91原创

Democracy Project Summer 2026

Theme:听Local Civics 鈥� Developing Students as Community Problem Solvers

Dates: June 22-26, 2026, at the Virden Center in Lewes, DE

Upcoming Showcase

Date:听March 27, 2026

Location:听91原创, Newark Campus

Summer Institute:听June 22-26, 2026, at the Virden Center in Lewes, DE

Apply to Become Part of a Project Citizen Research Cohort by contacting听Fran O'Malley.听

Calling all middle school students!听Share your ideas and flex your civics knowledge in the听National Civics Bee庐.

About these Lesson Plans

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Lessons developed for Teaching and Commemorating the U.S. Declaration of Independence are sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Mid-Atlantic and US Territories Region Program, located at the American Historical Association. Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS Mid-Atlantic and US Territories Region does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.

Introducing the Declaration

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In this lesson, students experience a Reader鈥檚 Theater in which actors present an overview of the structure and contents of the Declaration of Independence. The actors will role play the 鈥淐ommittee of 5鈥� - the five men selected by the Second Continental Congress to draft the Declaration. The Committee members will discuss their ideas for the structure and content of the historic document. This lesson builds prior knowledge that supports comprehension of subsequent lessons.听

Upper Elementary School Lessons

In this lesson, students will engage in a range of activities that incrementally reveal the story of the only woman whose name appears on a copy of the Declaration of Independence that was printed and circulated within months (January 18, 1777) of its approval by the Second Continental Congress. Featured children鈥檚 book Her Name Was Mary Katharine [Goddard] by Ella Schwartz.听

In this lesson, students will be presented with 鈥減ieces of a puzzle鈥� (primary and secondary sources) that can be used to construct a tentative account of the story of Stephen Pleasonton who, during the War of 1812, had the wits to secure original copies of the Declaration, Constitution, and other state papers and save them from burning along with our U.S. Capitol building and the White House. Featuring the children's book,听 Rescuing the Declaration of Independence: How We Almost Lost the Words that Built America by Anna Crowley Reddin.听

In this lesson, students will review the events surrounding the statue of King George III that was erected in Bowling Green, New York. Students will create a chronology of events and use the chronology to determine the effect of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the future of the statue.听

Middle School Lessons

In this lesson, students will read brief excerpts from the Declaration of Independence to determine principles of the American political system. They will then consider key events or developments in American history and draw conclusions about the extent to which they suggest that the American people have or have not lived up to these principles to which our nation claims to be committed.

There are conflicting accounts about who was asked to draft the Declaration of Independence. One account suggests that Thomas Jefferson alone was asked. A second account suggests that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were asked. In this lesson, students will analyze primary source documents to discover that there are competing accounts, and use historical thinking skills to form a credible, evidence and reason-based conclusion about who was asked.听

This lesson asks students to consider a collection of the 鈥淔acts鈥� listed in the Declaration of Independence and connect them with other primary sources to provide context as to its purpose. In doing so, they will assess the validity and credibility of the claims to better understand how perceptions of different grievances shaped the decision to declare their independence.

Middle-High School Lessons

John Trumbull鈥檚 1818 painting, The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, is a truly iconic piece of art鈥攔egarded as representative of the founding of our nation. It hangs in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Despite its renown, historians and scholars have debated exactly what event it depicts. In this lesson, students will analyze Trumbull鈥檚 work and the interpretations of what it is intended to depict.听

In this lesson, students will debate Delaware Senate Concurrent Resolution 65 (introduced into the Delaware General Assembly on May 6, 2025, and laid on the table in the Senate), communicate their positions to their representatives, and follow the actions of elected officials as they debate the Resolution.听

High School Lessons

In this lesson, students will compare the Centennial and Sesquicentennial celebrations to explore how Americans saw themselves at two important moments in history, identifying and explaining patterns of continuity and change. Further, how will these past commemorations compare to what we observe during the Semiquincentennial?听 What will stay the same and what will change?

In this lesson, students will explore how the Declaration of Independence shaped evolving ideas about equality in the United States. By analyzing excerpts from the Declaration and primary sources written by and to Thomas Jefferson, students will investigate how Jefferson鈥檚 own views on equality were expressed, challenged, and interpreted over time. Using strategies like IREAD, document sourcing, and comparative analysis, students will unpack the complexity of what Jefferson meant when he wrote that 鈥渁ll men are created equal.鈥�
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This lesson serves as a follow-up to the lesson Equality in the Declaration of Independence in which students unpacked the complexity of what Jefferson meant when he wrote that 鈥渁ll men are created equal.鈥� Students will explore how the Declaration of Independence shaped evolving ideas about equality in the United States and beyond during the 1800s. They will trace how the Declaration inspired later movements in Venezuela, Liberia, and the early women鈥檚 rights movement in the United States. Through discussion and evidence-based writing, students will evaluate the extent to which the Declaration has inspired other commitments to equality.