Why was the Declaration of Independence Necessary?
The Task: Research the causes and effects of the American Revolution. Create a newsletter to report the events of the
times and write an editorial about the Declaration of Independence.
Directions:
1. Use a variety of websites to research the battles, political events, and people of the revolutionary period in
American History.
2. Use the American Revolutionary War links from the Grade 5 Great
Links page for your research.
3. Create a new Appleworks page to collect your notes, photos, and
website addresses. Remember to use your own words when taking
notes.
hint: drag the photos and the URL addresses to your Appleworks
page
4. Create a new Pages newsletter from a template and write news
articles to report important events of the American Revolution.
Include at least one of each of these topics:
• a political problem for the colonists
• battle of the war
• important American involved in the Revolution
• editorial that gives your opinion about why the Declaration
was (or wasn’t) necessary to the colonists
Danbury Public Schools 3/2006
Teacher Page: Why was the Declaration of Independence Necessary?
Grade 5 Learning Guide Objectives:
Web sites:
Developing an Interpretation
Declaration of Independence http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3Reconstruct the chronology of critical events leading to the outbreak of war
5/documents/declaration/index.html
Examine the arguments about independence among patriots and loyalists
Chronicles of Liberty http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle.html
Explain how a decision was reached to declare independence
National Archives video http://videocast.nih.gov/sla/NARA/dsh/index.html
Examine the lives, views, and influence of key individuals
Use technology to organize information
Distinguish between different technologies and their uses
Take print and/or electronic notes in own words from several sources of information
Tip:
Making Connections
Simply drag the photo and
Understand how the thirteen colonies settled the question of governing themselves after declaring their independence from England
URL from the Internet to the
Create and use digital images in presentations
Give citation credit to original sources when using or transmitting information to others
student web page.
Critical Stance
Understand that the Declaration of Independence served as a unifying force throughout the American Revolution and set forth the basic rights of all people, the purpose of
government, and the powers in the consent of the government
Create and share clear and meaningful presentations that communicate information and new knowledge appropriate for a specific audience
Process:
1. In the classroom, use data projector with the class to visit and discuss the American Revolution, using the Chronicles of
Liberty site.
2. In the lab, or using the mobile lab, students use the two websites to research their choice of battles, political events, and
important people of the times. Create an Appleworks page to hold notes, photos, and source URLs.
3. In the classroom, discuss the difference between news articles and editorials, using examples from the News-Times.
4. In the lab, students use the program Pages to create a newspaper chronicling the events of the American Revolution, and an
editorial about the Declaration.
Differentiation:
1. Team students to research.
2. Students that need simple text can use alternative sites:
Assessment: Newsletter Rubric.
Danbury Public Schools 3/2006
Easier web sites:
Declaration of Independence
http://www.postdiluvian.org/~gilly/Schoolhouse_Rock/HTML/history/fireworks.html
Boston Massacre http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut/boston_1
Colonial army http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut/army_1
Paul Revere http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut/revoltn_1
Thomas Jefferson http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/jefferson/jefferson.html
Newsletter Rubric for Why was the Declaration of Independence Necessary?
Name: __________________________________________
3
2
1
Content
Includes at least 4 articles, one of
each topic:
• a political problem for the
colonists
• battle of the war
• important American involved in
the Revolution
• editorial on why the Declaration
was (or wasn’t) necessary to the
colonists
Includes at least 3 articles on
these topics:
• a political problem for the
colonists
• battle of the war
• important American involved
in the Revolution
• editorial on why the
Declaration was (or wasn’t)
necessary to the colonists
Includes fewer than 3 articles:
• a political problem for the
colonists
• battle of the war
• important American involved
in the Revolution
• editorial on why the
Declaration was (or wasn’t)
necessary to the colonists
Design
Newsletter page all all design
features:
• has Masthead
• uses headings
• uses same font style
• Good choice of color
Has at least 4 images.
Images are well chosen to help
illustrate articles.
The student editorial is based on at
least 3 facts and addresses why the
Declaration was needed (or not
needed).
Newsletter page includes most
design features:
• has Masthead
• uses headings
• uses same font style
• Good choice of color
Has at least 3 images.
Images are well chosen to help
illustrate articles.
The student editorial is based on
at least 2 facts and addresses
why the Declaration was needed
(or not needed).
Newsletter page has no
consistant design features;
• has Masthead
• uses headings
• uses same font style
• Good choice of color
Has fewer than 3 images.
Images are not well chosen to
help illustrate articles.
The student editorial is not based
on fact or does not address why
the Declaration was needed (or
not needed).
Images
Critical Stance
A= 10 to 12 points
B = 7 to 9 points
C = 4 to 6 points
Danbury Public Schools 3/2006