Designer:  Judith Swick

Publication Date:  November 8, 2995

Standard:  8.1  Analyze the philosophy of government expressed in the Declaration

                     Independence, with an emphasis on government as a means of securing

                     individual rights (e.g.,  key phrases such as “all men are created equal,

                     that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”).

Objective:  Students will be able to 1.) identify the main ideas of the Declaration of

                    Independence.  2) be able to express how early Americans responded to the

                    Declaration of Independence; the loyalist / patriots / neutralist points of view.

                    3.) find evidence in the Declaration of Independence that the document is

                    a. national symbol;  b. a moral paper;  c. a propaganda piece;

                    d. a revolutionary charter.  4.) Be able to analyze why the colonist felt it

                    necessary to write such a document.  What was the philosophy of this

                    document.

EL/Inclusion Strategies:  Any EL students will be partnered with capable readers. 

                   Class Discussion will lead all students to understand terminology used in the

                   Declaration of Independence.  Copies of the Declaration of

                   Independence will be provided to each student for note taking and

                   clarification of key points.

Materials:    History Alive - The United States through Industrialism  pgs. 79-85.

                     Major focus 6.5 on pg. 83 .

                    The American Nation,  Chapter 4,  Section 3 - Declaring Independence.

                    Xeroxed copies of the Declaration of Independence, summary worksheets,

                    and vocabulary sheets.

                    Considerate test by chunking and vocabulary development.

Preview Assignment:  1.  What are issues that ended your friendship with someone who

                   was formally your very good friend.  Was there one thing or a  number of

                   smaller things that made this friendship end?  Is there anything you can do to

                   repair it?  Other choices?

                   2.  What do you think was the “last straw”  that provoked the colonist to end

                  their relationship with Britain?

Procedures:

                  1.  Students will read pgs. 79 -85 in HIstory Alive  or  chapter 4, section 3

                        in American Nation for background information.

                  2.  Students will be divided into six groups, each group will have one section of

                       the Declaration of Independence.  The group will be given time to become

                       the  “experts” on the section they have been  assigned.

                      Each group will be responsible for teaching their section to

                       the rest  of the class and will have one class period to prepare.

                      A.   One student will act as a vocabulary specialist to record unfamiliar

                            words and concepts.  All students are responsible for helping with

                            and knowing the definitions.  Students may use the textbooks, glossary,

                            dictionary, and any annotations in the textbook.

                      B.  Writing for Understanding   -   clarify - organize - express

                            After to coming to group understanding of their assigned section

                            students will rewrite their section in their own words (modern

                            language).  Groups will divide up the section they have rewritten

                            and assign each group member an equal number of sentences from

                            their rewritten version.  Groups members will read their assigned

                            sentences (in order) to the rest of the class.

                3.  Next class period - pass out the Declaration of Independence summary

                        sheets.  All students will be responsible for listening to each groups

                        presentation and recording a  two or three sentence summary on their

                        papers.  Students will also include a summary of their assigned section.

                4.  Groups will be called on in the order in which their section appears in

                       Declaration of Independence.  Groups will stand in front of the class and

                      will read their modern version of the Declaration.  Each group will ask if

                      there are any questions and will clarify all terms, so that there is under-

                     standing for all class members.  After each presentation time will be

                     given to fill in summary sheets.

                5. After all presentations class will analyze why the colonist felt it necessary   

                      to write such a document and be able to state the philosophy of

                     government expressed in this document?

 Technology Component:  Students can record their modern versions in a power

                point presentation.

Resources:  The Declaration of Independence,  History Alive - TCI,  The American Nation.

Assessment:  Students will complete Declaration summary sheets.  Students will write

                 a summary of why the colonist felt it necessary to write the Declaration of

                Independence, including what the colonist hoped to gain, and the philosophy of

                government expressed in the document.  Students will be able to tell why this    

                document is still valuable today? Evaluate when group share their section with

                class.

Reflection:  What area of this lesson do you feel needs further development?

                Helping students become more analytical thinkers and looking beyond  just

                the basic meaning of the terms used.  Potential  problem areas - the element of

                time - having enough to do this topic justice;  cooperative group work -

                keeping all students successful involved.

Post Lesson Reflection

The Declaration of Independence did not have the impact on my students that I had thought it might.  I was, however, happy with the pre activity and discussion about anger and what kind of things can happen in one’s friendships that could cause a friendship to end.  I found that my students could intelligently discuss their personal experiences and make comparisons between  their answers and the reasons why colonists felt the need to be independent and free. Students had been ask to pair share their answers which got them talking and then I opened it to a whole group discussion, the discussion was lively and most seemed to be involved.   Then students were ask what they felt was the last straw bringing the colonist to revolt against Britain.

This was after  completing TCI colonial unrest activity and using the Colonial Unrest-O-Meters.  I found my students made good choices and had verifiable reasons to support their reasons.

This pre activity led us into analyzing the Declaration of Independence.  I felt this part of the lesson was difficult for my students.  They were divided into groups of four and each had a section, after discussing key vocabulary words, they were ask to put their section in words that third graders could understand. Most groups were unable to stretch themselves and try for understanding without my direct guidance.  Oral presentations to the whole class seemed to go a bit better and evidence of student understanding was seen in their note taking and questions after each presentation.

After discussing the whole document I felt they began to see just how significant the Declaration of Independence was for the colonists. They had a working understanding of what the colonist hoped to gain by writing the declaration and the type of government the colonist envisioned for themselves.  In this regard I think that the lesson was valuable.  Plus now with our constitution study is fully under way my students appear to more fully appreciate the insight and effort of the founding fathers in writing the Declaration of Independence. (They are also quite impressed with the Constitution, and how it has governed our country for 216 years).

For next year I think I would given them key vocabulary as part of the colonial unrest activity, so that understanding is already in place when we begin to talk about the actual document.  I would pay carefully attention to the formation of groups, something I thought I was doing, but it seems I could have made some better choices, as some groups needed repeated reminders to stay on task.  For assessment I use their Declaration summary sheets, both the written portion and the symbol they created.  I might modify that next year and use writing assignment to demonstrate understanding.  Another sight draw back to this assignment as the time factor.  It seemed to take more time that I originally planned for.  Maybe this is because of our shorter periods or maybe I need to keep them more directed when working within their groups.  Overall, I feel it is a valuable lesson and needs to be included in some format.