North Carolina Era 3 – Revolution 1763 - 1789: Regulator Songs Lesson Plan

North Carolina Era 3 – Revolution 1763 - 1789: Regulator Songs Lesson Plan

Pauline Johnson, Roman Blevins

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• Learners will make inferences about a historic event
• Learners will analyze primary and secondary source materials
• Learners will understand the concerns that led to the Regulator Movement in colonial North Carolina
• Learners will work collegially
• LEARNING TARGET: “I can describe three causes of the Regulator Movement.”

• Copies of the Regulator Songs
• Graphic organizer – one per group
• Copies of background material

30 minutes

PROCEDURE
1. This activity should be completed before a lesson on the Regulator Movement (teacher background material is included in the Resource section below.)
2. Put students into cooperative groups and pass out song sheets. Ask students to read and discuss the songs. They need to make inferences about the reasons these songs were written and sung. (students may struggle with this as they do not have contextual information – that is the point)
3. Each group should briefly share inferences with the whole class.
4. Have students read the introduction to the Regulator Movement from the NC Digital Textbook at Learn NC. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-revolution/4253
5. Now ask the groups to reassess their inferences based on the new material. Share with the class.
6. Give out copies (or project) the information sheet from the North Carolina Folklore book.
7. Ask students to revaluate their inferences based on this new contextual material.
8. Review with students how their understanding of the songs altered with each new source.


ASSESSMENT
• Have students write a paragraph (or list) concerning the causes of the Regulator Movement in North Carolina. This can be done cooperatively in groups or individually as an exit ticket. This could also be an out of class assignment.
• Assessment can also be taken from class discussion. Teachers should visit each group during the activity.

EXTENSION/DIFFERENTIATION ACTIVITIES
• This is good opportunity to explore the uses of primary and secondary sources when analyzing a historic event.
• Advanced activity:
For many years, people characterized the Regulator Movement as a precursor to the American Revolution. Modern historical research has shown, however, that the Regulators, at least in the early years of the war, tended to be Loyalists.
Lead the class discussion of a ‘history mystery’ as to why this was so. [Regulators were colonists that were demanding their ‘rights as Englishmen’ during the movement, opposing a corrupt professional and governmental group.]