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Lesson 2

We will view a recording of college students talking about what it means to be American. We will read the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence and listen to a variety of voices read the Declaration of Independence aloud. We will discuss how hearing the Declaration of Independence being read aloud by different people changes, enhances, or shapes our understanding of the text, and we will use a Reading Closely Tool to help us establish our understanding of the text.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I determine the central ideas of a grade-appropriate, complex text and analyze how they are developed?

  • Can I explain how the language of a text establishes and communicates its purpose?

  • Can I begin to express an understanding of how the Declaration of Independence defines what it means to be an American?

  • Can I follow agreed-upon norms and engage actively when discussing with various partners?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • The Declaration of Independence, Second Continental Congress, Public Domain, 1776
  • Digital Access
    • “What Does It Mean to Be an American?,” Amy Pearl & Jennifer Hsu, WNYC Studios, October 12, 2016
    • “What the Declaration of Independence Really Claimed,” Randy Barnett, The Washington Post, July 4, 2015

Optional

  • Digital Access
    • “A July 4 Tradition: NPR Reads the Declaration of Independence,” Thomas Jefferson, read by NPR staff, National Public Radio, July 4, 2019

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: View – Discuss

We will watch a video of different people explaining what it means to be an American.

Watch “What Does It Mean to Be an American.” Respond to the following questions with a partner:

  1. What could you identify with in the video?

  2. What was new to you or challenged your beliefs?

  3. How did the video support or challenge what you learned from the poll you took for homework?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Listen

We will read and discuss a section of The Declaration of Independence.

Step 1

For this activity, you will use a Vocabulary Journal, which you will maintain for the entire unit.

What do you know about the Declaration of Independence? Discuss the questions below and add definitions, examples, and nonexamples to your Vocabulary Journal.

  1. What does the word declaration mean?

  2. What is an example of a declaration?

  3. What is a nonexample of a declaration?

  4. What does the word independence mean?

  5. What is an example of independence?

  6. What is a nonexample of independence?

Step 2

Read and analyze the first two and last two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. Considering what you know about American history, predict who would have been considered “we” at the country’s founding.

Answer the following examples:

  1. Who do you think would have been considered “we”?

  2. Who do you think would have not been considered “we”?

  3. What does the text say or omit that leads you to those conclusions?

Follow along as your teacher, partner, or classmate reads aloud the first two and last two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence aloud. Underline words and phrases you understand. Discuss the following questions either in small groups or as a whole class:

  1. What do you notice about the text?

  2. What do you understand about the text?

  3. What questions do you have about the text?

Activity 3: Write – Discuss

Work in pairs on Attending to Details Tool to help you establish your understanding of the text.

Step 1

Read the last sentence of paragraph 2 of The Declaration of Independence:

“To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”

Then, skim the facts, focusing on the following questions:

  1. Who is “he”?

  2. What did “he” do?

Choose one of the facts, work with a partner, and note in the margin what you think the fact is about.

Step 2

Review the Attending to Details Tools with your instructor.

Then use the Attending to Details Tool to answer one of the following guiding questions about the central ideas:

  1. Why are the signers declaring their independence?

  2. What do the signers believe are important qualities of a government?

  3. How do the signers develop the central ideas throughout the text?

Discuss the following questions with your partner. Annotate the text as you discuss.

  1. What is the tone of the Declaration of Independence?

  2. What words or phrases create that tone?

  3. To whom does the declaration apply?

  4. Who is missing from the declaration?

  5. What do you notice about the list of signatories?

Activity 4: Listen – Write

We will listen to a modern reading of The Declaration of Independence.

Listen to “A July 4 Tradition: NPR Reads the Declaration of Independence.”

Note any new understandings you get from the text from hearing it read aloud by diverse voices.

Respond to the following question:

  1. How does hearing the Declaration of Independence being read aloud by a variety of people help your understanding or modernize the declaration?

Activity 5: Read – Write

We will continue reading about The Declaration of Independence.

Access the online The Washington Post article “What the Declaration of Independence Really Claimed” by Randy Barnett.

  1. What do you now understand or understand differently about the Declaration of Independence after reading the text?

Write down any new or interesting words from the text in your Vocabulary Journal.