The Idea of America

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 11.03.10

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Rationale
  2. Objective
  3. Research
  4. Unit Lesson Plan
  5. End Notes
  6. Teacher Resources
  7. California State Standards

The Declaration of Independence: Still Inspiring Americans to Fight for Freedom!

Laura Turner

Published September 2011

Tools for this Unit:

Teacher Resources

Martin Luther King Jr.

www.nobelpeacelaureates.org/pdf/American_Peacemakers.pdf This has curriculum for American Nobel Peace Laureates

www.nobelprize.org This has video and facts on all of the nobel peace prize winners.

Barack Obama

www.americanrhetoric.com/ This is an online speech bank of many famous speeches. It also includes videos for some.

Cesar Chavez

www.ufw.org This has many resources for teachers and lesson plans

http://chavez.cde.ca.gov/modelcurriculum/teachers/index1aspx This has model curriculum and resources for K-12 grade teachers

Jane Addams

www.nobelpeacelaureates.org/pdf/American_Peacemakers.pdf This has curriculum for American Nobel Peace Laureates

Other Children Who Experienced Injustice

Eve Bunting "One Green Apple" (New York: Clarion Books) 2006.

Helen Recorvits "My Name Is Yoon" (New York: Frances Foster Books) 2003.

Sharon Dennis Wyeth "Something Beautiful" (New York: Dragonfly Books) 1998.

Todd Parr "It's Okay to Be Different" (New York: Little, Brown and Company) 2001.

Yangsook Choi "The Name Jar" (New York: Dragonfly Books) 2001.

Comments:

Mary Ryan

December 16, 2017 at 5:26 pm

Great lesson plan

I really like the historical background and culturally responsive framework of this lesson. I was looking for approaches to teaching the Declaration of Independence to my English Learners as well as native 5th grade students. Although this lesson was designed for younger students, there are many elements that I can be used with any age group. It also helped me understand why this document is important to all Americans. Thank you.

Mary Ryan

December 16, 2017 at 5:30 pm

Excellent lesson

All Americans benefit from the inalienable rights provided for in the Declaration of Independence: \\"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness\\" 2. Americans continually strive for freedom, liberty and equality. Those words inspire the hope of endless possibilities for all Americans. The Declaration of Independence is the primary document that built this great nation and with it that hope. It is a vision statement for the country. At its core it provides hope for Americans, especially the disenfranchised who have the ability to rise above persecution (even government persecution) and establish rights for themselves. America has been blessed with many freedom fighters.

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