Lesson Plan Template
Name: LISA TAFF, JESSICA MOJICA, MELISSA SHEPPARD, ASHLEY SWINK
Lesson Title: Thomas Jefferson and the American Revolution
Rationale for Instruction
A rationale is an essential part of thoughtful
planning of classroom instruction. This is a
brief written statement of the purpose for
instruction and the connection of the
purpose to instruction that has come before
and will follow.
CCSS (LAFS/MAFS)/Next
Generation Sunshine State
Standards
List each standard that will be addressed
during the lesson. Cutting and pasting from
the website is allowed. You must have a
minimum of 3 standards that represent
multiple content areas identified in this
portion of the lesson plan.
These can be downloaded from the Florida
Dept of Education
www.cpalms.org/homepage/index.aspx.
Grade Level: 5TH
Lesson Length: 120 MINUTES
The American Revolution took place between 1765 and 1783, during which colonists in the Thirteen American colonies
maintained by force of arms their refusal to submit to the authority of King George III of Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson was
a very important figure during the American Revolution, and is even now considered one of the Founding Fathers of the
United States. He had many great accomplishments, namely his drafting of the Declaration of Independence. Students should
study and understand the importance of the Declaration of Independence, and how it outlined and shaped how the country that
they live in should be governed, and the unalienable rights of the people who live in the United States.
NCSS Theme: Time, Continuity, and Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of the past and its legacy. The relationships between people, places, and environments.
Studying the past makes it possible for us to understand the human story across time.
Knowledge and understanding of the past enable us to analyze the causes and consequences of events and
developments, and to place these in the context of the institutions, values and beliefs of the periods in which they took
place.
Children in early grades learn to locate themselves in time and space.
The impact of the American Revolution on politics, economy, and society.
The institutions and practices of government created during the Revolution and how the Constitution shaped America.
SS.5.A.1.1: Use primary and secondary sources to understand history.
SS.5.A.5.2: Identify significant individuals and groups who played a role in the American Revolution.
SS.2.C.3.1: Identify the Constitution as the document which establishes the structure, function, powers, and limits of
American government.
SS.5A.5.10: Examine the significance of the Constitution including its key political concepts, origins of those concepts, and
their role in American democracy.
LAFS.5.RF.4.4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Read on-level text with purpose and understanding
LAFS.5.RI.1.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from
the text.
LAFS.5.RL1.2: Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize
the text.
LAFS.5.RL.1.3: Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a
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Learning Objectives
What will students know and be able to .do
at the end of this lesson? Be sure to set
significant (related to CCSS/LAFS/MAFS,
and NGSSS), challenging, measurable and
appropriate learning goals!
Lesson Plan Template
historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
LAFS.5.W.3.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or
events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]).
b. Apply grade 5 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to
support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point[s]).
Writing
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection,
organization, and analysis of relevant content.
Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader
categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and
examples.
Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Establish and maintain a formal style.
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
UNDERSTANDING GOAL: Students will understand the text of the Declaration of Independence.
Why it was written?
What are the central ideas of the Declaration?
What ideas and legacy from the Declaration of Independence are important to you in the 21st century?
OBJECTIVE: Students will learn how to read a timeline, examine and interpret primary sources and using critical thinking
skills to write an essay on the Declaration of Independences enduring ideas and legacy in todays world.
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Student Activities &
Procedures
Design for Instruction
What best practice strategies will be
implemented?
How will you communicate student
expectation?
What products will be developed and
created by students?
Consider Contextual Factors (learning
differences/learning environment) that
may be in place in your classroom.
Lesson Plan Template
OVERVIEW:
Thomas Jefferson was tasked in writing the Declaration of Independence. On July 2, 1776, Congress approved Lees
resolution for Americas independence from Great Britain by a 12-0 vote (New York abstained). With independence adopted,
Congress spent the next two days editing Jeffersons draft of the Declaration. On July 4, 1776, Congress formally adopted the
Declaration of Independence and sent it to the printer for duplication and distribution.
Step 1: Tell your students that they will be examining the Declaration of Independence and determining key ideas in the
Declaration and what it meant then and today.
ELL/ESE:
Supply written format of the Declaration of Independence.
Highlight key terms.
Reinforce key ideas and terms.
Step 2: Instruct the students on a piece of paper and in one sentence, write down why America celebrates the 4th of July
holiday. While the students are writing their sentences, project the PowerPoint slide on the Smart Board/ Projector. Review
the student answers in the class.
ELL/ESE: Prewrite out sentence, and have them fill in the blank.
Step 3: Pass out a blank Venn diagram to all the students. Break the students into groups of two. Have each student pair
compare and contrast the duties of citizenship in 1776 to the duties of citizenship in 2017. Allow five minutes for each
student pair to complete its Venn diagram. Project a slide with a blank Venn diagram on the Smart Board/ Projector. After
five minutes have gone by, randomly select four student groups to share their Venn diagram with the class. The teacher will
write the student answers on the Venn diagram slide.
ELL/ESE:
Pair with English L1 peer.
Structure advance organizers consisting of new terminology.
Step 4: Explain to the students that they will now be determining who and what inspired the Declaration of Independence.
Project three slides on the Smart Board/Projector: short biographies of John Locke, George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson.
ELL/ESE:
Provide handwritten biographies of the John Locke, George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson.
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 Lesson Plan Template
Step 5: Explain to the students that they will determine how the Declaration of Independence was formulated. Break the
students into groups of four. Pass out to each student a copy of the timeline on the formation of the Declaration of
Independence. Then, pass out to each group a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Lastly, pass out to each student a
copy of the Declaration of Independence Organizer.

ELL/ESE: Pair with English L1 peer.

Step 6: The teacher will instruct the students on how to complete the graphic organizer. The teacher will explain to the
students that within each group of four, each student will be assigned a task. One student will determine the two central ideas
of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence as well as determining the Committee of Five. The second student will
determine the four central ideas from the section Natural Rights of Men. The third student will determine the two central
ideas of the Lists of Grievances and the importance of July 2nd and July 4th. The fourth student will determine the three
central ideas of the Announcement of Separation. The students may use the text of the Declaration of Independence and the
timeline to complete their assignment. The teacher will project a slide describing the four parts of the Declaration. At the end
of the graphic organizer, the teacher will randomly select groups of students to share their answers with the class. The teacher
will direct the students to give the teacher their Declaration of Independence graphic organizers for a completion grade.

ELL/ESE:
Direct instruction: Display a model of expectations for each part of the Graphic Organizer.
Demonstrate how to use graphic organizers like semantic mapping and imaging.
Step 7: After the students have completed their Declaration of Independence graphic organizer, the teacher will show a
YouTube video, Too Late to Apologize. After the video, discuss students reactions/thoughts about the video.

Step 8: Hand out to each student a blank index card. The students will write on their cards what they learned from the lesson
and give the completed cards to the teacher. The teacher will review the cards for student learning.

ELL/ESE:
Allow additional time to complete assignment.
Allow group discussion before completing assignment.
Peer assistance.

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Assessment
How will student learning be assessed?
Authentic/Alternative assessments?
Does your assessment align with your
objectives, standards and procedures?
Informal assessment (multiple modes):
participation rubrics, journal entries,
collaborative planning/presentation notes
Resources/Materials
Exceptionalities
What accommodations or modifications do
you make for ESOL, Gifted/Talented
students, Learning/Reading disabilities, etc.
These accommodations and/or
modifications should be listed within the
procedures section of the lesson plan as
well as in this section of the document.
Lesson Plan Template
- Explain to the students that their final lesson will be writing an on the central ideas and legacy of the Declaration of
Independence in todays world.
ELL/ESE:
Use a prefilled Graphic Organizer, labelled with key concepts.
Model essay format.
Dont take away points for handwriting and misspelling.
Shorten and break-up sentences.
Show connection between reference words and their referents.
Provide simple definitions for idioms and phrasal verbs.
Frequent comprehension checks.
- The students will complete their graphic organizer using the Declaration of Independence materials.
- The students will return their completed essays to the teacher for a grade.
- The teacher will use the essays to determine what the students have learned about the Declaration of Independence.
Smart Board/Projector
Declaration of Independence PowerPoint
Venn Diagram
Declaration of Independence Web guide (includes timeline)
Declaration of Independence Organizer
Too Late to Apologize YouTube Video
HBOs John Adams clipSigning of the Declaration YouTube Video
Index cards (for exit tickets)
Worksheet: Rephrasing the Declaration of Independence
PRIMARY SOURCES
John Locke Excerpt
Virginia Declaration of Rights Excerpt
Declaration of Independence (Handout for class)
ESOL:
Preview and review key terms.
Provide tangible key term lists.
Provide tangible copy of Declaration of Independence.
Pair ELL with English L1 student.
Check for comprehension/understanding.
Connect activities to current events.
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 Lesson Plan Template
Be multimodal: pictures graphic organizers, Venn diagrams, videos, PowerPoints
Supply written format of the Declaration of Independence.
Highlight key terms.
Reinforce key ideas and terms.
Use a prefilled Graphic Organizer, labelled with key concepts.
Model essay format.
Dont take away points for handwriting and misspelling.
Shorten and break-up sentences.
Show connection between reference words and their referents.
Provide simple definitions for idioms and phrasal verbs.
Frequent comprehension checks.
Allow additional time to complete assignment.
Allow group discussion before completing assignment.
Peer assistance
Direct instruction: Display a model of expectations for each part of the Graphic Organizer.
Demonstrate how to use graphic organizers like semantic mapping and imaging.
Structure advance organizers consisting of new terminology.

Lesson Extensions 1. Later Influences/Staying Power/Other Declarations: Just as the Declaration of Independence evolved from earlier
writings, so, too, it has affected later demands for more freedom. In this extension, students can look at how the Declaration
has been evoked on behalf of other groups in U.S. history.

Subsequent Declarations of Independence, selections in "All Men Are Created Equal": The Power Of An Idea by Bob Blythe.

2. Lincoln and the Declaration: Students could analyze extent to which the Declaration influenced Lincoln's thinking and
the writing of the Gettysburg Address, Avalon Project.

3. Writing and Revising the Declaration: Thomas Jefferson and Group Work: Students will be able to appreciate how
much of a "team" effort the writing of the Declaration actually was. Although Jefferson gets the lion's share of historical
credit, in fact, the final product was a group effort, including the initial input of the four other committee members
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. In the final stage, members of the Continental
Congress offered their suggestions, which were not entirely welcomed by Jefferson (The writing of the Declaration is an
example for students of how teams work in the real world. A team is assigned the work, one person does the draft, gets
feedback from others, and then they present to larger group and get feedback.)

4. Students "interview" Thomas Jefferson, about what it was like to have "his" document altered. The interview should show
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 Lesson Plan Template
the major changes that were made. Students should try to determine how Jefferson would have felt about them

5. Students will compare two different versions of the Declaration of Independence Jefferson's "draft" at the Library of
Congress and the final version, which was edited by the Continental Congress, at the Avalon Project.

References

The Declaration of Independence: "An Expression of the American Mind" | EDSITEment. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2017, from
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/declaration-independence-expression-american-mind

The Declaration of Independence: Its Legacy and Ideas in Todays World/ Library of Congress, Teaching with Primary Sources. Retrieved March
3, 2017, from http://library.mtsu.edu/tps/lessonplans&ideas/Lesson_Plan--Declaration_of_Independence.pdf.

Thomas Jefferson. (2015, February 15). Retrieved April 05, 2017, from http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-jefferson-9353715

(n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2017, from http://www.pbs.org/jefferson/

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