Unit 3: Countdown to Revolution
Ready to print. Easy to teach. Designed to make history stick.
This comprehensive unit from The History Cat brings the road to the American Revolution to life with immersive simulations, high-interest readings, and scaffolded critical thinking activities. It’s everything teachers need to build engagement and historical understanding in one complete package.
Teaching Time: 3 Weeks
What’s Included:
5 Printable History Cat Articles
Classroom-ready readings written in The History Cat’s signature style. These engaging, student-friendly texts cover:
- The French and Indian War
- No Taxation Without Representation
- The Boston Massacre
- The Boston Tea Party
- The Battle of Lexington
Purrrfect for introducing key events and building foundational knowledge.
5 Scratch Pad Activities
Each worksheet is designed to help students visualize, analyze, and connect the events they read about. Activities include:
- Cause and effect chains
- Political cartoon analysis
- Sketch and illustrate prompts
- Perspective comparison charts
- Historical parallels and prediction questions
4 Document-Based Activities
Students dive into primary sources and visual propaganda to interpret meaning and defend their claims. Includes:
- The Trial of Captain Preston (Was it murder or self-defense?)
- Propaganda Poster: Boston Tea Party (Create a call to action)
- Sons of Liberty: Freedom Fighters or Terrorists (Historical Viewpoints)
- Quote interpretation and source evaluation
3 Group-Based Simulations
Interactive, collaborative activities that put students in the action:
- Mercantile Mayhem: A smuggling and trade strategy game
- Native Perspectives: A roleplay and decision-making station activity
- First Continental Congress: A classroom debate and resolution simulation
1 Predictive Writing Task
Students explore alternate history with the activity What If Paul Revere Had Been Arrested? This short analysis and writing task asks students to back up their predictions with historical evidence from the unit.
Also Included:
- A detailed Teacher Guide with step-by-step instructions for every lesson
- Answer Keys for every worksheet and DBQ
- A 20-question Study Guide to help students organize and review
- A 50-question Unit Exam with multiple choice, sequencing, cause and effect, and scenario-based questions
- Two interactive online mini-games for fun and effective test prep
Why Teachers Choose The History Cat
This unit is structured to promote higher-order thinking while keeping students engaged through discussion, movement, and simulation. Activities are aligned to Bloom’s Taxonomy and support key historical skills such as cause and effect, perspective-taking, and source analysis. Built-in supports for diverse learners make this an excellent option for classrooms of all levels.
Download a Sample Lesson
We’re confident that your students will love these lessons—because we’ve designed them to be interactive, story-driven, and built around how students actually learn best. But don’t just take our word for it. Try it for yourself with a free download of The Trial of Captain Preston and see the difference an engaging history lesson can make.