Declaration of Independence Worksheets

About this resource

Teaching the Declaration of Independence and need something students can actually write on? This is a complete kit for one unit, written at a middle school reading level and laid out with real room to work. It starts with two plain-words charts that break the Declaration into ten parts, each with a short summary and a way to picture it. Students then match the vocabulary, name the section of the Declaration in a short statement, tell which part fits a real-life situation and how they know, decide true or false and fix the false ones, fill in sentences, read two short passages straight from the Declaration, think through an invented case study, and write in ruled boxes. Three cut-and-paste sort mats finish it. It comes with answer keys, a tracker, a class grid, a team note and a family page, so nothing has to be written from scratch.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (32 pages)

• 16 student pages in 12 page types: Plain-Words Chart (2 pages), Match It, Name the Section, Which Part? (2 pages), True or False?, Fill In the Sentence, Read the Words, Case Study, Explain It, Build a Paragraph, Part Snapshot, and Cut and Paste (3 pages)
• 64 scored items on 9 pages, every answer read from the same lists that print the page, never typed by hand
• 16 invented scenarios and statements (8 to name the section of the Declaration, 8 to match to a part of the chart) plus 1 invented case study with no outcome given
• 8 vocabulary words matched to 10 meanings (two meanings are not used)
• 2 short primary-source passages from the Declaration of Independence (from its second paragraph)
• 26 cut-and-paste pieces on 3 sort mats (8 pieces into 2 boxes, 8 pieces into 4 boxes, 10 names into 10 numbered slots)
• 3 answer keys, including what to look for on the 5 open-response pages
• 1 tracker (page, page type, items right, date, notes) and 1 whole-class progress grid
• 1 team note (a hand-off page), 1 family page and 1 filled example (an invented student)
• 1 phrase bank (17 starters, including student sentence starters for explaining and claim-evidence-reasoning), 1 binder cover and 6 divider tabs with a spine label to cut out
• Start Here and a how-to-read-a-page page

The Page Types

1. Plain-Words Chart, 2 pages: Parts 1-5 and 6-10, each with a short name, what it says in plain words, and a way to picture it. Students keep it beside them for the other pages.

2. Match It: 8 words (declaration, independence, unalienable rights, consent, tyranny, grievance, colony, self-evident) matched to lettered meanings.

3. Name the Section: 8 short statements; pick introduction, rights, grievances or independence from a box.

4. Which Part?, 2 pages: 8 scenarios; write the part number from the chart, then explain how you know in a 3-line ruled box.

5. True or False?: 6 statements, then fix two false ones in 4-line ruled boxes.

6. Fill In the Sentence: 8 sentences and a box of 10 words (two are not used).

7. Read the Words: two short passages from the Declaration (all people are created equal; governments get power from consent), with questions and a 5-line explanation.

8. Case Study: an invented story about the people of a made-up island who are taxed by a faraway council. Match the story to parts of the chart, say why the tax seems unfair, give a reason for each side, and explain what the islanders might try first. No outcome is given.

9. Explain It: three prompts with 5-line boxes and sentence starters.

10. Build a Paragraph: a claim, evidence, reasoning organizer on which right matters most, plus a counterpoint.

11. Part Snapshot: pick one part of the chart, say it in your own words, give an example from today and draw it.

12. Cut and Paste, 3 pages: two boxes, four boxes, then ten numbered slots. The pieces touch edge to edge, so cutting is a few straight lines, and every piece is over an inch each way.

Built For The Student Holding The Page

A "My name" line, one short instruction, large type, and no cartoons, mascots or clip art. Nothing on a student page is written for an adult. Ruled boxes are about a third of an inch a line: a short answer gets 3 lines and an explanation gets 5 or more. Body text is 11 point or larger. The file prints clean in black and white.

No Guessing The Answer

Wherever a student picks among printed spots (the lettered meanings, the box of words, the order of the cut pieces), the position of the right answer is checked so it never sits in the same spot three times in a row.

Invented Scenarios, Not Legal Advice

The part summaries are the standard, textbook-level kind, kept short. Dates and names (July 4, 1776; Thomas Jefferson; the Second Continental Congress) are textbook facts, and the quotes are exact from the Declaration, which is in the public domain. Every scenario and the case study are made up for practice. Real cases depend on details and on courts, so use your own curriculum or standards for anything beyond this level. There is a blank line on the tracker for your own standard or wording.

Type In, Or Print

The name line, every answer box and every ruled box are type-in fields in any PDF reader: click one, type, then save. The same goes for the tracker, the class grid, the team note and the family page. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides or PowerPoint file.

Who This Is For

Middle school social studies and U.S. history classes, special education and resource rooms working on the same unit, co-taught classes, and substitutes who need a unit that is ready to hand out. The reading is written at about a grades 6-8 level.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A Declaration of Independence worksheet set with the record-keeping around it. It is not a timed test, a screener, a clinical tool, legal advice, or a claim about any student's age or rate of progress. There is no IEP goal language or eligibility wording anywhere in the file.