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In 1989, a flea-market shopper purchased a painting for $4. While inspecting a rip in the artwork, the new owner discovered an amazing surprise folded inside the frame: an original broadside of the Declaration of Independence! It is this rare document (now owned by Norman Lear, entertainer and philanthropist) that is now making its way across the United States as part of the Independence Road Trip. Scholastic is proud to sponsor this project in the hope that it will inspire young Americans to exercise their rights and become active citizens.

Use this special News In-depth and lesson plans that follow to usher some of that inspiration into your own classroom. The reproducibles and activities will help you make connections between the "People's Document" and your curriculum.

Lesson 1
The "Right" Stuff

Materials: PDF reproducible Create a Bill of Rights

Curriculum Connections: citizenship, writing

Objective: Students will explore the issue of "rights"and the tough job of creating a nationby brainstorming their own list of rights for a fledgling country.

Getting Ready: Be sure all students have had an opportunity to hear and/or read the Declaration of Independence. Discuss what this important document does and does not do: By establishing that the Colonies were free and independent, the Declaration of Independence laid the groundwork for the new nation.

The Declaration also stated that "all men are created equal," a premise that would become the backbone of the United States government. But what, exactly, were those free and equal citizens entitled to? That question would be answered a decade later, with the creation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Explain that students will imagine themselves in the role of founding "fathers" and decide what rights they would give a new nation's citizens.

What to Do:

1. Distribute the reproducible and have students start brainstorming things they believe everyone should have a right to. Remind students to differentiate between "rights" and "wants." For example, students may say that everyone has a right to a lot of money or to ice cream whenever they want it.
2. Have students follow step 2 to winnow down their lists of rights and focus on what is really important.
3. In step 3, invite students to rewrite their lists on fresh paper (parchment is ideal for a "historic" look), following the prompts provided. Students should also write a brief explanation as to why they included each freedom.


Extension Activity:
Have students compare finished lists to see what rights and freedoms others included. Students will undoubtedly find important rights on classmates' lists that they forgot to include on their own. Let these oversights segue into a discussion of how the Constitution is a living document that adapts to our changing society. Explain that many amendments have been added to the Bill of Rights (for example, giving women and African-Americans the right to vote) as society deemed them important. Ask: Is this ability of the Bill of Rights to change good or bad? Why?

Lesson 2
Thomas Jefferson: Defender of Democracy

Materials: reproducible Thomas Jefferson: Defender of Democracy

Curriculum Connections: reading a time line, American history, math

Objective: Students will become more familiar with the life and work of Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence.

Getting Ready: After reading the Declaration of Independence, discuss its style. What gives this document its ability to inspire awe in Americans more than 225 years after it was written? Ask students to name the chief creator of the Declaration.

What to Do:

1. Distribute the reproducible. Have students study the time line and answer the questions that follow.
2. Check students' work using the answer key below.
3. Have small teams of students select periods of Jefferson's life to research in greater depth (for example, his childhood or presidency).
4. Have each team prepare a one-page report on the period they selected. Compile the reports in chronological order to create a collaborative biography.


[Answers to reproducible: 1. 33; 2. 1801; 3. U.S. Secretary of State; 4. He created the University of Virginia; 5. 100 years; a century; 6. 1772; 7. Virginia.]

Lesson 3
What Is Freedom?

Materials: none

Objective: Students will explore various definitions of and quotations about freedom, then define freedom in their own words.

Curriculum Connections: language arts, point of view, citizenship

Getting Ready: Ask a student volunteer to look up the word "freedom" in a dictionary. Write the definition on the board, and ask students what they might add to it.

What to Do:

1. Share with students some or all of the following quotes about freedom:

"No man is free who is not master of himself." (Epictetus, Greek philosopher)
"Man is condemned to be free, because once thrown into the world he is responsible for everything he does." (Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher)
"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage." (Thucydides, Greek historian and philosopher)
"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom." (Albert Einstein, mathematician/scientist)
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, inventor)
"If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors." (Carl Schurz, German-American writer and major in the Civil War)
"Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it." (Malcolm X, civil rights leader)
" in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either." (Mark Twain, American author)


2. Ask students which, if any, of the quotes best summed up freedom for them. Why? Are there any quotations with which students disagree?

3. Have students learn more about the people who made these thought-provoking remarks. Who were they? Why would they have been interested in the issue of freedom?

Extension Activity: Use these and other freedom sayings to create a 2003 freedom calendar on 11" x 17" paper. For each month, include one freedom quote and a freedom-related student illustration (symbols of freedom, such as the Statue of Liberty, work well). Distribute to members of the school community.

  • Subjects:
    Colonial America
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