forms. The first assessment on the students’ understanding of mask letters will be demonstrated through a Padlet. Students will simply write down a short summary of the knowledge learned about mask letters. Teacher evaluates padlet to assess student learning. The second assessment will be the mask letter created by the student. A scoring rubric for the project is attached.
Click to view the list of resources
Resource Page
https://hti.osu.edu/history-lesson-plans/united-states-history/american-revolution-two https://clements.umich.edu/exhibit/spy-letters-of-the-american-revolution/gallery-of-letters/clinton-burgoyne-mask-letter/ https://clements.umich.edu/exhibit/spy-letters-of-the-american-revolution/ https://padlet.com/auth/login?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet.com%2Fdashboard%3Fmobile_page%3DAccountsMenu https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students https://www.mdek12.org/OAE/college-and-career-readiness-standards
All Done!
Click picture for full screen
Note: will be graded out of a possible 12 points
https://hti.osu.edu/sites/hti.osu.edu/files/Rubric_Mask_Letter_Assignment.pdf
Espionage in the American Revolution
Sophia Barker
Created on February 17, 2024
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Transcript
hISTOrY
Espionage in the American Revolution
This lesson is designed to follow discussions on the purpose of the Revolutionary War as well as the different viewpoints of the war. Students will view the primary source document of the mask letter written by Henry Clinton to John Burgoyne either in a printed version from the Spy Letter website, or going to the website. (See "Materials Needed" below.) Students will use this document to understand how secret methods were used to communicate during the Revolutionary War. They will choose a side to support in The Revolutionary War, pretend they are a spy, and write a mask letter of their own. The secret message should include the “spy’s” viewpoint as a Loyalist or a Patriot during the war to summarize what they have learned so far.
Espionage
Intented Learners
Grade level: 5th Grade
Subject Area: History, the American Revolution
ISTE Standard
1.3c Curate Information: Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
ISTE Standards Website
State Standard
US History 5.6: Explain major events of the American Revolution.
(Click picture to see the full list of standards and objectives)
(Click the underlined words to open)
Materials
Student Materials
Teacher Materials
School supplied laptop Pencils Paper supplied by teacher Mask letter rubric supplied by teacher
Letter from Smart board to show class things or printed copy for each student White board and markers for comparison Paper: lined and construction (for masks)
Henry Clinton to John Burgoyne
Story about Letter
Mask letters rubric
Instructions
Day 1 1. The teacher will review purpose of war, loyalists’ views of war, and patriots’ views of war which have been previously discussed. 2. Have students discuss communication options during this time period and make predictions on how secrets could be kept with communication limitations 3. Display or pass out copies of primary source of Henry Clinton’s mask letter. 4. Read letter aloud to students and discuss main idea of letter. 5. Demonstrate how to reveal code using mask. Read letter aloud to reveal code. 6. Students compare and contrast first letter with the mask letter. 7. Lead students to mask letter rubric. Students read rubric with partner. 8. Explain to students this is what they will be creating tomorrow during class.
Instructions cont.
They will choose a side to support in The Revolutionary War, pretend they are a spy, and write a mask letter of their own.The secret message should include the “spy’s” viewpoint as a Loyalist or a Patriot during the war to summarize what they have learned so far in the unit.Answer questions students may have on assignment.Students will begin working on assignment next day.9. The students will each add a post to a padlet giving a small paragraph summary (4-6 sentences) of the lesson, what mask letters were for, and how they were created. Day 2 1. Review purpose of mask letters and how they were created. 2. Students create own masked letter using rubric to guide them on expectations of assignment. 3. Once completed, students get into groups of four. All masks are put into a pile, mixed up, and handed out again. Students also trade letters. Students must then figure out which mask correctly reveals the secret code. They then share the code with the rest of the group. 4. Collect mask letters and masks for evaluation.
Click feather to go to Padlet.com
Assessment Plan
The assessment will come in two forms. The first assessment on the students’ understanding of mask letters will be demonstrated through a Padlet. Students will simply write down a short summary of the knowledge learned about mask letters. Teacher evaluates padlet to assess student learning. The second assessment will be the mask letter created by the student. A scoring rubric for the project is attached.
Click to view the list of resources
Resource Page
https://hti.osu.edu/history-lesson-plans/united-states-history/american-revolution-two https://clements.umich.edu/exhibit/spy-letters-of-the-american-revolution/gallery-of-letters/clinton-burgoyne-mask-letter/ https://clements.umich.edu/exhibit/spy-letters-of-the-american-revolution/ https://padlet.com/auth/login?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet.com%2Fdashboard%3Fmobile_page%3DAccountsMenu https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students https://www.mdek12.org/OAE/college-and-career-readiness-standards
All Done!
Click picture for full screen
Note: will be graded out of a possible 12 points
https://hti.osu.edu/sites/hti.osu.edu/files/Rubric_Mask_Letter_Assignment.pdf