Watch a Video: What You Need to Know About the American Revolution
Discuss: What events led to the Revolutionary War?
Students will understand the impact and contributions of James Lafayette, who spied for America during the Revolutionary War.
Lesson Plan - History Makers: James Lafayette
Learning Objective
Text Structure
Profile, Sequence
Content-Area Connections
U.S. History
Standards Correlations
CCSS: RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.3, RI.3.4, RI.3.5, RI.3.6, RI.3.7, RI.3.8, RI.3.10, L.3.4, SL.3.1
NCSS: Time, Continuity, and Change
TEKS: Social Studies 3.1
1. Preparing to Read
What You Need to Know About the American Revolution
Watch a video to learn more about America’s war for independence.
Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.
- terrain
- double agent
- provided
Set a Purpose for Reading
Call attention to the As You Read box, and have students identify the main reason for the fighting as they read the article.
2. Close-Reading Questions
1. How did James Lafayette get information for the American army?
James pretended to be an escaped enslaved person to get into the British camp. He listened to British leaders talk about their secret battle plans.
RI.3.2 Key Details
2. What evidence supports the idea that being a double agent was dangerous?
The article states that “If James were caught by the British for lying, he would be killed.”
RI.3.1 Text Evidence
3. What is the section “Free at Last” mostly about?
This section is about what James did after the war. He used a letter from Marquis de Lafayette to get his freedom and took Lafayette’s name as his own to honor him.
RI.3.2 Main Idea
3. Skill Building
FEATURED SKILL: Synthesize Information
Use “All About James Lafayette” to have students complete a biographical profile.
RI.3.1 Text Evidence
Text-to-Speech