As I said before, my Social Studies department is meeting next week to discuss activities and lessons that align with the Common Core Standards for History/Social Studies. As I am a fairly new teacher, I am using this as an opportunity to reflect upon past lessons so that I can develop into a great teacher one day.

As I was looking through my World History Dropbox folder today, I came across an activity I developed in which students examined the Declaration of Independence and identified Enlightenment principles embedded within the document.

This activity addressed the below standard:

RH.11-12.5. Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.

At our school the American Revolution is covered Freshmen year. For a “Do Now” I asked my Juniors to list everything they knew about what led to the Revolutionary War. Some students definitely needed the refresher, while other students had this information stored away like I imagine squirrels do with food during the winter.

To complete this activity, students used their textbooks, notes, or the “Enlightened Graphic Organizer”* that they had completed.

After about 20 minutes, we came together and I projected a copy of the Declaration of Independence on my whiteboard. Students took turns circling the Enlightenment phrases and ideas. As a group, our discussion began to include the US Constitution and students identified how Beccaria and Montesquieu influence can be seen.

Overall, I feel that this lesson went well and addresses the standard above.

I’d love to hear how others are adjusting to the Common Core (particularly in History/Social Studies).

*I occasionally name things ridiculously. However, while there was nothing truly enlightening about the graphic organizer itself, I like to imagine that the information that filled it in was truly enlightening.