The Paul Revere Unit Study

The Paul Revere Unit Study provides a dramatic flare for your lessons on his famous midnight ride. These lesson plans include a historical map of Revere's route as well as Dawe's and the British; in both color and grayscale. An accurate timeline fills in the gap.

Paul Revere Unit Study Poster

What Is In Our 3 Day Paul Revere Unit Study?

Here is what you will find in our 26 page Unit Study for third to seventh graders:

Historical Map of Paul Revere's Ride (Includes British Regulars and William Dawes)
Historical Timeline of Revere's Ride
Longfellow's Midnight Ride of Paul Revere Poem
- Poem is provided in sections with reading notes
- Paul Revere's Ride Comic Book (corresponds to verses)
- Comprehension Questions for the Poem
Student Activity Pages
- Art Scavenger Hunt (paintings ABOUT Paul Revere)
- Art By Paul Revere
- Word Search: Jobs by Paul Revere (includes his many titles AND variety of products made as a silversmith)
- Liberty Bowl: Information and activities about his famous bowl
- Mathematician Rides With Paul Revere: calculating the number of people each needs to warn
Suggested Hands on Activities
- One if By Land; Two if By Sea - Hot and Cold Game
- Make replica of the Liberty Bowl
- Make their own bookplate
Paul Revere Fun Facts Sheet
Supplemental Audio/Visuals
Recommended Reading List
The Myth of the Myth: Should We Still Be Teaching About Paul Revere?

Buy The Paul Revere Unit Study

Paul Revere Liberty Bowl Activity Page Paul Revere Scavenger Hunt Activity Page
26 Pages of Activities and Information
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Paul Revere's Ride Map

Paul Reveres Ride Map Color Map of Paul Revere's Ride - black and white

Map of Paul Revere's Ride

The unit study includes two copies of our map of Paul Revere's ride: one in color and one in black and white.

Students can follow along and mark the map which includes:

Route of Paul Revere
Route of William Dawes
Route of British Soldiers
Location of his arrest
Overview of Their Mission

The map corresponds to the historical timeline that is also part of the unit study. Our lesson plans recommend starting with the map and timeline to give students an overview of the exciting events of April 18 and 19.

Timeline of Paul Revere and William Dawes

Timeline of Paul Revere

Timeline of Paul Revere's Ride

Our historically accurate timeline tells the events chronologically. It includes the less-famous but important ride of April 16, and lists the events of April 18 beginning with Revere's crossing of the Charles River at ten o'clock at night.

Full Timeline of Paul Revere

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere Poem by Longfellow

Paul Revere Poem

Paul Revere Reading Passages

No study would be complete without Longfellow's exciting poem that captures the stealth and drama of Revere's mission.

We have broken the poem into 13 parts to increase comprehension. The entire poem is presented on three standard pages which correspond to the three-day lesson plan (one page a day.)

The sections of the poem provide notes helping students to understand the action in the poem and references to unfamiliar places and things such as the Somerset Man of War and Middlesex County.

Vocabulary words are listed on each page as well. This helps with such terms as belfry, barracks, gilded, etc.

Paul Revere Comic Strip

Paul Reveres Ride Comic Strip Page 1

A favorite feature - The Paul Revere Comic book!

The pages of our Paul Revere's Ride Comic Book correspond to the sections of the poem. Students can easily follow along as they see Paul rowing past the Somerset, and riding up the hill with the Mystic River beneath him.

Each page (four pages total) of the comic book has four frames. These frames were designed so students can cut them apart, staple them on the right side, and have a quarter-paged size booklet. They can also be made into a lapbook.

As an added bonus, students can color in the black and white diagrams as they follow Paul on his ride.

Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Poem Comprehension Questions

Paul Revere Poem Reading Comprehension Questions Paul Reveres Poem Reading Comprehension Worksheet

The reading comprehension worksheets provides a reading assignment or a final quiz for your students. Questions on the worksheet correspond to the 13 sections of the poem.

Student Activity Pages

Paul Revere Word Search Printables Paul Revere Math Printables

The Paul Revere Unit Study has printables your students will enjoy.

Art Scavenger Hunt

We provide a list of some of the most famous paintings about Paul Revere, the artist, and the date of the work. Students go on a scavenger hunt, make a collage of the paintings, and analyze the art.

Art BY Paul Revere

The day after looking for art ABOUT Paul Revere, students can search for art made BY him.

His silver products are most impressive. But you can also find engravings, drawings, and paintings. And an ethical/legal controversy.

His famous engraving of the Boston Massacre is copied from a very similar engraving by Peter Pelham. Hmmm is that a copyright violation? Illegal activity?

Before you jump to conclusions, keep in mind that an engraver's job was to take paintings and turn them into engravings that could be replicated in books and magazines. (They didn't have the technology to copy paintings.) But an engraving or an engraving? Check it out and see what you think.

Paul Revere's Job Word Search

Yes, you knew he was a silversmith. Did you know he was a also a dentist, artillery officer and spy?

Vertically we list some of the many hats and jobs worn by the famous silversmith. Horizontally students search for objects he made. (Of course you knew he made silver teaspoons. But did you know he made cannons and church bells?)

And, of course, we provide the answer key.

Paul Revere Liberty Bowl Worksheet

It's so famous, you might even have one in your house and not known it. Did you know Revere was commissioned in 1768 to make the bowl after Otis' famous "No Taxation without Representation" Speech. It was to be made of 45 ounces of silver and hold 45 gills of drink. How much is a gill? You and your students will know after completing our easy to use worksheet. AND, you can compare his original bowl with the capacity of your punch bowl.

Increase the fun by seeing what the most expensive and least expensive Revere Liberty Bowl you can find on the internet. They are still in demand.

A Mathematician Rides With Paul Revere

Here's a question for you:

Paul WAS in a hurry, because he had to warn Sam Adams and John Hancock; so he only got to stop at five farms before he reached Lexington. Fortunately, each of those farmers told five fiesty friends. And each of the five fiesty friends told five friendly villagers. Each friendly villager told five mean family members. Each mean family member told five mounted militiamen. How many will be waiting at Concord for the Redcoats?

The answer?

It would be 3,906, except Paul himself got arrested making it only 3,905. Was that how many WERE waiting for the British at Concord? This worksheet will tell you.

Paul Revere Facts

12 Fun Facts About Paul Revere

There's still more to learn about the famed midnight rider. Here are the first six of the twelve fun facts:

1. Paul Revere was best known as a silversmith, but he was also a goldsmith and coppersmith. (It was the copper rolling after the Revolution that made him wealthy.)
2. The horse he rode the night of his famous ride was not his. A colleague borrowed it from his father, and he never got it back because the British captured it.
3. The name of the horse is unknown, though different names have been ascribed to it.
4. Paul’s father was named Appolos Revoire and came here from France. He Americanized his name by changing it to Paul Revere. His famous son wrote his name Paul Revere, Jr.
5. Paul had 16 children, 8 by his first wife who died in 1773, and 8 by his second wife.
6. Paul was an artillery office during the Revolution. Later he made cannons.

What are your students supposed to do with these fun facts about Paul Revere? Make their own true or false quiz by changing some of the information. They might even like to add their own fun facts.

Suggested Hands On Activities and Audio Visuals

Hands on activities boost learning. We have suggested some games, crafts, internet searches, and field trips (it sure helps if you leave near Boston for the field trip category.)

And everyone likes to sit back and watch a video. We have suggested some free or inexpensive supplements so you can watch and listen to this dramatic event.

Paul Revere Lesson Plans

There is a lot of material to cover in this unit study. How can you ever get it all done?

We have a suggested 3 Day Plan, listening the activities above and more. Of course, you can spread it out over a longer period. You can also pick and choose what activities you wish to do to cover it in a shorter time frarme.

The Myth of the Myth

Critique of Paul Revere: Is He Still Significant?

It is highly fashionable in some circles to critique and “debunk” well-known characters or events from history. Therefore one can readily find articles down-playing either Paul Revere, the rider, or Longfellow, the poet who wrote the now-famous account of Revere’s legendary ride. Some have gone so far as to claim that Revere’s fame was caused by Longfellow’s poem which is little more than a myth.
Continue reading Critique of Paul Revere