American Revolution Video Project

Each year, my students are asked to create a small video based on one of the major events of the American Revolution. I have included a quick overview in this document. These topics include, but aren't limited to:




- Boston Massacre
- Boston Tea Party
- Signing of the Declaration of Independence
- Battle of Bunker Hill
- Battles of Lexington and Concord
- Shot Heard Around the World
- The Stamp Act
- First Continental Congress
- Signing on the Treaty of Paris


I have the class begin by splitting up into groups of no more than four (this could change depending upon class size). I like to have at least five of the above topics included in the final product. After each group conducts research and films their video, all of the videos are edited together, relevant clips from Youtube videos that give an overview of each topic are added, as well as music and titles, and we have a great classroom project.


Let's begin by looking at some places to get some great, kid appropriate research:


TimeRime timeline of the American Revolution (a great interactive timeline about 10 major events of the Revolutionary War)


The Chronicle of Revolution (PBS.org) (a site that includes tons of information on topics relating to the American Revolution)


Teaching American History (interactive lessons divided into chronological sections; 1775-1778, 1778-1781, and the Treaty of Paris in 1783)


National Archives pictures of the Revolutionary War (the best source I've found for images about the Revolution)


Revolutionary War Animated (animated battle maps from the Revolutionary War)


Now that we have some resources, we can move on to the content itself. Here are a few videos that really get the kids going and thinking about this great topic in American history:

Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration - This video is a spoof of the One Republic song "Too Late to Apologize," and is the single favorite thing that I present to my students each year, they LOVE this video.

A Schoolhouse Rock song about the Shot Heard Around the World

John Adams (HBO special) Boston Massacre scene: It's a little bloody, but very to the point in presenting the brutality of this event.

Obviously there are thousands of videos on Youtube and elsewhere on the internet that you can use, these are just a few that I have found kids to really enjoy and understand easily.

I hope this is enough to get any teachers interested started, or at least hopefully there are a few resources here that you can use.