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Why We Broke Up

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Charles Cuellar

Tier 1
For Schools

Lesson Plan

Why We Broke Up Lesson Plan

Students will analyze key ideas in the Declaration of Independence and articulate why American colonists sought freedom by identifying core principles and connecting them to modern concepts of rights.

Understanding the Declaration helps students grasp foundational principles of democracy and recognize the historical roots of their rights and responsibilities. This lesson builds critical thinking and literacy skills through primary source analysis.

Audience

8th Grade Students

Time

30 minutes

Approach

Primary source analysis with guided discussion.

Materials

  • Declaration Excerpt, - Key Ideas Organizer, and - Exit Ticket Worksheet

Prep

Prepare Materials

10 minutes

  • Print copies of the Declaration Excerpt, Key Ideas Organizer, and Exit Ticket Worksheet
  • Load projector with excerpt for whole-class display
  • Review primary source annotation strategies and discussion prompts
  • Arrange seating for small-group collaboration

Step 1

Hook and Background

5 minutes

  • Display the opening lines of the Declaration Excerpt on the board
  • Ask: “What grievances would lead you to break away from a government?”
  • Facilitate a quick think-pair-share to connect laws to personal experiences
  • Differentiate: Provide sentence stems for students needing support

Step 2

Guided Analysis

15 minutes

  • Distribute the Declaration Excerpt and Key Ideas Organizer
  • In small groups, students read aloud sections and annotate for themes of rights, grievances, and solutions
  • Groups record key ideas in corresponding organizer columns
  • Circulate to prompt deeper analysis: “How does this idea compare to today’s rights?”
  • Differentiate: Challenge advanced learners to find supporting quotes; support learners with guided questions

Step 3

Exit Ticket and Reflection

10 minutes

  • Hand out the Exit Ticket Worksheet
  • Students respond to: “Which idea from the Declaration resonates most today and why?”
  • Collect tickets and quickly review responses to inform next lesson
  • Differentiate: Allow oral responses or visuals for students with writing needs
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Slide Deck

Why We Broke Up: Declaration of Independence

8th Grade History | 30 Minutes

Objective: Analyze key ideas and understand why colonists sought freedom.

Welcome students. Introduce the lesson title and objectives: explore why colonists broke away and identify core ideas in the Declaration.

Hook: Grievances & Government

“What grievances would lead you to break away from a government?”

• Think individually for 30 seconds
• Share with a partner
• Be ready to discuss as a class

Hook students with a personal connection. Read the slide question aloud and have students think‐pair‐share.

Excerpt from the Declaration

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands…“

• Circle references to rights
• Underline grievances
• Highlight proposed solutions

Display this slide and distribute the Declaration Excerpt. Guide students to annotate for themes.

Guided Analysis Prompts

  1. What natural rights are mentioned?
  2. Which specific grievances do colonists list?
  3. What remedies or solutions do they propose?

Use these prompts to guide small‐group discussion and annotation. Circulate and ask probing questions.

Key Ideas Organizer

In your organizer, record:
• Rights | What freedoms do they claim?
• Grievances | What complaints do they list?
• Solutions | What actions do they propose?

Refer students to their Key Ideas Organizer. Model how to fill in one example, then let groups continue.

Exit Ticket

Prompt: Which idea from the Declaration resonates most today and why?

• Write 2–3 sentences
• Hand in as you leave

Explain exit ticket expectations. Encourage thoughtful connections to modern life.

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Reading

Declaration of Independence Excerpt

Below is a shortened excerpt from the Declaration of Independence. As you read, circle references to rights, underline grievances, and highlight any proposed solutions or actions.

Preamble

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Statement of Beliefs

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Selected Grievances Against King George III

• He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
• He has imposed Taxes on us without our Consent.
• He has deprived us in many cases of the benefits of Trial by Jury.
• He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
• He has cut off our Trade with all parts of the world.

Declaration of Independence

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, … solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States…"

End of Excerpt

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Worksheet

Key Ideas Organizer

Fill in the table below as you identify key Rights, Grievances, and proposed Solutions from the Declaration of Independence.

RightsGrievancesSolutions













































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Worksheet

Declaration Exit Ticket Worksheet

Name: ______________________________

  1. Which idea from the Declaration resonates most today and why? Write 2–3 sentences.












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Quiz

Declaration CFA

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