Making the Declaration of Independence Come Alive

Team teachers, Jason David and Emma Katznelson, bring the Declaration of Independence to life in an engaging lesson that examines the historical document and helps students to construct meaning based on its historical context and underlying themes.To open the lesson, Emma reads a fictitious break up letter that she later reveals is signed by the thirteen original colonies. The letter both engages students and reveals the underlying theme in the Declaration of Independence. Students' prior knowledge is assessed through a journal writing activity and discussion before Jason leads students in an overview of the historical context in which the document was written. To delve deeper into the actual document, students then read and annotate a portion of the Declaration focusing on four themes: social contract, the right to revolution, popular sovereignty and natural rights. This work provides the basis for the subsequent classroom discussion facilitated by teacher questions but almost entirely directed by students. These supports and structures allow students to understand a complex document thematically and linguistically, forming their own understanding and teaching one another. In closing, students are asked to form thoughts about what it means to be an American and how their understanding of the Declaration of Independence influences these thoughts.