SS.8.CG.3.1

In this lesson plan, students will be introduced to a breakup letter to King George from the Founders. They will then read, analyze, and annotate the key points of the Declaration of Independence and answer guiding questions. This lesson is intended to set the stage for upcoming lessons on the course of the American Revolution.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a lesson plan about the seven principles of the Constitution.

The purposes of this lesson are as follows:

To help students understand the primary principles and ideals behind our Constitutional form of government, some of the authors, documents and people involved in developing and promoting these ideals and principles, as well as recognizing examples of these ideals and principles in our history as a nation.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson concludes the Declaring Independence unit. Students will apply through writing, what they have learned about the structure, content, and principles in the Declaration of Independence.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will examine the original text of the Declaration of Independence. This is Lesson 2 of 3 in the Declaring Independence unit.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will use primary sources to examine the principles of indidividual rights and consent of the governed. They will be introduced to the structure and content of the Declaration of Independence. This is Lesson 1 of 3 in the Declaring Independence unit.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read excerpts from Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and identify the underlying foundational ideals of the U.S. government. Students will then make their own modern pamphlets to sway colonists in support of the American Revolution.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze colonial maps, holistic and regional, to recognize the geographic locations of US colonial settlements. They will describe the characteristics of each region and close by brainstorming the challenges and viewpoints each area might have encountered. Students will also review the language of the Mayflower Compact and assess how geographical characteristics would have influenced the creation of colonial governments.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will review the basic rules for effective paraphrasing. Students will read a short speech that President Abraham Lincoln delivered to Union troops during the civil war. They will paraphrase several key sections to strengthen their paraphrasing skills and analyze the use of figurative language to deepen their knowledge of the United States' foundational principles. Students will also answer text-dependent questions to further analyze Lincoln’s remarks.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read Elizabeth Cady Stanton's "Declaration of Sentiments," delivered at America's first women's rights convention in the United States, the Seneca Falls Convention. Students will identify the rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos) Stanton uses throughout her speech. Students will explain how Stanton's varied purposes are achieved through those appeals.

Students will also complete text-dependent questions to further analyze the speech. As part of this analysis, they will make connections between Stanton's speech and the foundational principles established in the Declaration of Independence.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will read Sojourner Truth’s "Ain't I a Woman?" speech that was delivered in Akron, Ohio at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention. Students will analyze two distinct central ideas that emerge in her speech. They will identify textual evidence within the speech that supports each central idea. Students will also read and study the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution in order to make connections between the two texts.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson will be taught at the end of the Civil War unit prior to Lincoln’s assassination. Through multiple readings of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, students will analyze his words as they relate to what has taken place over the last four years and what he sees as the nation’s future, that is, Reconstruction.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will use primary sources to learn about the constitutional principles included in Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Then, they will form their own proposal in response to Lincoln's goal of achieving equality.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson will examine the reasons and consequences of Native American populations west of the Mississippi River. A guided presentation will be used to introduce students to the growing population and size of the United States, legal attempts of Native Americans to protect their land, and the consequences of relocation. While going through the guided presentation, students will complete guided notes, formative assessment questions, and key vocabulary terms. After the lesson a guided practice is included for students to complete that includes primary source language from two major Supreme Court cases.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will be able to identify key individuals who contributed to the founding documents (Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, and George Mason).

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, delivered in 1851 to men and women attending the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. Students will analyze how the use of rhetorical appeals, specifically ethos, helps Truth establish and achieve her purpose. Students will describe how this use of ethos supports Truth’s purpose to persuade Americans to support equal voting rights, especially for women, citing text evidence when appropriate.

Students will complete text-dependent questions to clarify their comprehension of the speech. In addition, they will make connections between Truth’s speech and the foundational principles expressed in an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will be able to identify George Mason and his contributions to the Bill of Rights.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will become familiar with the first Chief Justice, John Jay, and his contributions to the foundation of the American government, as well as his contribiutions to The Federalist Papers.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will use primary sources to identify the constitutional principles of individual rights and the social contract within the Declaration of Sentiments.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson asks students to identify the cause and effect between grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence and the British Act or even that caused the colonists to declare their independence from Great Britain.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will take a Gallery Walk with a partner to identify how four colonial-era founding documents: the Mayflower Compact, Common Sense, Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution, have influenced the ideals and principles of our U.S. government and impact our daily lives. Students will trace the foundational principles from each primary source and answer questions on a Graphic Organizer.  Each group will present their analysis to the class with an oral or digital presentation. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will recognize the views of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists on adding the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. Students will evaluate primary source excerpts from the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers and explain which perspective each provides.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will learn how the Declaration of Independence influenced support for the American Revolution. Students will work in groups to analyze excerpts from the Declaration of Independence.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze the Declaration of Independence, one of America's founding documents. Students will analyze two central ideas of this text and their supporting evidence. Students will also answer text-dependent questions to convey their understanding of the text, and they'll examine the foundational ideals and principles that are expressed within the document. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read and analyze 3 source documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address. Students will first read the documents independently and annotate them. Students will then work cooperatively to compare and contrast the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address and look for the influence of the Declaration of Independence on both.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read President George W. Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation,” delivered in the evening of September 11th, 2001. Students will analyze the two distinct central ideas that emerge in the speech. They will identify the textual evidence within the speech that supports each central idea.

Students will also complete text-dependent questions to further analyze the speech. As part of this analysis, they will make connections between President Bush’s speech and the ideas expressed in the Preamble of the Constitution.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this interactive tutorial hosted by "Bill" O. Rights, learn in great detail about the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this interactive tutorial, analyze all 10 Amendments that make up the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution. You'll learn not only about the rights and freedoms guaranteed by each, but also the limits of those rights.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how several famous documents influenced the views of American colonists when they sought their independence from Great Britain and formed their own government. In this interactive tutorial, you'll learn about the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the Mayflower Compact, and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This Grade 8 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 3 at this grade level.

Type: Teaching Idea

This Tic Tac Toe activity is intended to allow students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of British policies and colonial concerns of the American Revolutionary period.  

Type: Teaching Idea

Student will first examine quotes from the pamphlet, Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine in 1775-1776. Students will look on the influence it had on the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776. Students will have the opportunity to see how the document Common Sense influenced the Declaration of Independence.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource provides teachers with the tools to help students analyze Samuel Adams' "The Rights" of the Colonists" by paraphrasing content and using context clues to understand vocabulary necessary for comprehension.

Type: Text Resource