Declaring Our Independence

Students confidently “declared their independence” in reading class this past week! Because The Declaration of Independence was meant to be read aloud, eighth graders were assigned a short passage from the Declaration to practice reading out loud with proper phrasing, pronunciation, emphasis and tone for our whole class ceremonial reading.  Students were given the option to memorize their passages for extra credit.

Over the last two weeks, students worked hard translating The Declaration into modern day English, analyzing the impact of specific words on the text’s meaning and tone and formally presenting their analyses to the class.   As “experts” of the text, students completed an impressive ceremonial reading of this important document! Many students memorized their assigned passages, and we even had a few brave souls wear colonial attire for the event.