Language Arts: Week of February 2 - 6, Declaration of Independence cont.

Date: January 27, 2009
Teacher: Ms. Gene
Subject: 6th Language Arts
Persuasion, Lesson 9
Declaration of Independence, cont.

Standards:
Interpret and synthesize information from a variety of sources.
Use specific strategies to clear up confusing parts of a text.
Respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature to develop an awareness of perspectives.

What we will learn (objectives):
To develop analytical and interpretive skills in reading historical documents
To apply the elements of reasoning to an argument
To explore new vocabulary words
To develop persuasive writing skills
Describe and list the sections of the Declaration of Independence and explain the basic purpose of each.
Give an example of a document that served as a precedent for the Declaration.
List and explain one or more of the colonists' complaints included in the Declaration.
Demonstrate an awareness of the Declaration of Independence as a historical process developed in protest of unfair conditions.


What we will read or study (content):
The Declaration of Independence
Elements of Reasoning handout
Standards of Reasoning handout
Language of Persuasion handout

How we will study it (process):

Monday, February 2:

The general education teacher will have the students continue the Spelling Connections. As we progress toward the state test, ten minutes of each class will be used for student review based on the Spelling Connections and Learnia.

Tuesday, February 3

The gifted education teacher will complete the Declaration of Independence lesson this week. The general education teacher will help moderate and facilitate groups.

Lesson 3 The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

The Declaration of Independence was created in an atmosphere of complaints about the treatment of the colonies under British rule. In this unit, students will be given the opportunity to compose a document based on their own complaints; however, the resulting "declarations" might be more convincing if based on some models already proven effective. Provide every student with a transcript of the Declaration. There is no need to do a close reading of the entire document at this point. The immediate goal is to understand the structure of the document and the basic intent of each section. Discuss the Declaration with students, using the following section-by-section questions help students relate this overview of the Declaration to the previous discussion.

Preamble: the reasons for writing down the Declaration (from "WHEN, in the Course of human Events" to "declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation."). What reason(s) did the Founding Fathers give for their decision to write out a declaration?

Statement of beliefs: specifying what the undersigned believed, the philosophy behind the document (from "We hold these Truths to be self-evident" to "an absolute Tyranny over these States"). What beliefs did the Founding Fathers declare they held?

List of complaints: the offenses that impelled the declaration (from "To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World" to "unfit to be the ruler of a free people"). What are a few of the complaints? Are any specific events mentioned? If not, is the information given sometimes sufficient to figure out to which events the complaints refer?

Statement of prior attempts to redress grievances: (From "Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren," to "Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.") In what way(s) did the framers claim to have already tried in addressing the complaints?

Declaration of independence: (From "WE, therefore" to "and our sacred Honour.") What will change in the colonies as a result of the Declaration?

The signatures: Which signers do students recognize?


Wednesday, February 4
The gifted ed teacher will facilitate the reading of document. Students will then self-select with up to, but no more than, 8 teams. The teams will then rotate around the room to answer various questions regarding the document:

Word Choice: Jefferson uses the words “dissolve the political bands” to describe the efforts towards separation from Great Britain. What efforts were actually taking place to dissolve those bands? Why are the words “rebellion” and “revolution” not used?

Word Choice: Find several adjectives used to describe the people of the colonies and adjectives used to describe the British. How do the word choices influence the reader’s understanding of events?

Figurative Language: Find examples of figurative language in the Declaration. Why does Jefferson use the phrase “swarms of Officers” and compare the actions of the “foreign Mercenaries” to those of “the most barbarous ages?”

Sentence Patterns: Look at the series of sentences in which Jefferson outlines the actions of the King. How does each sentence begin? What is the effect of the repetition?

Sentence Patterns: Some of the most well-known words of this document are near the beginning – “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” and at the very end – “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” What do you notice about the structure of these two phrases?

Why do you think they are memorable? Why did Jefferson not include four or five items, or only one or two, in each case? Try to find other examples in the document of phrases which reflect numerical patterns.

Imitative Language Patterns: Why does Jefferson continually refer to Laws throughout the document?

Concrete and Abstract Images: Find the instances of the words “tyrant” and “tyranny” in the document. What are the implications of the words? Does Jefferson ever call the King a tyrant directly? Why or why not?

Concrete and Abstract Images: Why does Jefferson not refer to any specific dates, events or colonies in the document? How does he make the words generalizable across the thirteen colonies?

Both general education and gifted education teachers will be facilitating the groups to help direct to appropriate answers. Teams will be given between 5 – 7 minutes at each question.

Teams will then come together to discuss answers as a whole class.


Thursday, February 5

The general education teacher will have the students reflect on what they learned and discussed yesterday. The students will then individually answer the following question in an ACE+ format:

Imagine that you were one of the representatives at the Second Continental Congress. Would you have signed the Declaration right away, or would you have still argued about certain pieces of it? Why? What would have persuaded you one way or the other? Write a paragraph to explain your decision and reasons.

The students will then get into small groups and looking at their list of class complaints, will begin to draft their own declaration. The Declaration of Independence will serve as a model. The student document should contain the same sections.

Remind the students that tomorrow they will have a vocabulary test over words from the Declaration of Independence.

Friday, February 6

The students will quickly review the vocabulary words with each other (10 minutes during breakfast).
The student will take the vocabulary test.

The students will then finish their draft declaration and share with the other groups. Each group will sign theirs, and will be posted in the hall.



How we will know we learned something (product):
Literature Web
Vocabulary Web
Student Response journals
Student declaration
Vocabulary test

Who will score/grade what?:
To be determined

How will we differentiate content/process/product (if applicable):
Content: Declare the Causes lesson plan added to the W&M as a way for students to have a personal understanding of the document.

Process: n/a

Product: Student declaration


Extension: (if time)
*Do some research on Thomas Jefferson. Read a biography of Jefferson and find out what led him to be part of the Second Continental Congress and how he was chosen to write the Declaration. What other important documents did Jefferson write?

*Many other groups that have worked for liberty since the time of the American Revolution have used Jefferson’s words to inspire their own actions. Find out about other revolutions that have based their own work toward freedom on the Declaration of Independence.

*Read another famous document of American history, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Compare the Gettysburg Address to the Declaration of Independence. How did Lincoln imitate parts of the Declaration in order to make his own speech more effective? Complete a Literature Web for the Gettysburg Address, paying particular attention to key words and to structure.

Homework:
To be determined

What will we do at our next meeting?
Discuss how to incorporate Spelling Connections and Learnia needs into the W&M curriculum. Discuss when to assign the next cultural books, and how to have the students progress through them.