55MinuteLessonPlan

CameronSluiterAustinWendt

October20,2015

U.S.History/Grade8

DeclarationofIndependence

Objective:
StudentswillbeabletounderstandtheimportanceoftheDeclarationofIndependenceinthe
UnitedStatesbyidentifyingeachcomponentoftheDeclarationanditspurpose.

CommonCoreStandard:
SSHS1C404
DescribetheimportancetheDeclarationofIndependencehadontheUnitedStatesofAmerica.

AnticipatorySet:
RecallfromyesterdaywhythecolonieswereangryatBritain.Whatwasoneimportantreason
whythecolonistswantedtoseparatefromGreatBritain?Youwillhave30secondstothinkand
talkwithelbowpartners.

Gooverthesomeoftheanswersthestudentsgivewhencalledonrandomlyusing
AskPauseCall.Oneteacherwillaskstudentsfortheiranswersandtheotherwillwritethreeof
themontheboard.

Transition:
TodaywearegoingtolearnabouttheimportancetheDeclarationofIndependencehadonthe
UnitedStatesbyidentifyingthespecificpartsofthedocumentanditsmajorthemes.

Information:
Wewillstartoffthelessonbygivingbackgroundinformationofthesigningdate,whowerethe
maincontributors(ThomasJefferson,JohnAdams,BenjaminFranklin,RogerShermanand
RobertR.Livingston)andwhowerethemajorinfluencesi.e.JohnLocke.

*ThestudentswillbegivenacopyoftheDeclarationofIndependence.Asthelessonhappens,
theteacherwillaskthestudentstocirclethepartoftheDeclarationthattheteacheristalking
aboutandwriteabriefdescriptionofwhythatpartisimportan
t.Theteacherswilltaketurnswill
dothefollowing.
OneteacherwillbereadingtheD.O.I.walkingtheroomthroughoutthelesson
tocheckandseeifstudentsaregettingitastheotherteacherwillmodelthiswithaSharpieanda
DocumentCamerasotheteachersworkisenlargedwiththeprojector.Thestudentswillbeable
tofollowalonghighlightingkeytermsorphraseswegoover.

WillwillthenlistthedifferentpartsoftheDeclarationofIndependence
Preamble,DeclarationofHumanRights,ListofGrievances,ResolutionofIndependence

Preamble
IDO:
Wewillexplainthatthepreambleisaparagraphexplainingthatwhenagroupfaces
injustice,theyhavetherighttoactandfightback.
RelatetheLawsofNatureandNaturesGodbacktotheenlightenmentthinkingwerecently
learnedabout
.Thepreamblestates
thattheymustdeclarewhytheywantseparationfromthe
king.

WEDO:
Theteacherandclasswillreadthissection
andwherewewillgoovertheimportance
ofJohnLockestheoriestheDeclarationofIndependence.Theotherteacherwillhighlightthe
phraseLawsofNatureandNaturesGodusingthedocumentcamera.

DeclarationofHumanRights

IDO:
WewillexplainthattheDeclarationofHumanRightssectionisaparagraphexplaining
whattheAmericansthoughtwerethebasichumanrightsthateveryhumanshouldhave.

WeDO:
Theteacherandclasswillreadthissection
andiswherewewillgooverthedifferent
themesoftheDeclarationofIndependence.Theotherteacherwillhighlightthephrasesusingthe
documentcamera.
Theseare:
Selfevidenttruths
*
Everyhumanhascertainrightsthatshouldneverbeviolated.
Theserightsshouldnotbe
questioned,becausenature'sGodbestowsthemtous.
TheRighttoRevolution
Theideathatwhenapeoplesrightsareviolatedbyagovernment,theyareallowedto
overthrowthatgovernmentinordertoestablishanewone.
ThePurposeoftheGovernment
Theprimarypurposeofagovernment,accordingtotheDeclaration,istoprotectthe
basicrightsofitspeople.
HumanEquality
*
Allmenarecreatedequal.Thewritersconflictwiththatduetothefactmanyhadslaves.
*
LimitstotheRightofRevolution
Lightandtransientcauses,evilsaresufferable
*
Measureofjustice

Consentofthegoverned

YOUDO:
CheckforUnderstanding:(usepopsiclesticksfornames)
WhatyearwastheDeclarationofIndependencesigned?
Nametwopeoplewhohelpedformthedocument?
WhatisthefirstpartoftheDeclarationofIndependenceandwhatisitsmainpurpose?
WhatisthesecondpartoftheDeclarationofIndependenceandwhatisitsmainpurpose?

ListofGrievances:
IDO:
TheteacherwillexplainthatthissectionisalistofallthehumanrightsthatAmericans
thinktheBritishgovernmenthadviolated,it'salistofalltheTyrannicalactsthatthecolonists
sufferedundertheruletheBritishgovernment,it'stheirprooftotheworldthattheymust
becometheirownnation,andHerefersdirectlytotheking.

WEDO:
Theteacherwillreadpreviouslymarkedexamplesthatrecallbacktopreviouslearning
andthebellwork.Theotherteacherwillhighlightagainusingthedocumentcamera.

YOUDO:
CheckforUnderstanding:(usepopsiclesticksfornames)
Canyourecallfrompreviouslessons,whateventsarethesegrievancesreferringtoo?
(Bostonmassacre,quarteringtroops,etc.)

ResolutionofIndependence
IDO:
TheteacherwillexplainthatthispartfinallydeclaresthattheUnitedStatesisitsown
countrynow.

WEDO:
Theteacherwillreadthissectionaloudwhilestudentsfollow.Theotherteacherwill
highlightpartswhileexplainingthecolonistsstatetheyhavetriedtoaddressthesegrievances
beforetakingthisactionagainsttheBritishgovernment,andthegovernmenthasdonenothingto
changethesepleasusingthedocumentcamera.

*YOUDO:
StudentswilldotheactivitySummingUp.Studentsaregroupedinthreesbybeing
givenapapersquareofacertaincolortheywouldhavepickedupatthebeginningofclass.The
studentwhoiswearingthemostbluewillthethegroupsspokesperson.Eachgroupwillbe
invitedtocompletethefollowingtasks.Theywillhavefiveminutestodiscussandsharetheir
opinions.Eachstudentshouldsharesomethingforeachquestion.
Thenthespokespersonfrom
eachgroupwillstandupandsaytheiranswersaloud.


Thetaskswillbeto:
Tellthegroupwhattheythinkisthemostimportantpartofthelesson
PredicthowtheBritishwillrespondwhentheyhearabouttheDeclaration
HypothesizewhatwouldhavehappenediftherehadbeennoDeclaration

Beforethestudentsseparateintotheirgroups,theteacherswillaskquestionstocheckfor
understanding:

Ask:
Whowillyoubeworkingwith?
Howlongdoyouhavetoanswerthesequestions.Theotherteacherwilllistthemonthe
board.
Whoisgoingtobeyourgroup'sspokesperson?

*ExtendedPractice:
Thefollowingworkwillbedonebythestudentsoutsideofclassandbeturnedin
tomorrow.Thiswillbehandedoutaftertheactivity.

Studentswillwriteaparagraphasiftheywereapersonwhohadjustsignedthe
DeclarationofIndependence.Intheparagraph,theywillincludeonesentenceabouttheir
attitudetowardeachofthesethemes:purposeofgovernment,humanequalityandrightto
revolution.Studentswillalsowriteatleasttwosentencesabouttheirfeelingsaboutthe
Declarationthebestpartaboutit,whathappensifwefail,etc.Toend,studentswillwritea
sentenceabouttheirviewofthefutureofAmerica.

Closure(Ticketoutthedoor):
10centsummary:
Thestudentshave10wordstosummarizewhattheyhavelearnedfromtodayslesson.Ona
pieceofpaper,eachstudentwillhave1minutetowriteasummaryusingthegivenruleof
exactlytenwords.Oncecompleted,elbowpartnerswillhave30secondstoreadeachothertheir
summaries.Thetallestpartnerwillpresenttheirsummarytotheirpartnerwhiletheotherlistens
andviceversawhenthatpartnerisdone.Afterthe30seconds,thesignalofCopyclapping
willbegivenandthestudentswillthenreadtoeachothertheirownsummaries.Afterthatthe
teacherwillchooseanumberofstudentsusingthepopsiclestickstoreadwhattheyhavelearned
aloud.

Ask:
Pleasepointtoyourelbowpartner.


Whogetstoreadfirst?

HowlongdoyouhavebeforeIgivethesignaltoreadyoursummaries?

Someonepleasesummarizeforuswhatweareabouttodo.
Teacherwillwalkaroundtheroomlisteningforcorrectanswers.

Materials:
Paper
pencil
CopyofDeclarationofInd.
PopsicleStickswithnames
Cutoutpapersquares
DocumentCamera

Assessment:
WhatmajorthemeoftheDeclarationofIndependenceisthephraseLife,Liberty,and
thePursuitofHappinessanexampleof
?*Revision
WhowasthemaincontributorinwritingtheDeclarationofIndependence.Namesomeof
hisinfluencesinwritingit,explainusingpartfromtheDeclaration
?*Revision
WhatarethreebasicrightsforhumanbeingsaccordingtotheDeclarationof
Independence?
NamethefourpartsoftheDeclarationofIndependence.
ListtworeasonshowAmericansjustifiedleavingBritain.
WhywastheDeclarationofIndependencewritten?
Explaininyourownwordswhatapreamblewasdeclaring.
Writeasentenceincludingtheword,Unalienable
WhatisthepurposeagovernmentaccordingthetheDeclaration?
WhatthemeoftheDeclarationdoyouthinkismostrelevanttoAmericanstoday?