Unit Title ‖ Lesson Title : D.O.I.

Reading

Goals & Objectives

Lesson Goals: Students will read the Declaration of Independence as a whole-class reading,
and together, annotate the document to analyze the meaning and purpose of the document.

Lesson Objectives: Students will write a minimum of 15 annotation notes on the

Declaration of Independence.

California State Content Standards

11.1 Students analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its
attempts to realize the philosophy of government described in the Declaration
of Independence.
1. Describe the Enlightenment and the rise of democratic ideas as the context in which
the nation was founded.
2. Analyze the ideological origins of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers’
philosophy of divinely bestowed unalienable natural rights, the debates on the
drafting and ratification of the Constitution, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.

Common Core Literacy Standards

CCSS HSS RST 1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and
secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

CCSS HSS RST 2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary
source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course
of the text.

Driving Historical Question

How did the Enlightenment influence the Declaration of Independence?

What does the Declaration of Independence say?

What was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence?

Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge) ‖ Time: 15

minutes.
The lesson introduction will utilize a whip around strategy. The teacher will pose a
question, and the students will be asked to respond individually. The whip around strategy
asks students to, one-by-one, identify one thing they already know or have learned. The
question that will be posed for this whip around activity would be “ What does
independence mean to you?” The students would then respond, and as students respond
the teacher may ask questions of the students, asking students to elaborate on their
answers. The whip around activity is designed to assess student’s prior knowledge on the
topic of independence. Students will demonstrate their understanding of a idea and how
that idea relates to their life. This whip it around activity will also allow the teacher to
better relate the lesson to students experiences, interests, and ideas.

Vocabulary (Content Language Development) ‖

Vocabulary that will be highlighted

- Natural Rights
- Unalienable
- Abolish
- Endowed
- Tyrant
- Independence

This assignment asks students to read a document and annotate. Annotation is a note
taking and comprehension tool where students break down a documents ideas and
vocabulary. The vocabulary development will be infused throughout the reading and the
annotation, and any complex vocabulary terms will be defined and discussed during
reading/annotation.

Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) ‖ Time: 30 minutes

The content delivery method for this instruction is a popcorn reading strategy with
annotation. Annotation is writing notes directly onto the document, defining vocabulary,
making connections, asking guided questions, and is a way for students to really engage
with a resource and dissect it. The instruction will begin with the teacher passing out the
document, the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. As the teacher passes out the
document there will be some review of the previous lesson, to set up the Declaration of
Independence, and put it in context. The teacher will lead a class discussion/review on the
causes of the American Revolution, the various Acts, and confrontations that led up to the
D.O.I. The class will then do popcorn reading, with each student who reads reading only a
few lines.

The teacher will begin by first annotating the title of the document. We will break down
word like Declaration and Independence and discuss the meaning of those words in the
context of the content.

The popcorn reading will now begin, and the teacher will choose a student to read the first
few lines. The class will read a few lines, and then come back and annotate those lines. The
class will break them down for their meaning and purpose. Then the student will popcorn
another student in the class, and that student will read the next few lines, and then more
annotation. This process will continue until the entire Preamble to the Declaration of
Independence is read and annotated. Discussion will be encouraged throughout
annotation, to clarify meaning and clear up any misconceptions. During the annotation, the
teacher will model the annotation for students through the use of a projector. The teacher
will project annotations for the whole class to see, modeling the activity. The teacher will
annotate the document with the help of the students; the students will have to be actively
contributing. The teacher will ask guided questions to get the students to think about an
issue, and ask for the students to associate vocabulary with other words and ideas to aid in
clarification. The students will turn in their annotation on the following day, being given
the opportunity to do additional annotation at home, to ensure they have 15 annotation
notes.

Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) ‖

The first student engagement activity is the whip around activity. This student activity asks
students to respond to a question presented by the teacher. The students will be required
to briefly state their response orally, to the whole class. The students will receive oral
feedback directly from the teacher. The students are expected to reflect on their knowledge
and respond thoughtfully.

The next student activity is the popcorn reading and annotation. The students will be
expected to read out loud to the whole class, and then pass the reading to another student,
who will then read the next passage to the whole class. Students will be expected to read if
called upon. When students are not reading they are expected to sit attentively, and reflect
on what they are hearing/reading. The students will guide the annotation, so they will be
expected to actively contribute and follow along with the annotation. The students should
write all annotation notes the teacher writes on the projector. The students should also
write additional notes that will help in their individually clarity. The students should ask
clarifying questions, help making word associations, and draw links between ideas, all
which should be noted in the annotation. The students are required to have 15 annotation
notes, most of which will be modeled in class. The students will need to do additional
annotation at home until they have 15 annotations notes. They will turn in their
annotations on the following day.

Lesson Closure ‖ Time: 10 minutes

The lesson closure activity will be a whip around activity, in the same fashion as the lesson
introduction. Using the whip around activity at the introduction and at the lesson closure
will allow the teacher to progress monitor student’s comprehension, and assess how far
students have come since the beginning of the lesson The students will be asked the same
question as they were asked in the lesson introduction, “What does Independence mean to
you?” Students will quickly briefly discuss their responses with the class, one-by-one, until
all students have shared. The teacher may ask students to elaborate on their response.
Assessments (Formative & Summative)

The reading and annotation activity will include whole-class discussion. The whole class
discussion throughout the reading and annotation activity will serve as an informal
formative assessment, allowing the teacher to progress monitor student comprehension.

The students will turn in their annotated documents, which will serve as a summative
assessment. The student’s annotation should demonstrate their engagement and
comprehension of the document, and they will receive written feedback on this assignment.
The students will receive a score, based on their engagement with the document and
comprehension demonstrated, with a maximum score of 10 points.

Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs

An accommodation for English Learners will be to provide students with a copy of the
Preamble to the Declaration of Independence translated in their native language. This will
enable EL students to work closely with the document and support their comprehension of
the content and English language development skills.

Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)

The only resource for this lesson will be a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Each
student will receive a copy of only the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. The
whole document is more extensive than can be covered through the lesson, so we will just
use the Preamble. The teacher will also need a projector, to project teacher annotation and
demonstrate to the class.