Lesson Plans

American Revolution Fill-In-The-Blank

A fill-in-the-blank activity for students featuring eight key events of the American Revolution. Questions ask students to identify events from the Boston Tea Party to the Crossing of the Delaware to the Victory at Yorktown.

The American Revolution's Legacy of Protest

This DBQ style lesson asks students to use multiple primary and secondary sources from the 18th-21st centuries to evaluate the statement: Americans feel that those in positions of authority tend to be tyrannical and unjust. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Michael Ellis.

Be Washington: Genet Affair

This lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Genet Affair crisis in 1794 through the use of primary and secondary sources. 

Be Washington: Newburgh Conspiracy

This lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to General George Washington during the Newburgh Conspiracy crisis in 1783 through the use of primary and secondary sources. 

Be Washington: Second Trenton

This lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Battle of Second Trenton in 1777 through the use of primary and secondary sources. 

Choose Your Weapon

This activity recreates the distribution of Washington's swords between his five nephews after his death. In groups of five, students will learn about five of George Washington's swords, after which they work together to choose which sword they would pick. They will consequently learn about how swords were used in the 18th century to represent a person's rank and identity, as well as the situation they are in. Students will also realize how artifacts are not static and their lives continue beyond their original use. 

Disease During Wartime

A lesson plan that draws a connection between the threat of smallpox during the Revolutionary War and the influenza pandemic during World War I. In this lesson, students will utilize educational technology to consult primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in the completion of a webquest. Writing across the curriculum is a large focus of this lesson. Students will make interdisciplinary connections between history and science (specifically biology). This resource was created by 2013-2014 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Hannah Markwardt. 

George Washington Coloring Pages

A set of coloring pages about George Washington and the American Revolution. These coloring pages can be interactive (and colored digitally), or downloaded. 

George Washington in Song

A lesson asking students to investigate and analyze the historical context of the Revolutionary War song, Yankee Doodle. As a culminating activity, students are asked to create their own additional verses about George Washington to the tune of the song.

George Washington's Life in Color

Four seasonal magazines use inquiry, cross-curricular connections, and coloring pages to explore color through the landscape George Washington loved, the home he built, the army he led, and more. Students learn how Washington’s world encompassed the full spectrum of colors by examining 18th-century life and material culture. This resource was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Lynn Miller.

George Washington's Tweets

This activity has students summarizing entries from George Washington's 1754 Journal in the form of a tweet. Students will be divided into groups to analyze one of the entries from The Journal of Major George Washington, which was written after Washington's expedition to the Ohio territory before the French and Indian War. They will them summarize that information by transforming it into a tweet and then presenting that to their fellow classmates. 

Path to Patriot

This integrated lesson connects the concept of informed civic agency to the life of George Washington as he changed from serving the British military in the French and Indian War to fighting against them in the Revolutionary War.  It allows students to see themselves as citizens that have the agency to solve problems in our world today.

Colonial Encounters: George Washington and Native Americans

This lesson examines the views that a young George Washington had towards Native Americans as he traveled the “Ohio Country.” Students are asked to critically analyze and evaluate the views of George Washington through his various diary entries and letters from 1748-1754.

Integrating Women's History in the Founding Era

This set of five lesson plans use Martha Washington as a case study to integrate women's history into the events of the American Revolution and the New Nation historical eras. This lesson was created by 2017-2018 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Bonnie Belshe. 

The Journal of Major George Washington, 1754

A primary source worksheet for students focused on close reading skills. Students are asked to read and analyze an advertisement George Washington wrote after his report to Governor Dinwiddie was published in 1754. This resource was created by 2015-2016 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Marcia Motter.

Measuring Loyalism in America c. 1775-1785

An infograph created by the staff at the Washington Library that visually represents loyalists in America during the Revolutionary War, and where they migrated to following the war.  

Origin of the Purple Heart

A lesson that explores the creation of the Purple Heart military decoration, known during the American Revolution as the Badge of Military Merit. Students explore the historical and modern significance of this award created by George Washington.

Powder Bag and Puff

This activity examines the more "gentlemanly" side of the Revolutionary War and the importance of appearance and discipline in the military. Students will practice analyzing Washington's Powder Bag and Puff and other primary and secondary documents to answer questions on life in the Continental Army. 

Seven Years' War Primary Source Set

Mount Vernon’s Primary Source Sets contain documents, maps, objects, and images all related to a given theme. Each primary source includes a brief background for students and supporting content for instruction (additional background information, discussion questions, activity suggestions, and resources). Supporting content is available as one complete document for teachers. Use these sets as a whole collection, in small groups or pairs, or individually depending on classroom needs.

The Most Famous Founder and an Unfamiliar Founder: George Washington and his Neighbor, George Mason

This high-school lesson explores the relationship between George Washington and George Mason. The two were neighbors, living ten miles apart, and had a strong friendship until the Constitutional Convention. This lesson explores the steps to Revolution, the debates around the Constitution, and Federalist/Antifederalist objections.

This lesson was created by 2017-2018 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Teresa Osborne

Two Accounts

This activity explores two accounts of a meeting between the Iroquois Nation and the French before the French and Indian War. Students will analyze the sources of the two accounts and evaluate how truthful or biased they are to reconstruct what actually happened during that meeting. Students will consequently learn the difficulties historians have in interpreting history and increase their media literacy skills. 

Using Music to Communicate

This activity explores how music was one of the main forms of communication on the battlefield. Students will work together to create musical signals that convey marching directions. They will then show how they work as a team to give and follow those commands as a well-organized military unit. 

Washington at War

These scaffolded Activity Suggestion Sheets give quick, grab-and-go activities for you to implement into lesson plans. The sheets cover the facts, logistics, and stories of the Revolutionary War, as well as George Washington's leadership in battle.

These sheets were created by 2023 LifeGuard Teacher Fellows Trevor Bliss and Shawnel Padilla.

Washington Becomes Commander

This activity sheet uses a primary source document to introduce students to critical thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of Washington becoming Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Students will learn about Washington's deliberation about taking on this leadership role, while extracting information from a primary source. 

Washington Survives Braddock's March

A primary source worksheet for students focused on close reading skills. Students are asked to read and analyze George Washington's letter to his brother John Washington written after Braddock's defeat in 1755. This resource was created by 2015-2016 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Marcia Motter.

What Makes a General?

A lesson exploring George Washington’s leadership and character as commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary War. Students analyze primary source documents and images to examine the relationships between George Washington and his generals during the American Revolution. A short research project focused on a Revolutionary War military leader challenges students to examine leadership characteristics.

Wisdom Through War

This DBQ style lesson asks students to use multiple primary and secondary sources to support the historian Joseph Ellis’ statement: Instead of going to college, Washington went to war.  And the kind of education he received…left scars that never went away, as well as immunities against any and all forms of youthful idealism. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Michael Ellis.

Yorktown: Now or Never (Elementary School)

A graphic organizer to help guide upper elementary students in analyzing and evaluating secondary source material as historic resources. This worksheet was created to accompany Mount Vernon's animated presentation Yorktown: Now or Never.

Yorktown: Now or Never (Middle School)

A graphic organizer to help guide middle school students in analyzing and evaluating secondary source material as historic resources. This worksheet was created to accompany Mount Vernon's animated presentation Yorktown: Now or Never.

Yorktown: Now or Never (High School)

A graphic organizer to help guide high school students in analyzing and evaluating secondary source material as historic resources. This worksheet was created to accompany Mount Vernon's animated presentation Yorktown: Now or Never.

Hands-On History- Washington Spymaster Activities

Did you know there were spies in the Revolutionary War? Download these activities to become one of Washington's agents, decoding and sending messages. Make the messages extra secretive by writing them with invisible ink.

Take A Seat

A post-distance learning program activity where students will explore three different Washington-owned chairs to explore different ways technology was used to solve problems in the 18th century. Students will explore simple designs, analyze the technology used, and compare them to modern inventions that make life easier today. 

American Revolution Infographic

This infographic tells the stories of people who fought in the American Revolution through visuals, graphics, and primary sources. It reads at an upper-elementary level, perfect for struggling readers, emerging English speakers, visual learners, or the average student. 

Created by LifeGuard Teacher Fellows Shawnel Padilla and Trevor Bliss.