Story of the Declaration of Independence

This special-edition primary source portfolio provides younger students, older students reading below grade level, and students less proficient in English, with an easier approach to important documents of American history. The documents become more accessible through carefully-planned readings and activities, which are written at a high interest level and designed to be enjoyed by a variety of students. The turbulent events leading up to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the important issues and significant historical figures are presented in a fully reproducible format. Students will be engaged by four easy-to-read broadsheets with vocabulary words and critical thinking questions. A detailed timeline presents important events between 1760 and 1776. Six highly motivating activities are combined together in an Activities Packet, and a recommended reading list and a "Places to Visit" lists are included. This is a portfolio that can truly make history more real for students at all levels. Activities Packet Sections: * Life Ways: Colonial Life in the 1770s * The Players: Voices of the Revolution * Classics of History: Advice to Young Thomas Jefferson Smith * Life Stories: Thomas Jefferson * Geo-graph: Paul Revere's Ride * Puzzles and Problems: Common Sense 4 Illustrated Broadsheet Essays: * Quarrels Between King and Colonies * An Outcry in the Colonies * On the Path to Revolution * A Time for Independence 10 Primary Source Documents: * Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 * Draft of the Declaration of Independence, 1776 * DeCosta Map of Boston, Lexington and Concord, 1775 * Poster: Stamp Act Protest, 1765 * Illustration: Boston Tea Party, 1 773 * British Political Cartoons, 1776: "The Wise Men of Gotham" and "Bunker's Hill, or America's Head Dress" * British Political Cartoon, 1779: "The Horse 'America'" * Cover of Thomas Paine's Common Sense, 1776 * Congress Voting the Declaration of Independence, 1776, by Edward Savage, about 1800 * Gallery of Portraits