Are you looking for high-quality videos to include in your Declaration of Independence Unit? Browsing YouTube for educational videos can be very time-consuming. So many videos seem great at first… until you notice an incorrect fact or a biased point of view. So frustrating!
In order to save teachers time, I am creating lists of great kid-friendly history videos.
Here are 5 Declaration of Independence videos that you can feel good showing to your students.
As a team, we created this free website for that purpose and we are glad to help everyone that have the same love for this crossword-puzzle game. On this page you will find the solution to “We hold truths to be self-evident” (Declaration of Independence phrase) crossword clue. The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress of the British colonies in North America adopted the declaration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The document proclaimed that the 13 original colonies of America were “free and independent states.” It was the last of.
A copy of the Declaration of Independence written out by Thomas Jefferson. Related Article Credit The New York Public Library, via Associated Press Themed puzzles from The Learning Network. American Revolution Crossword Puzzle This handout covers the American War of Independence from Great Britain with 25 questions that tests students' knowledge on people including Adams, Cornwallis, Jefferson and Lafayette to events like the Stamp Act, Declaration of Independence and the Boston Massacre.This activity can be used for test. Our Declaration of Independence lesson plan identifies the Declaration of Independence and its meaning, as well as interprets different parts of the document, including the preamble. During this lesson, students are asked to work with a partner to analyze lines from the preamble and present their interpretations to the class, strengthening.
Soomo Publishing’s song parody about the Declaration of Independence (print the lyrics here)
3 minutes
My Rating: age 8+
Notes: This video is funny and engaging, so it would be a perfect to start your unit!
The Declaration of Independence read by a professional actor. Includes music in the background.
10 minutes
My Rating: age 10+
Notes: Students could follow along with the video as they read a transcript of the Declaration of Independence. The narrator does a nice job of conveying the emotions behind the words.
PBS’s animated episode about fictional kids in the past. The kids experience the events surrounding the Declaration of Independence.
23 minutes
My Rating: age 8+
Notes: Upper elementary students will love watching this. And they will learn a lot too! The main downside? There are ads throughout the video. To fix this you can buy the episode for a few dollars from iTunes (Episode name: The First Fourth of July).
Ted-Ed’s brief explanation about how Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration blamed King George III for the slave trade and how that part was taken out
4 minutes
My Rating: age 8+
Notes: Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner, said slavery was “a cruel war against human nature” in the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. Monticello’s website also has a page called Paradox of Liberty where you can read more about Jefferson and slavery.
This last video is a History Channel documentary clip about the importance of the Declaration of Independence
4 minutes, (or you can watch the entire Revolution episode which is 43 minutes long)
Rating: TV-PG
Notes: This clip comes from a longer episode. You can find it on Amazon Prime.
In this lesson, students learn about 8 key events that lead to the Declaration of Independence. To do this, students read task cards around the room and answer prompts on a timeline.
Here are the events on the timeline:
After that, students complete a reflection where they answer the following questions:
Enter your email below to grab your free Declaration of Independence timeline lesson!
I hope you enjoyed these time-saving Declaration of Independence videos for kids.
Need more than a video? Then check out my interactive 3-week unit about the Declaration of Independence. My favorite part of the unit is the simulation where students act as patriots, loyalists, or neutralists. As part of this, they form congresses and get to experience “taxation without representation”. They love it!
Related posts:
The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress of the British colonies in North America adopted the declaration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The document proclaimed that the 13 original colonies of America were “free and independent states.” It was the last of a series of steps that led the colonies to final separation from Great Britain.
At the time the American Revolution began with Great Britain in April 1775 most colonists were not seeking independence. They simply wanted the British government to listen to their complaints. But as the war continued, many colonists began to favor freedom from British rule.
New reasons for independence from Great Britain appeared regularly. In August 1775 King George III declared that the colonists were rebels and hired foreign troops to fight them. The British attacked the coast of Maine and did great damage in Virginia. In January 1776 Thomas Paine published the pamphlet Common Sense. It pointed out how the colonists were being mistreated by the king. Many copies of the pamphlet were sold, and support for independence grew.
On June 7 Richard Henry Lee, a Virginian, asked the Continental Congress to consider declaring independence from Great Britain. The Congress appointed a committee of five to write the formal declaration. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft. A few changes were suggested by other members of the committee: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.
On July 2, 1776, Congress accepted the idea of independence. Congress then debated the content of the declaration over the next two days. On July 4 the Declaration of Independence was accepted by the representatives of 12 states. The New York delegation accepted it 11 days later. It was first published in newspapers and read aloud to crowds in towns throughout the colonies. Members of Congress signed the official parchment document on August 2. The document first lists the complaints against the English king and then makes the actual declaration.