This week in the RBE Library, 5th grade students will be enriching their learning about the American Revolution, with a webquest about the Declaration of Independence.
This was a very important and exciting time in our nation’s past that we want our students to not only understand, but experience. Click here for the Activity Page referred to below. For the Activity Page Rubric, click here.
Following this research activity RBE students will create a Political Cartoon using iPads and a combination of the DoodleBuddy and ComicLife apps. Some students will use Publisher on the computer to create a comic strip as well. Click here for the Political Cartoon Rubric and click here for a blank draft of the comic strip.
Declaration of Independence Webquest Start
Begin Activity #1: Introduction & Questions
Activity #1: Write down 3 questions you have about the Declaration of Independence on your activity page. As you come across the answers during the course of this activity, be sure to come back to them and write down the answer and your source for the answer!
2nd Continental Congress
Activity #2: Read the following excerpt and complete the Cause & Effect diagram on your activity sheet.
Activity #3: Read more about John Adams. He played an important role in the forming and early governing of this nation. What role did he play in the 2nd Continental Congress and with the Declaration of Independence? Fill that in on your activity sheet.
Begin Activity #4: Time to Part?
Was it time for the American colonies to declare independence from Britain?
Click here to read about the 2nd Continental Congress’ decision to declare independence.
Then, read about Thomas Paine and his famous pamphlet, Common Sense below.
Activity #4: Watch the video below of the vote to declare independence. Also look at the pictures of Independence Hall and the Continental Congress. On your activity sheet, write what you would have done during this vote as a member of the Continental Congress. Write as a journal entry like the example provided.
Begin Activity #5: Writing The Declaration of Independence
“The Declaration announced to the world on July 4, 1776, that thirteen British colonies in North America were leaving Great Britain to form a separate nation, called the United States of America. In justifying the revolution, the Declaration asserted a universal truth about human rights.” -from the National Archives
Read about when and who signed the Declaration of Independence on Ben’s Guide to US Government for Kids. Then, read about the Declaration of Independence from The Charters of Freedom courtesy of the National Archives. On the National Archives page, click on the image of the Declaration of Independence for details about the original document.
Activity #5: Thomas Jefferson was an important revolutionary leader. Read more about him.What was his role in the writing of the Declaration of Independence?
Watch the video below from National Tresure, where they talk about what the character in the movie thinks is the coolest line from the Declaration of Independence. Then, read over the other lines on your activity sheet taken from the Declaration of Independence. You can use the Dictionary Search box on the right side to look up words you don’t know. Which do you think is the coolest line? Vote here when you decide!
The End & Extra Activities
This is the end of your Declaration of Independence Webquest. Make sure that you answered your 3 questions in Activity #1 that you wrote down at the beginning. If you didn’t find all the answers you are looking for, feel free to come visit with me in the library and we can hook you up with some great books! Also, ever wonder what’s on the back of the Declaration of Independence? Click here to find out!
Also, if you would like to, you can add your signature to the Declaration of Independence and print it out by clicking here!
i really liked this because it showed me more about the decoration of Independence in a fun way 🙂
I liked this and I think we should do this mare often.
SOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so much fun! 😀 :p
AWE-
I loved it because I had fun and it is something different.
😮 ;o
i liked it because it goes along with our history and was fun
IT WAS THE MOST AWESOME QUIZ I EVER TOOK!!!!!!!!!!!
this is awesome! I love to learn yet watch amazing videos. Mrs. Lambert needs to do this again for the sake of the fun loving 5th grade.;0+:0= OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT WAS THE MOST AWESOME QUIZ I EVER TOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved this. It was a fun way of learning about the Declaration of Independence.It was really fun. I hope we get to do it again.
OMG! BEST WEBQUEST EVER!!!! XD
I really enjoyed this task because it helped me learn the history of the declaration of independence. It was AWESOME and I think we should do it again because it was on the computer, it showed alot of videos, and real photos. My favorite part was when we got to sign the declaration of independence!
I think this was a awesome quiz that we did.IT WAS REALLY FUN!!!!!!!!!!!
I really liked this web search.It was a really good way to learn on the internet.
i really liked this activity because i got to lern stuff about the delaration of independance that i did not know.
I loved learning about it while I got to have fun with it!One of my favorite parts was when I got to sign the paper.It was an awesome experiment and I would love to do it again.
I really liked the activity because I learned alot of things about the Declaration of Independence. I also really liked the videos and my most favorite part was the voting.
I really like it. I’ve learned more about what we’re studying. I also like the signature and the videos.
I really liked it it was really creative I liked it.
I really good I really liked it because it was fun and educational.
I really liked how we got to watch all the really cool videos, and i liked the signatures. I really hope we get to do this again with this subject or a different one. 🙂
I really like this website! I learned many new information as well as reviewed information, in a fun way! 🙂
I liked it because I learned lot of stuff and I also learned stuff I didn’t even knew.
The web quest was really fun and I want to do more! I especially liked when you got to see your own name on the Deceleration of Independence and see the back of the Deceleration!This was fun and educational!
I liked this activity because it made me understand the Declaration of Independence more and why it was made. I like the videos because they were easy to understand and made me see the event better. This was a fun way to learn about this topic.
I liked it because it fit with what we are learning. And i also liked how you put all these links to hep us with the activities. 😀
I liked this because it’s online, and it’s interesting to see all these facts so easily. It is good.:D
I liked how Ms.Lambert made videos and told us to write a letter too. Another thing is that I think it is really fun to learn in detail what had happened and we get to sign our name on to it. For me the videos made more sense to me than the reading the stuff. Everything else was just perfect-o!!!!
I really liked it because instead of just doing it by memory I can do it with cool videos. I also liked how you could sign your name in the way the other people did it. So I did something knew. PS im awesome
I loved the fact that you could watch videos and learn from watching instead of reading. Also I learned a lot from them and the hyper links took me to good trust able websites that gave lots of interesting facts.Even though this was only information, it was thoughtful info and it got me thinking about the declaration and how important it is to all Americans.
I like a part that it about a American Revolution and take a lot of time to make this activity. I like the part that a voting on independence.
This was really interesting and i really LOVED the videos, especially the one with Jhon Adams in activity 4. Thank you Ms. Lambert for making this webquest. 😀
I think that this activity was amazing! It was a great way to learn and have fun at the same time. I enjoyed all the videos and links where we could learn more about the Declaration of Independence. It was an amazing experience and it would be awesome to be able to do something like this again some day. Thank you so much, Mrs. Lambert!
I liked it because I learned a lot from this.It was a good experence. I liked to come back sometime and do it again. I also liked the videos and the voting.
I think this was really fun.I actually got to see the Declaration of Independence and some really cool videos that told a lot about the pass.
I liked the little movie because it told me all about the Constitution and it didn`t take to long for the me to finsh my web Quest.I liked the singing of the Constitution.
I liked the videos because it’s learning by watching.But i loved every thing else.Put more videos to make it better.that’s all bye.
I liked this task because it was a little hard but also easy another thing is i learned a lot about the american revolution. Also the videos told me allot about the what was happening during the voting and ext. Also I love social studies like wars and it is intersting to learn how our country was formed.but i wish you could have added a little more facts of thing like thomas jeferson it was very hard to fined out what he did
I liked this activity because it was more detailed about the Declaration of Independence. It wasn’t like the social studies book where you have to read it then answer questions. In this you got to interact with it. That made it more fun, but I think you should of made it a little more longer so it would be more awesome than before. My favorite part was when I got to vote on my favorite line because we actually got to read the Declaration of Independence. I think you should do this more often, but not everyday because sometimes I can’t concentrate.
I liked this because I thought that this was a fun way to learn about the Declaration or Independence. I also like it because you get to watch videos about it which helps me know what it looks like more.
This web quest was AWESOME!!!!! I learned a lot of things about the Declaration of Independence that I never knew before. If you want to learn more about the Declaration of Independence CHECK THIS OUT.
The activity was so great that I want to something like it again!
I loved it! I thought it was so fun the reason I thought it was awsome is becuase we got to interact and there were different things not just sitting there and reading paragraph by paragraph. I also thought that the video of the poeple voting from different states was cool becuase you got to see what it was like long years ago and that girl in the bed looking sick. I wish you coul’ve maybe put a little more videos in there or like a crossword activity i think that maybe would have helped.
I loved this web quest because it was fun and made me remember about the decloration of independance.
I liked it because I was having fun while learning about the Declaration of Independence.
I really liked the things that Ms. Lambert organized for us because I think that the things that I saw relate to the things we are studying and learning about in the classroom only this is a more fun way to do it. The videos were very informational. I also liked the video about the voting of the Continental Congress.
I like the activities and websites. It is very fun. It relates to what we are studing.
I liked this because it gave me a review of the Declaration of Independence cluster.