CPALMS Logo Generated on 7/30/2025 at 8:42 PM
The webpage this document was printed/exported from can be found at the following URL:
https://staging.cpalms.org//PreviewStandard/Preview/3265
Describe the influence of individuals on social and political developments during the Revolutionary era.
Standard #: SS.8.A.3.5
Standard Information
General Information
Subject Area: Social Studies
Grade: 8
Strand: American History
Standard: Demonstrate an understanding of the causes, course, and consequences of the American Revolution and the founding principles of our nation.
Date Adopted or Revised: 02/14
Status: State Board Approved
Related Courses
Related Access Points
  • SS.8.A.3.AP.5 # Identify the influence of individuals on social and political developments during the Revolutionary Era.
Related Resources
Lesson Plans
  • Common Sense and the American Revolution # In this lesson, students will read excerpts from Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and identify the underlying foundational ideals of the U.S. government. Students will then make their own modern pamphlets to sway colonists in support of the American Revolution.
  • Civic Virtue in the colonies Part 1 of 3 # In this lesson the teacher will start off unwrapping two benchmarks with the class and showing the connection between both. The lesson will follow with image analyses using images based in the Revolutionary era. Students will use the image analyses to discuss Revolutionary era civic virtues and the influence of citizens and leaders of the time. This is lesson 1 of 3 in a mini unit integrating civics and American History.
  • Civic Virtue in the Colonies: Part 2 of 3 # In this lesson, the students will work in groups to read about major leaders in the Colonial Era as they fill out a graphic organizer on their influence and civic virtue. This is lesson 2 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating civics and American History.
  • Civic Virtue in the Colonies: Part 3 of 3 # In this lesson, the teacher will facilitate a philosophical chairs discussion with the whole class on leaders demonstrating civic virtue from the Colonial Era. This is lesson 3 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating civics and American History.
  • Virginia Declaration of Rights, the Bill of Rights, and George Mason # Students will be able to identify George Mason and his contributions to the Bill of Rights.
  • The Colonial Era: Gallery Walk # In this lesson, students will review influential individuals and groups, and their influence on social and political developments during the colonial period and the American Revolution.  
Teaching Idea
  • The Revolutionary War: Historical Fiction Connection Using My Brother Sam is Dead # This web resource from Discovery Education provides teaching ideas on using James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier's My Brother Sam is Dead to help students understand how they can learn about the past through historical novels. Students will investigate how some people take one side or another in a war or other conflict; some people find themselves caught in the middle.
Unit/Lesson Sequence
  • George Washington: First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of Countrymen # Through this three-lesson unit examining George Washington's role in the French and Indian War, at the Federal Convention, and as chief executive, students will analyze a variety of primary source documents to help evaluate whether Washington's actions were characteristic of good leadership. The unit includes focus questions that may be used in Socratic seminars, cooperative learning, individual, and group work.
Print Page | Close this window