BoRIA Education Outreach

BoRIA’s education outreach team has been busy this year creating new ways to support teachers as they bring Rhode Island’s Revolutionary War story into their classrooms. We’ve focused especially on 4th grade, where the state’s Social Studies Standards now ask students to learn more about Rhode Island during the Revolution.

Very few materials are written with 4th graders in mind, so we’ve developed a set of easy-to-use Resource Sheets to help teachers tackle some big questions, including:

• What privateers were and how they helped establish the early Navy

• What life was like under the British occupation of Newport and how it affected the town’s economy

• Where the Battle of Rhode Island took place, what happened there, and why it matters

• The many roles Rhode Island women played during the American Revolution

• How the 1st Rhode Island Regiment was formed and recruited—including enslaved Black and free Black and Indigenous men—and why these men chose to serve, from the promise of freedom to belief in Revolutionary ideals.

Drawing on research sponsored by the BoRIA, we’ve shaped these sheets to match the curriculum while staying accessible and engaging for younger students. Thanks to a grant from the RI250 Commission, we’ve been able to print the Resource Sheets and assemble packets for all East Bay 4th grade teachers.

These packets will arrive in schools before the new year begins, so teachers can work them into their lesson plans from day one. The Resource Sheets will also be available to download as PDFs on our teacher website, teachingrevolutionaryrhody.com—just look under the “More Info” blog heading for RI250.

We can come to school districts and work with teachers to introduce these materials and how they can use them with their classes. If you’d like to schedule a session, please contact Gloria Schmidt at schmidtgh@gmail.com

Gloria Schmidt – Historical Advisor for BoRIA