Sybil Ludington’s Ride - a poem

30-40 minutes

4^th Grade

Social Studies
1. Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to dionstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live – local, national, and global – including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.
2. Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and of New York.
Language Arts
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information understanding.
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis evaluation.

 

History/Language Arts

Inquiry/Cooperative Groups

Braley, Berton, Sybil Ludington’s Ride (a poem)
*Greenbie, Marjorie Barstow, The Ride of Sybil Ludington (a poem)
Teacher Note: Both poems are modeled after “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

BOOKS
Amstel, Marsha, Sybil Ludington’s Midnight Ride, Minneapolis, Carolrhoda Books, Inc. 2000
(a transitional chapter book)
Dacquino, V.T., Sybil Ludington, A Call To Arms (a non-fiction chapter book containing poems, primary documents, and a
history of Sybil and her family)
Homnick, Judy, Ride For Freedom, New York, Silver Moon Press. 2001 (a chapter book)
Jones, Mary Elizabeth, The Midnight Ride of Sybil Ludington (A chapter book)
Winnick, Karen, Sybil’s Night Ride, Honesdale, PA. Boyds Mills Press. 2000 (a picture book)
URLS’s
Mahopac Library Local History Page

1) Students will gain an appreciation of the role a teen from the Hudson Valley played in the American Revolution.
2) Students will glean information about Sybil Ludington from the poem.

1) Make predictions about who Sybil Ludington was and what
she did during the American Revolution.
2) Read the poem "The Ride of Sybil Ludington", by Marjorie Barstow Breenbie, aloud.

1) Reread The Ride of Sybil Ludington in small groups for
content.
Suggested prompts to glean content:

1) How old was Sybil Ludington?
2) Why was Danbury important?
3) Why was it important that Sybil make the ride?
4) What were some of the dangers that Sybil faced on the ride?
5) What qualities would Sybil have needed to make her a good choice for the ride?
6) How would you feel if you had to make this same ride?
7) How long was the ride? Can you tell how far she rode? Where did she go? Make a sketch.

2) Groups can share their findings in a variety of ways.

1) Independently, students list four ideas concerning Sybil Ludington in their notebooks to be compared with later findings from additional information provided about Sybil from the links provided or the books listed on this page. One of these ideas might concern a personal response to Sybil.
2). Using the map provided, compare the actual route of Sybil’s
ride to the sketch that children made previously (see prompt #7). How might you explain the differences?

1. View the map of Sybil's ride and calculate the distance using the map's legend. Compare this distance to the distance given in the poem.
2. Using a Venn diagram or a compare/contrast matrix, compare the two poems, The Ride of Sybil Ludington by Marjorie Barstow Greenbie to Sybil Ludington's Ride by Berton Braley
Possible Comparisons:

1. Dangers on the ride
2. Sybil's qualities
3. The route

3. Take our Virtual Tour .