Tadeusz Kościuszko and the scythemen of Racławice

Curriculum fit

Polish supplementary schools (USA, Canada)

Tadeusz Kościuszko and the scythemen of Racławice belong to the canon of figures and events that shape Polish cultural identity in the Polish Ministry of Education’s core curriculum for Polish pupils learning abroad (Podstawa programowa dla uczniów polskich uczących się za granicą, published by ORPEG). In the Polish system the topic appears in klasa IV (people and events of lasting importance) and returns chronologically in klasa VI (the Commonwealth under Stanisław August: the Constitution of 3 May, the partitions, the Kościuszko Uprising). Check the current edition of the ORPEG curriculum and match the requirement number to your school’s own program — the content of the lesson is the same.

The whole site, the game and the Question of the Day exist in Polish and in English. Bilingual children who read English more fluently can play in English and answer the worksheet in Polish (or the other way round); the facts, dates and station numbers are identical in both versions.

U.S. classrooms (grades 4–8)

State social-studies standards on the American Revolution generally ask students to identify key battles and turning points (Saratoga, 1777) and the individuals, including foreign volunteers, who contributed to the Patriot cause. Kościuszko fits both: his fortifications at Bemis Heights shaped the Saratoga campaign, and he designed West Point (1778–80), later the site of the U.S. Military Academy. The lesson also opens a Polish-American heritage angle — Kościuszko as the “hero of two worlds,” Pulaski and Kościuszko as the two Poles of the Revolution, Jefferson’s friendship and the will in which Kościuszko left his American estate to free and educate enslaved people. October (Polish American Heritage Month, and the anniversaries of Saratoga and Pulaski’s death) is a natural time for it. For a Revolution-focused class, see the alternatives marked in the timeline below.

Lesson objectives

After the lesson the student

• places the Kościuszko Uprising (1794) in time: after the Constitution of 3 May (1791) and the Second Partition (1793), before the Third Partition (1795);
• tells who Tadeusz Kościuszko was: a military engineer, a hero of the American War of Independence, the Naczelnik (Commander-in-Chief) of the 1794 uprising;
• explains who the scythemen (kosynierzy) were and why Kościuszko called the peasants to arms; knows the figure of Wojciech Bartos Głowacki;
• reads a history painting as a source: tells apart what is visible on Matejko’s canvas from what tradition adds;
• finds Kraków and Racławice on a map, and — for grade 6 / a Revolution unit — Saratoga and West Point.

Key terms

Naczelnik · insurrection (uprising) · scythemen (kosynierzy) · the oath in the Market Square · Proclamation of Połaniec · the partitions of Poland.

Preparation (5 minutes before class)

1. On the computer connected to the projector open the game: gra.html. Press and hold the “For teachers and parents” icon (top right corner) for one second — the panel opens. In the Settings tab turn on the Explorer level and the Unlock all stations switch. Turn the narrator off if you have no speakers.
2. In the Worksheet tab print a set of 10 questions (one per student); the answer key prints on a separate page. You can also use the worksheet from this plan (below).
3. Open Matejko’s painting in a second browser tab: obraz/kosciuszko-pod-raclawicami.html.
4. If students work on their own devices, write the address on the board: kosciuszko.world/en/gra.html. The game needs no login or installation and collects no data — no student accounts, nothing to clear with the school’s privacy policy.

Lesson timeline

• 0–4 min
  Opening: Question of the DayShow pytanie-dnia.html on the projector. Students vote by raising hands (A/B/C/D), the teacher clicks the chosen answer, the class reads the explanation. Goal: a warm-up, and a demonstration that “I don’t know” is a good place to start. The Question of the Day is available in English at the same address under /en/.

  whole class · projector
• 4–9 min
  Who was Kościuszko? The expedition mapOpen the game on the projector and scroll the trail from station I to XIV — the map travels by itself. Stop at three places: Mereczowszczyzna (where he came from), Saratoga/West Point (why Americans remember him), Kraków (what happened in 1794). Ask: “Why was a Pole building forts in America?” — take 2–3 answers from the room, no grading. In a U.S. classroom, add: “Where have you seen his name?” (a bridge in New York, a park in Chicago, the monument at West Point, a county in Indiana, a town in Mississippi).

  whole class · projector
• 9–27 min
  Stations V–VII in pairs: Market Square, Racławice, MaciejowiceStudents open the game on their devices in pairs, choose the Explorer level and go through three stations: V Kraków · Market Square (the oath — putting its words in order), VI Racławice (the story of the scythemen and Głowacki, the rhythm game “the charge”), VII Maciejowice (defeat and captivity — assembling a letter). Each station is a story, a task and a “Did you know…”. The teacher circulates; pairs that finish early go on to station III (Saratoga) or IV (West Point).
  No devices for students: the teacher goes through stations V–VII on the projector, students read the stories aloud (one person per paragraph) and the tasks are solved “the class dictates — the teacher clicks.”
  Revolution-focused class: swap the set for stations III–IV (Saratoga, West Point) and V (Kraków · Market Square) — the Polish oath of 1794 is then read as the sequel to what Kościuszko learned in America.

  in pairs · 6 minutes per station
• 27–37 min
  A painting as a source: MatejkoProjector: the page of the painting “Kościuszko at Racławice.” Show the whole canvas (nine meters wide, painted in 1888 — 94 years after the battle). Choose four frames: 11 Tadeusz Kościuszko, 23 Wojciech Bartos Głowacki, 22 The captured cannon, 7 Hugo Kołłątaj. At each ask: “What do you see?” and “How do we know who this is?” — the page distinguishes figures shown directly from identifications taken from the literature (solid vs. dashed marker outline). End with the question: what did Matejko not paint? (The battle did not change the fate of the uprising; Głowacki died two months later at Szczekociny; the Proclamation of Połaniec was issued a month after Racławice.)
  If pairs have devices, use the “Detective” game (detektyw.html) instead of the show-and-tell: each pair has 8 minutes to find as many clues on the canvas as possible.
  Revolution-focused class: John Trumbull’s “Surrender of General Burgoyne” from the U.S. Capitol Rotunda is also on the site (obraz/kapitulacja-burgoynea.html) and can replace Matejko in this step — same questions, same solid/dashed logic; Kościuszko is not in the picture, and asking why is a good closing question.

  whole class or in pairs
• 37–43 min
  WorksheetStudents work through the 10 questions on their own (the worksheet below or the printout from the game panel). Checking: swap sheets in pairs, the key is read aloud. They write the score on the sheet — it is their “lesson score,” not a grade.

  individually
• 43–45 min
  Wrap-up and homeworkOne sentence from three students: “One thing I will remember about Kościuszko from today.” Homework (one week): finish the remaining stations in the game at the Explorer level and bring the student code from the Results tab in the panel (a code like KOS-XXXXX-XXXX; the teacher checks it in the same panel — no login, and it works the same in the English version). Alternative for volunteers: seven days of the “Question of the Day” in a row.

  whole class

2 × 45 minute variant

Lesson 1: steps 0–27 extended with stations III and IV (Saratoga, West Point) — Kościuszko as an engineer; work with the game map: students read which countries the golden thread passes through. In a U.S. classroom this is the place for Jefferson and the will (station on the American years and the “Did you know…” notes). Lesson 2: Matejko’s painting with the “Detective” in pairs (20 min), stations XII–XIII (Wawel, the Mound — how Kościuszko is remembered), the worksheet, student codes.

Accommodations

• Younger students or slower readers: the “With Kos” level — Kos reads everything aloud (the speaker button repeats the text), picture-based tasks, no losing.
• Dyslexia: the narrator also works at the Explorer level; texts are short, in two paragraphs.
• Motion sensitivity: turn on “Calm mode” in the panel — no animations, confetti or pulsing.
• No touch: every drag has a “tap the item, then the target” alternative and works from the keyboard (Tab, Enter).
• Bilingual learners: the same station can be replayed in Polish and in English; Polish names and terms keep their original spelling in the English version.
• Privacy: the game collects no data; the name for the diploma is stored only in the student’s browser.

Assessment (a suggestion)

The lesson has no summative grade. If you want to grade the homework: the student code shows the number of completed stations and the stars (0–42). Suggestion: 14 stations completed = credit; 36+ stars (rank “Brigadier General” or “Naczelnik”) = top participation grade. The code can also be verified against the student’s name if they entered it in the panel.