Grade 5 · US History · §113.16 · Problem-Based Learning

1776 — Should We Declare Independence?

A Problem-Based Learning unit. Students step into a divided colonial town in the spring of 1776, take on a stakeholder's point of view, and work a real, ill-structured question — building from surface to deep to transfer learning. The teacher is a guide, not the answer key.

Driving question: It is the spring of 1776. The colonies have been fighting Britain for a year, and people in your town are bitterly divided. Some want to declare independence, some want to stay loyal to the king, and some just want the fighting to stop. As members of the community, should the colonies declare independence — and why?

The three-phase path (do them in order)

Problem-solving is a transfer move — it only works once students have knowledge to reason with. So the problem in Phase 3 is deliberately gated behind Phases 1 and 2.

① Surface

Build the knowledge

Vocabulary, the road to 1776, a jigsaw read, and map work on the 13 colonies. ~1–2 periods.

② Deep

Connect & organize

Cause→effect concept map, primary sources, points of view, and a structured argument. ~1–2 periods.

③ Transfer

Solve the problem

Meet the problem, take a role, investigate, propose & defend a decision, debrief. ~2–4 periods.

⛔ Gate: don't open the Phase 3 problem until students have finished the surface and deep activities. Meeting the problem too early turns inquiry into guessing.

Big idea & objectives

Big idea: Independence was not obvious or easy — real people (Patriots, Loyalists, and the undecided) weighed rights, risk, loyalty, and hope when the colonies chose to break from Britain.

Know: the causes and events leading to the Revolution (taxation, the Boston Tea Party, Lexington & Concord), the Founding Fathers and Patriot heroes, and the purpose of the Declaration of Independence.
Understand: the same choice looked different from each stakeholder's point of view — Patriot, Loyalist, and undecided.
Do: run the problem-solving process end to end — define a problem, gather information, weigh options, choose and defend a solution, and evaluate it (§113.16(c)(26)(B)).

Standards this unit is aligned to (§113.16)

TEKS SE	Where it lives in the unit
(c)(2)(A)	Causes & effects of events before and during the Revolution (taxation, Boston Tea Party) — Surface jigsaw, Deep concept map
(c)(2)(B)	Founding Fathers & Patriot heroes (Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Sons of Liberty, Washington) — Surface jigsaw, Transfer roles
(c)(2)(C)	Results of the American Revolution — Deep concept map, Transfer debrief
(c)(13)	Roots of representative government (Mayflower Compact, House of Burgesses) — Surface & Deep
(c)(14)(A)	Purposes & importance of the Declaration of Independence — Deep sources, Transfer debrief
(c)(16)(D)	Landmarks of the Revolution — Meet the Problem narrative
(c)(23)(A–H)	Source analysis, points of view, claim + evidence — Deep & Transfer
(c)(25)(E)	Civil discourse, multiple perspectives — Deep argument, Transfer debrief
(c)(26)(B)	The problem-solving process — the entire Transfer phase

Teacher prep & materials

Print the facilitator guide (teacher moves, map of possibilities, role cards, debrief prompts) and the assessment pack (rubric + individual-in-group).
Chart paper or a projected space for three shared columns: Hunches · Know · Need-to-Know (the KWHL chart).
Vetted sources for investigation (district-approved). Suggested public-domain sources are listed in the facilitator guide.
No logins, no accounts — every page runs in the browser. Student writing and products live on paper or in tools your district already vets.

▶ Start Phase 1 — Surface 🧑‍🏫 Facilitator guide ✅ Assessment 📊 Correlation

Teacher supports: UDL · ELPS · PBL facilitation guide (7 languages)

Aligned to (not reproduced from) 19 TAC Ch.113 §113.16; effect sizes from Visible Learning MetaX. This narrative is a teaching fiction based on the era.