Summary
In this lesson, students will analyze three passages about the American Revolution written from British, Native American, and American Colonist perspectives and examine how each perspective influences the author’s purpose, tone, and word choice. Through comparison and discussion, students will evaluate how historical and cultural contexts shape the way the same event is presented. By the end of the lesson, students will use textual evidence to explain how perspective affects meaning across texts.
Essential Question(s)
How does perspective influence how a topic is presented? How does understanding perspective influence our interpretation of a text?
Learning Objectives
Analyze how an author’s perspective shapes the presentation of the topic.
Compare perspectives across texts using textual evidence.
Snapshot
Engage
Students carefully compare two similar images related to the Boston Massacre.
Explore
Students analyze and compare faux news articles about the American Revolution written from British, Native American, and American Colonist perspectives.
Explain
Students formalize their understanding of historical, cultural, ethnic, and global perspectives through a Card Sort, then identify these perspectives in the articles.
Extend
Students consider how perspective relates to the career of journalism and watch an interview with a journalist who discusses key elements of her job.
Evaluate
Students demonstrate their understanding by finding and comparing two articles with differing perspectives.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Contrasting Perspectives handout (attached; one per student; print two-sided)
Contrasting Perspectives (Sample Responses) document (attached)
Perspective Cards (attached; one set per group; print one-sided)
Double Bubble Map handout (attached; one per student; print one-sided)
Highlighters (one per student)
Preparation
Before you begin, print the attached Perspective Cards (one copy per group of 2–3 students). Consider printing on cardstock paper, especially if you plan to reuse these cards. Then cut out the cards; they are all the same size for easy cutting.
Engage
15 Minute(s)
Introduce the lesson using the attached Lesson Slides. Slide 3 displays the lesson’s essential questions. Slide 4 identifies the lesson’s learning objectives. Review each with your class as needed.
Have students get into small groups of 2–3 or assign groups. Display slide 5 and introduce the Painting a Picture strategy. Explain that students will view two images on the next slide and discuss what they see and what they think is happening.
Once students understand the task, move to slide 6. This slide has two similar, yet historically inaccurate, depictions of the Boston Massacre. Give students approximately 5 minutes to review the images and discuss.
Show slide 7 and bring the class together for discussion. Invite students to share their observations and inferences, and guide them in identifying the purpose of these images. Ask for volunteers to share responses to the following:
What do you see?
What do you think is happening?
What is the purpose of these images?
Display slide 8. Have students synthesize their thinking by asking the following questions and facilitating a brief discussion:
What conclusion(s) could you make about the Boston Massacre?
How do you think the Boston Massacre was portrayed to influence public opinion?
Explore
45 Minute(s)
Display slide 9 and play the Tea, Taxes, and The American Revolution video on the slide to give students context surrounding the American Revolution.
Have students find a partner or assign partners. Display slide 11 and give each student a copy of the attached Contrasting Perspectives handout. Use the attached Contrasting Perspectives (Sample Responses) document as needed to guide discussion and support students’ responses throughout the activity. Introduce the Inverted Pyramid strategy and direct students’ attention to “Part 1” of their handout. Ask students to read the three news headlines and articles, then work with their partner to complete the “Analyzing Views Table” on their handout. Students compare three headlines and articles written from differing perspectives: British, Native American, and American Colonist. Give students approximately 10 minutes to complete this task.
Show slide 12 and have pairs find another pair. Direct groups to compare and discuss what they have written in their table. Students share and compare their ideas, repeating and refining their thinking as they hear new perspectives. After a few minutes, ask groups to finish comparing their tables, then work together to answer the questions in the “Part 2: Comparing Perspectives” section of their handout. Give students approximately 15 minutes to answer these questions.
Display slide 13 and bring the class together for a whole-class discussion. Ask for volunteers to share their groups’ responses. Have students put their Contrasting Perspectives handout in a safe place for them to use again later in the lesson.
Explain
30 Minute(s)
Show slide 14 and introduce the Card Sort strategy. Have students get into small groups of 2–3 or assign groups. Give each group a set of the attached Perspective Cards. Direct students to sort their cards into the following four categories: historical perspective, cultural perspective, ethnic perspective, and global perspective. Give students approximately 7 minutes to sort their cards.
Once pairs have sorted their cards, move to slide 15 and ask students to reflect on the activity with the following prompts:
Which card was most difficult to sort? Why?
Choose one card and explain how perspective shapes the focus of the statement.
Ask for a few volunteers to share for each prompt. Then have students stack their cards with one stack per category, and set them aside to use as a reference for the next activity.
Use the hidden slides 16–19 as a reference for which example (numbered) cards sort into each category. With justification, there can be more than one correct sort.
Display slide 20 and give each student a highlighter. Have students get their Contrasting Perspectives handout from the Explore phase of the lesson and direct their attention to the headlines and articles on the first page. Direct students to highlight key words or phrases that reveal the author’s perspective, using what they just learned about historical, cultural, ethnic, and global perspectives. Encourage students to use the cards as a reference as they complete this highlighting task.
Use the hidden slide 21 as a reference for what students should be highlighting. If needed, unhide and show the slide to have students compare their work.
Show slide 22 and ask students to take out a piece of notebook paper. Instruct students to write a short paragraph explaining how perspective affects the way the American Revolution is presented. Remind students that they need to use evidence from at least two of the articles in their writing. As time allows, have students share their writing with a neighbor or have volunteers share with the class. Then collect students’ work.
Extend
15 Minute(s)
Display slide 23 and play the video on the slide: The Truth is Out There. This is a video of Ann Gracia, an artist and former journalist, who shares her experience in journalism, public relations, and art. She describes how backpack journalists work independently and collaboratively. She shares why she wanted to be in journalism and gives tips for how students can get involved.
Show slide 25 and introduce the Think-Pair-Share strategy. Have students think quietly about the questions on the slide.
How do journalists use their perspective to decide what information to include, emphasize, or leave out when reporting a story?
How could understanding perspective influence our interpretation of a journalist's story?
After students have had a chance to think about both questions, have students get into groups of 2–3 to discuss their answers. Then ask for volunteers to share their responses with the whole class.
Evaluate
25 Minute(s)
After students have analyzed the concept of the authors’ perspectives through discussion, transition them into the following comparison activity. Display slide 26 and give each student a copy of the attached Double Bubble Map handout. Explain that students explore real-world journalism by selecting two articles about the same topic from differing perspectives. Direct students to go to AllSides.com, select the “Headline Roundups” tab, and find two articles that have contrasting perspectives about the same topic. Have students label each side of the map with one headline and then identify differences in the outer bubbles. In the center bubbles, they will record similarities such as shared facts, the same event being reported, or common details in the headlines. Show slide 27 to model how students should complete their Double Bubble Map.
As students work, encourage them to reference evidence from the articles and apply ideas from earlier discussions. Once students have completed their maps, bring the class together to share findings and discuss how the differences they identified demonstrate the role of the author's perspective in shaping how information is presented to an audience.
Resources
AllSides. (2026). Balanced news & perspectives. https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news
CrashCourse. (2012, August 2). Tea, Taxes, and The American Revolution. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlUiSBXQHCw
Dr. Gerard Jabbow. (2011, January 6). School House Rock Shot Heard Round the World. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ikO6LMxF4
Frank, A. (2026, April 14). Artemis II starts the $1 trillion space economy. An astrophysicist explains. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamfrank/2026/04/14/artemis-ii-was-a-giant-leap-toward-the-1-trillion-space-economy/
K20 Center. (n.d.). Card sort. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/147
K20 Center. (n.d.). Double bubble map. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/3035
K20 Center. (n.d.). Inverted pyramid. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/173
K20 Center. (n.d.). Painting a picture. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1331
K20 Center. (n.d.). Think-pair-share. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/139
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). 10-minute timer. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gy-1Z2Sa-c
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). 15-minute timer. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3zT2IxZQaw
K20 Center. (2024, July 25). The truth is out there. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NphSY4EGUgc
K20 Center. (2024, July 26). La verdad está ahí fuera. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjAV81Ux3cQ
Oliveira, A., & Young, A. (2026, April 10). Artemis II successfully splashes down, completing historic lunar mission - and another giant leap for mankind. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/04/10/us-news/artemis-ii-splashes-down-completing-historic-lunar-mission/
Perspectives on the Boston Massacre. Massachusetts Historical Society. (n.d.). https://www.masshist.org/features/massacre/comparison
Roulette, J., & Gorman, S. (2026, April 10). Splashdown of Artemis II astronauts concludes 10-day moon mission. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/artemis-ii-crew-headed-for-splashdown_n_69d8b512e4b00247ba9aad33