The Declaration of Independence Project

Third graders attending a public school must be able to state the main purposes of the Declaration of Independence. One way I decided to address this g.l.e. (grade level expectation) was to group the third grade into two groups and have them write a play about the Declaration of Independence. Each group was given a list of objectives and a scoring guide. After writing their script as a group and assigning each other parts they then went on to create props and back grounds.

During the writing process of the play the students realized they had to do a lot more research on their own. This research led to a greater understanding of the Declaration of Independence as well as a greater understanding of the American Revolution. After the project was completed the students performed their plays for each other. During and after the project many third graders commented on how much fun they had and how much they wished to repeat this project again. A lot of students even gave up their recess time to work on the project!

Take a moment to view our photos from the project.