5 2 5 the national guard modern minutemen (social studies) TG

The National Guard:
Modern Minutemen
SUMMARY

The book gives the historical
background that led to the creation of the
National Guard. The author also discusses
the twentieth-century activities of the U.S.
National Guard, including civil rights
protection, riot protection, disaster relief,
and international defense.
LESSON VOCABULARY

citizen-soldiers
mobilize
relief
steed
volunteer

defending
National Guard
riot
troops

INTRODUCE THE BOOK
INTRODUCE THE TITLE AND AUTHOR

Discuss
with students the title and the author of
The National Guard: Modern Minutemen. Ask
them to think about what the book will be

about. Discuss why countries feel the need
to protect themselves. Ask: If you were going
to establish a new nation, what need for
protection do you think your country would
have? What kind of dangers might exist?

BUILD BACKGROUND

Discuss what students
know about Colonial times. Ask: Why did
people need to be ready to fight at any time?
Discuss what students know about today’s
National Guard. Ask: What are some activities
the National Guard are involved in?

PREVIEW/USE TEXT FEATURES Have students
look at the cover illustration and the
subtitles. Ask: What do you think this book
will be mostly about? Invite them to look at
the illustrations in the reader. Ask: Which
illustrations give you the most information?
Encourage them to study the time line on
pages 20–21. Ask: What information on the
time line is most unfamiliar to you? Which
information are you most surprised to see?

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5.2.5
SEQUENCE

GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

READ THE BOOK
SET PURPOSE

Encourage students to set
a purpose for reading that will help them
remember what they have read. Suggest that
as they read they take notes on the most
important ideas. Remind students that writing
down the dates of historical events will help
them keep the sequence of events organized.

STRATEGY SUPPORT: GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS Ask
students what kinds of graphic organizers
might be most useful in putting the events
from historical narratives into chronological
order. (time lines or sequence charts)

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
PAGE 3

What question might you ask about the
Minutemen before reading this page? (Why
were they called Minutemen?)
PAGE 5

Who are the people who served as the
Minutemen? (They were farmers.)
PAGE 6

What was the earliest evidence of
a group of fighting volunteers in the United
States? (The earliest group was the Ancient
and Honorable Artillery Company, which was
formed in 1638 in Boston.)
PAGE 20

What is the main idea on page 20?
(Women now serve in combat as well as in
other positions in the National Guard.)

PAGE 20

What is a detail on page 20 that
supports the main idea? (The rules were
changed in 1967 to allow women to serve in
roles besides nursing.)

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REVISIT THE BOOK
READER RESPONSE

1. Possible responses: World War I (1917);

World War ll (1941); Korean War (1950);
Gulf War (1991); Iraq War (2003)
2. Possible responses: How does one join the
National Guard? How long do people serve?
the Internet
3. defend, defended, defending; mobilize,
mobilized, mobilizing
4. Possible response: Maine was part of
Massachusetts.
EXTEND UNDERSTANDING

Suggest that students
review the illustration of a recruiting poster on
page 9. Discuss why governments use recruiting posters. Ask: What words on this poster
encourage someone to become a soldier?

RESPONSE OPTIONS
WRITING

Encourage students to write a few
paragraphs about why they think people
decide to join the National Guard. Ask them
to write about whether they would want to join
the National Guard.

SOCIAL STUDIES
CONNECTION
Suggest to students
that they may wish to
go to the library to do additional

research on the Minutemen. Ask: What
questions do you have about the Minutemen
that were not answered by this book?

Skill Work
TEACH/REVIEW VOCABULARY
Define the term National Guard for students.
Describe how the National Guard is, and is
not, like the other United States armed
forces. Discuss possible synonyms for the
term. Discuss possible synonyms for the
rest of the vocabulary words. Explain how
each synonym is either close to, or exactly
like, each vocabulary word.
Using clothing as props, act out the
role of a person taking off his or her everyday farmer’s coat or hat and donning a military type of coat or hat. Discuss the concept
of being a citizen-soldier. Ask: Do you think
you would have been interested in being a
citizen-soldier during Colonial times? Why or
why not? Show some pictures of National
Guards doing a variety of different tasks.
Ask: Was there an organization like the
National Guard in your home country?

TARGET SKILL AND STRATEGY
SEQUENCE

Remind students that we put
events or ideas in sequence so that we can
better understand what we have read by

knowing the order in which events happen.
Discuss the sequence of events in America
that led to the formation of the National
Guard.
GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

To put historical
events in order, students might use a
numbered list or a graphic organizer such
as a time line or sequence chart.

ADDITIONAL SKILL INSTRUCTION
MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS

Remind students
that we look for the main idea in order to
understand the most important idea that the
author wishes to convey. Then we look for
details to support the main idea. Discuss
with students what the main idea of page 3
might be. Ask them for a detail that
supports the main idea of the page.

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The National Guard

Name

Sequence
• Sequence refers to the order of events in both fiction and nonfiction.
• Sequence can also refer to the steps in a process.

Directions Put the following events into sequence.
•
•
•
•

The National Guard protected the civil rights of people who fought for integration of schools.
The volunteer militia made up much of the army during the American Revolution.
A colonial volunteer group set up the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1638.
After the Civil War, many states renamed their militias to be called the National Guard.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. American Civil War fought

First

6. Iraq War

Second

7. Minutemen fought
in Massachusetts

Third

8. Riots in American Cities

Fourth

© Pearson Education 5

Directions Draw lines from the left column to the right column to show the order in which these
events occurred.

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The National Guard

Name

Vocabulary
Directions Write each word in the appropriate column to show whether it is a noun or a verb.
Use a dictionary if necessary.

Check the Words You Know
citizen-soldiers
National Guard
steed

Nouns

defending
relief
troops

mobilize
riot
volunteers

Verbs

Directions Use each vocabulary word in a sentence that shows its meaning.
1.
2.
3.
4.

© Pearson Education 5

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

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