Directions:  Fill in each blank with the word that
best completes the reading comprehension.

     In April of 1775, the "shot heard ‘round the
world" started the Revolutionary War. The
Massachusetts militia was able to
(1)  _______________________   the British
army back to Boston from Lexington and
Concord. The British commanders had convinced themselves that it would take only a small battle or two to convince the rebellious colonists to stop their foolishness and welcome British rule. How wrong they were!
     In June of 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed George Washington to command the Continental Army. Two days later, the British and colonials were engaged in the first major battle of the war. The British realized the (2)  _______________________   of the city of Boston to the colonists. The city itself was on a peninsula in Boston Harbor. Across the Charles River, just across from Boston, were two hills on another peninsula. The colonists feared that the British would be able to (3)  _______________________   Boston and take control of the harbor there. The colonists believed that they could take control of the two hills across the river and keep the British from doing just that. The two hills were named Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill.
     On the night of June 15, 1775, members of the Massachusetts militia very quietly moved to take (4)  _______________________   of these two hills. During the night they were able to dig trenches and (5)  _______________________   dirt into walls to protect themselves. The job they did that night was nothing short of a miracle. When the British troops woke up the next morning and saw the well-fortified hills, they were astounded. These builders were the same men the British couldn't get to build camps for them. The British had decided that all Americans were lazy. The job they did that night was not what would be done by lazy men.
     The British made a very big mistake at this time. A peninsula is an area of land surrounded on three sides by water. It is attached to the (6)  _______________________   by a narrow neck of land. If the British had gone to this neck of land and taken control of it, it would have isolated the Americans and cut off any means of escape. Instead, they decided to attack the American forces head on. The English got into boats and sailed (7)  _______________________   to the bottom of the two hills. Each British soldier that started up Bunker Hill carried a full (8)  _______________________  , a blanket, and ammunition. That added up to 125 pounds of equipment for each man.
     The British had no idea what they were going to find when they reached the colonists. If they had known the truth, they would not have been so hasty. You see, the colonists had worked hard to set up their fortifications, but they had very little ammunition to (9)  _______________________   it. Their resources were so low that their commanders told them to shoot only when they were absolutely sure of their target. (10)  _______________________   says they were told, "Don't shoot ‘til you see the whites of their eyes." And that's exactly what they did. As the British soldiers stormed up the side of the first hill, the colonial militia held their fire. Can you imagine how hard that must have been? Soldiers with rifles and (11)  _______________________   were running at them full speed. The waiting paid off, (12)  _______________________  . The militia was able to kill a great many of the first British soldiers to come their way. The second wave of English didn't fare much (13)  _______________________  . It didn't take long before all was quiet again. The gunfire had stopped. The British soldiers were at the top of Breed's Hill and the American militia was gone. What happened? The militia had run out of (14)  _______________________   and retreated. The British had taken the hills, but it cost them dearly.
     When the bodies were cleared off the (15)  _______________________  , the British had 228 dead and 826 wounded. That meant that four out of every ten soldiers that had started the battle were now out of commission. Ninety-two of the dead were officers. That's one-fourth of all the officers who were killed in the entire war. General Howe and General Gage may have won this small battle in Boston, but it cost them almost half of the soldiers they had. They hadn't put an end to the rebellion. As a matter of fact, it gave more hope and confidence to the Continental army.

Breed's Hill - Bunker Hill

Circle the correct way to divide the word into syllables.

Use the following syllables to fill in the blanks and form words. Cross off each syllable after you use it.

Back to School Index
Back to Home Page