Format
1. Students will begin by participating in a brainstorming activity using the only known etching of the Battle of Ridgefield as a pre-program activity. Google Form activity is completed before the program.
2. During the interactive virtual learning program, a museum educator introduces the students to the Keeler Tavern by explaining the significance of the Assembly Room, the room in the historic tavern where the program will stream from.
3. A presentation of primary and secondary sources will showcase the events of the Battle of Ridgefield and how it fits into national events.
4. Then a costumed interpreter will tell the events of the battle as experienced by Esther Keeler, who was likely in the tavern at the time it was struck by a cannonball, and her husband Timothy.
5. Answers to the students’ questions from the pre-program activity will be woven throughout the program to make the learning personally engaging.
6. The program will conclude with time for questions and answers.
Objectives
Students will –
1. Learn about how systems of support throughout the colony aided in the fight for independence
2. Be challenged to acknowledge that a strong portion of Connecticut remained loyal to England for economic, religious, and as well as familial reasons – including the neighbors next to the Keeler Tavern
3. Understand the basic outline of the Battle of Ridgefield including major engagements and leading generals
4. Connect the Battle of Ridgefield, a small local event, to the American Revolution
5. Examine different perspectives through primary resources including newspaper articles, etchings, and military documents
Standards Alignment
National Standards
C3 Frameworks for Social Studies:
D2.Civ.6.3-5. Describe ways in which people benefit from and are challenged by working together, including through government, workplaces, voluntary organizations, and families.
D2.Civ.14.3-5. Illustrate historical and contemporary means of changing society.
D2.Eco.1.3-5. Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.
D2.Eco.2.3-5. Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
D2.Geo.12.3-5. Explain how natural and human-made catastrophic events in one place affect people living in other places.
D2.His.2.3-5. Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
D2.His.3.3-5. Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.
D2.His.4.3-5. Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.
D2.His.5.3-5. Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
D2.His.6.3-5. Describe how people’s perspectives shaped the historical sources they created.
D2.His.9.3-5. Summarize how different kinds of historical sources are used to explain events in the past.
D2.His.10.3-5. Compare information provided by different historical sources about the past.
D2.His.11.3-5. Infer the intended audience and purpose of a historical source from information within the source itself.
D2.His.12.3-5. Generate questions about multiple historical sources and their relationships to particular historical events and developments.
State Standards
Connecticut Social Studies Frameworks:
INQ 3–5.4 Explain how supporting questions help answer compelling questions in an inquiry.
INQ 3–5.5 Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling questions and supporting questions, taking into consideration the different opinions people have about how to answer the questions.
INQ 3–5.7 Use distinctions between fact and opinion to determine the credibility of multiple sources.
ECO 4.1 Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.
ECO 4.2 Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
CIV 4.1 Illustrate historical and contemporary means of changing society.
HIST 4.1 Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
HIST 4.2 Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments.