Teaching the Declaration of Indpendence

Using the Nearpod lesson “The Declaration of Independence--The Great Break-Up Story,” teach students about the reasons behind the DoI.  This Nearpod also walks students through the difficult language of the 18th Century and “translates” it into modern English. It includes short videos and quick checks for understanding.  

In addition to the info in the Nearpod, teachers should explain the parts of the declaration (the preamble, natural rights, list of grievances, resoultion.

As a follow--up, students can write their own Declarations based on a list of grievances.  They can create it using Google Docs.  Be sure to emphasize the parts of a good declaration and the power of loaded words, logos and pathos, etc.

Have students present their Declaration to the class or use VoiceThread, Vocaroo, or Voki to record it.  

Have students share the Google Doc of their Declarations with a partner.  The partner watches/listens to the other's Declaration and and use the comment feature in Google Docs to identify parts of the declaration and to give feedback on their speaking skills