Rachel+Douglas-1776


 * A Year in Review Narrative **

__ Red, White, and Who? __ In this particular year, The United Colonies, as was formerly known, Agreed to claim independence From the British throne.

Now Britain and these thirteen colonies Were backed into a war By the unjust tax imposed by the Brits, At least so the Americans swore.

The Continental Congress was important at this time For the Declaration of Independence And enlistment of free blacks, Which leads to Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense.”

His first published essay -- “These are the times that try men’s souls” Is remembered in the year That America redefined its roles.

Mr. Paine is a Founding Father To our nation, the U.S., Who authored this historical pamphlet -- “Gain independence from Britain” he stressed.

Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia, And not yet was Washington our president. Ratification of the Constitution Established our new government.

“All men are created equal” Is the well-known slogan you hear. Mr. Henry’s “Give me liberty, or give me death” Begs for your ear.

Why do fireworks fill up the night sky On that warm summer night? That’s when America claimed independence And the colors: red, blue, and white.

At a Congress in Pennsylvania, The thirteen colonies were announced As independent from the throne, And the United States is now pronounced.

Thomas Jefferson prepared this document And John Hancock surely did sign, Along with John Adams, a president, With a couple others not in my mind.

The first public proclamation Of this Declaration Was performed by John Nixon, Who later served with Washington.

A few other interesting facts That you might like to know. Nathan Hale was an American spy And Phi Beta Kappa joined fraternity row.

They were the first frat To form in the United States At William Mary College, Two years before 1778.

Mr. Hale was a spy for the Continental Army. He is remembered by his final words, That I have only one life to lose For my country is absurd.

These are the things that happened To make this year in history. The year of 1776 is remembered And proudly we fly Old Glory.

In order to present this in the classroom, I would scaffold this for my students with the basic understanding of how I went about doing this activity. First, I would define what the assignment is and hand out a rubric. Then, give a brief overview of some key dates in history or some interesting events in history (maybe do some skits or readings to get them interested). Once a year is chosen from doing brainstorming with other students or searching historical events online (with websites provided), decide how to go about constructing this assignment. Provide the students with examples from previous years – things that worked well, things that didn’t. Show them what they will need to model. Such an abstract concept as this, with so much creativity, can bog some students down; I don’t want the creativity of the assignment to restrict some students from finishing or receiving a well-deserved grade. Once I have modeled how to do this assignment and what it should look like by reviewing the rubric and expectations and showing them examples from previous years, I would ask the students to begin working. Because they are in middle school, I would offer that they could work in groups or individually on this assignment. Then, I would give them class time to work on it, and a detailed schedule to follow so that they can stay on task with finishing it for a grade.
 * Pedagogical Implications **