Propaganda and the Boston Massacre

Propaganda and the Boston Massacre This one-week 28-page detailed lesson plan for middle school history students, focuses on propaganda and how it was used to incite the colonists against the British after the Boston Massacre.  It follows the Into, Through, and Beyond method of lesson planning and offers many opportunities for students to engage in critical thinking.

The detailed lesson plan includes objectives and learning targets that are aligned with Common Core Standards in Reading for HIstory. Resources include background text on the events leading to the Boston Massacre, as well as an analysis of the word propaganda, two primary source documents for students to analyze in small groups with guiding questions, questions on opposing viewpoints, a chart on four types of propaganda (card-stacking, distortion of the truth, fear, pinpointing the enemy and stereotyping) which students will use to analyze Paul Revere's engraving, a writing template for writing a 2-paragraph essay to assess whether students understand how propaganda was used to incite the colonists.

Into Lesson: Creating Schema

• Students will dive deeply into the meaning of propaganda to set the stage for their understanding by using a word exploration chart on propaganda.

• Through Lesson: Learning the Content

  Students will read a secondary source overview of the events surrounding the Boston Massacre, a primary source eyewitness letter, and the primary source engraving by Paul Revere. They will answer questions after each document. In addition, they will complete a chart on some of the types of propaganda Revere used in his engraving.

• Beyond Lesson: Summative Assessment: Argumentative Paragraph

  Students will write an argumentative two-paragraph essay to prove how Paul Revere used propaganda in his engraving and what its impact was.  This essay is scaffolded for English Language Learners, RSP students, and students who struggle with writing. A rubric is included.

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A 28-page lesson packet for a 233k-long study on propaganda and the Boston Massacre

Materials include

--Word Exploration: Propaganda Chart

--Source 1: “An Incident in Boston on March 5, 1770” and comprehension questions.

--Source 2: “Thomas Gage’s Letter from March 1770” and questions.

--Source 3: Analyze Paul Revere’s engraving and questions.

--Chart on propaganda

--Short argumentative essay directions with a scaffolded template

--Directions for each Part