Timeline: approximately a total of 2 hours computer time and an additional 2 hours of writing time.

Materials Needed: word-processing software to write letters, or the letters may be handwritten

Websites for Teaching Materials: 

Teacher Resources from Spy Letters of the American Revolution from the Collections of the Clements Library- this is a direct link to lesson plans specifically for this website. Very informative and easy to use.

History Central Teaching Guides- on the American Revolutionary War.

National Archives and Records Administration Teaching with Primary Documents- how to use primary documents, ask questions about the documents and why it's important to use them in teaching.

National Park Service Revolutionary War Student Resources -A wealth of educational programs related to the American Revolution are available to K-12 students.

Our Documents- milestone historical documents with teacher toolbox.

Teacher Print Materials Available:

• The American Revolution: A Scholastic Curriculum Guide by Linda Ward Beech, Scholastic Inc., 1998.

Videos:

• And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz, Scholastic, 1973.
• American Revolution, Schlessinger Video productions, 1996.

Student Print Materials Available:

Biographies

• Patrick Henry, Voice of the American Revolution by Louis Sabin, Troll Associates, 1982.
• Yankee Doodle Boy: A Young Soldier's Adventures in the American Revolution by Joseph Plumb Martin, Harmony House, 1995.
• A Young Patriot: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy by Jim Murphy, Scholastic Inc., 1996.
• A Picture Book of Paul Revere by David A. Adler, Holiday House, 1995.
• Paul Revere by Gail Sakurai, Children's Press, 1997.
• Paul Revere by George Sullivan, Scholastic Inc., 1999.
• Martha Washington: First Lady by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson, Enslow Publishers, 1998.
• George Washington by Wendie C. Old, Enslow Publishers, 1997.
• The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern, Scholastic, 1975.

Non-Fiction

• Scholastic Encyclopedia of the United States at War by June A. English, Scholastic, Inc., 1998.
• Which Way to the Revolution?: A Book About Maps by Bob Barner, Holiday House, 1998.
• The American Revolution by Bruce Bliven, Random House, 1996.
• Countdown to Independence: A Revolution of Ideas in England and Her American Colonies, 1760-1776 by Natalie Bober, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001.
• The American Revolution: How We Fought the War of Independence by Edward F. Dolan, Millbrook Press, 1995.
• The Boston Tea Party in American History by Mary E. Hull, Enslow Publishers, 1999.
• The American Revolution: "Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death!" by Deborah Kent, Enslow, 1994.
• American Revolution, 1700-1800 by Joy Masoff, Scholastic Reference, 2000.
• ...If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution by Kay Moore, Scholastic Inc., 1997.
• The American Revolution by Michael Weber, Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2000.
• Yorktown by Michael Weber, Twenty-First Century Books, 1997.
• Black Heroes of the American Revolution by Burke Davis, Harcourt Brace, 1992.
• Cryptologists: Life Making and Breaking codes by Aaron Rosenberg, Rosen Publishing Group, 2003.
• Code Breakers: From Hieroglyphs to Hackers by Simon Adams, DK Publishing, 2002.
• Codes and Ciphers by Mark Fowler, EDC Publishing, 1995.
• How to Have Fun With Letters by Stewart Cowley, G. Stevens Publisher, 1997.
• Messages in Code by Janet Weller, Franklin Watts, 1998.
• The Cat's Elbow: and Other Secret Languages Farrar Straus Giroux, 1982.
• Janice VanCleave's Geography for Every Kid: Easy Activities That Make Learning Geography Fun by Janice Pratt Van Cleave, Wiley, 1993.
• The Story of Maps and Navigation by Anita Ganeri, Oxford University Press, 1997.

Fiction

• Charlotte by Janet Louise Swoboda Lunn, Tundra, 1998.
• Katie's Trunk by Ann Warren Turner, Aladdin, 1997.
• George, the Drummer Boy by Nathaniel Benchley, Harper and Row, 1977.
• Sleds on Boston Common: A Story From the American Revolution by Lousie Borden, M.K.McElderry Books, 2000.
• Betsy Zane: the Rose of Fort Henry by Lynda Durrant, Clarion Books, 2000.
• Five Smooth Stones: Hope's Diary by Kristiana Gregory, Scholastic Books, 2001.
• The Riddle of Penncroft Farms by Dorthea Jensen, Gulliver Books/Harcourt Brace 1989.
• Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne, Random House ,2000.
• The Rifle by Gary Paulsen, Harcourt Brace, 1995.
• Daughter of Liberty: A True Story of the American Revolution by Robert M. Quackenbush, Hyperion Books for Children, 1999.
• Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, Bantam Doubleday Dells books for Young Readers, 1987.

Arizona Standards:

Language Arts: (Grades 4-5)

W-E1. Use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, along with varied sentence structure and paragraph organization to complete effectively a variety of writing tasks.

• PO 1. Spell correctly.
• PO 2. Punctuate correctly (e.g., sentence endings, commas in a friendly letter's greeting and closing, commas in a series, abbreviations, quotations in dialog, apostrophes)
• PO 3. Apply rules of capitalization (e.g., sentence beginnings, titles, abbreviations, proper nouns)
• PO 4. Apply standard grammar and usage (e.g., subject-verb agreement, simple and compound sentences, appropriate verb tense, plurals)
• PO 5. Organize paragraphs with a variety of sentence structures (e.g., simple, compound)

W-E5. Write a report that conveys a point of view and develops a topic with appropriate facts, details, examples and descriptions from a variety of cited sources.

• PO 3. Write a report in own words that states, develops and provides a concluding statement for a point of view (perspective) about a topic that is narrow enough to be adequately covered.
• PO 2. Use logical sequence (including transitional words and phrases such as first, next, then)
• PO 3. Provide support through facts, details, examples or descriptions that are appropriate, directly related to the topic and from a variety of cited sources.

Technology: (Grades 4-8)

1T-E2. Demonstrate increasingly sophisticated operation of technology components.

• PO 2. Retrieve and save information remotely (e.g., network servers, Internet, Intranet, peripheral devices)

5T-E1. Locate information from electronic resources

• PO 1. Identify electronic research resources.
• PO 5. Identify the author, copyright date and publisher of information located in electronic resources, including Internet resources.

5T-E2. Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, and comprehensiveness and bias of electronic information sources

• PO 2. Gather research from a variety of electronic sources and identify the most appropriate information for answering the research question.
• PO 5. Identify the author of the information found for electronic resources and determine whether the author is an authority, displays bias and is primary or secondary source.

Social Studies: (Grades 4-8)

1SS-E1. Understand and apply the basic tools of historical research, including chronology and how to collect, interpret and employ information from historical materials.

• PO 2. Identify primary and secondary sources historians use to construct and an understanding of the past, using such sources as letters, diaries, newspaper articles, archaeological evidence, maps, and government records.

1SS-E7. Describe the causes, key individuals, and consequences of the American Revolution, with emphasis on:

• PO 3. the influence of key personalities including King George III, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine.