Declaration of Independence - Class Recap

The Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan, New York City. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Another "short" week done! Thanks for participating today and for the fun in constructing your new governments. Here's what we did today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.04: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.05: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga & Colby O’Donis. Selected because of MORP this weekend! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/21/14:
News Brief
Declaration of Independence
Creation of a Nation

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Rachel.

News Brief: Hailey had the news brief today and needs to email me her report with the link for credit.

Declaration of Independence: To start this section, I played Morgan Freeman's introduction in this video:

Then, I passed out a copy of the text of the Declaration of Independence, and asked students to get into groups of two and summarize the first bit of it (up until "He has refused his Assent to Laws") in your own words. We went over this as a class, then looked at the specific reasons outlined to revolt against the King.

Creation of a Nation: Of course, it is not enough to merely declare independence - a new country had to be formed from scratch! There were all sorts of issues with the Articles of Confederation, which formed the first U.S. Government. We looked into some of those, then I had students break up into groups of 4 to start the new nation project. Next class, we will keep working on this some more. The elements required are:

1. A Declaration of Independence (explaining 6-8 reasons for separating the western United States from the rest of the country).

2. A new national flag that symbolizes what your nation stands for. Include a description of all the symbols and colors.

3. A paragraph summary of what influences you used in creating your new constitution.

4. A new Constitution with responses to the following questions: What purpose will this government serve? How will the government be organized? How will you ensure that the government is run correctly? What if it becomes corrupt? What will be done to give each state a fair voice? If there will be voting, who is eligible to vote? Who is eligible to run for office? Is there one person in charge? What powers does that person have, and what happens if they abuse their powers? How much say does each state have in how it governs its own citizens?

Let me know if you need any help with directions on this! Have a great weekend - see you on Tuesday!