1776
Letter
Designed by Aaron A. Garrett
Introduction
This letter will be an assignment for Language Arts and U. S. History classes. In this assignment, you will act as if you are one of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress. As a delegate, you had a part in completing the Declaration of Independence. This stunning document shocked the world and began a great democratic experiment while the colonists were also trying to break free from the strongest military power the world had known! You are to convey the feelings, emotions, arguments, fear, and excitement of this historic happening through a letter.
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
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Task
U.S. History
I. 1776 Letter (50 points)
Before viewing "1776", you will draw from a teacher-selected list which delegate you will be. After the viewing, your main goal will be to write a social or friendly letter to a friend or relative at home describing what has happened. Your letter may be to your wife, father, mother, brother, cousin, friend, etc. You will be researching to find information about your delegate and must include that in your letter.
Your letter is to be dated July 4, 1776. You have just returned to wherever you are staying in Philadelphia (ex. hotel, boarding house, etc.). You sit down to write to your loved one and explain what has just happened. You tell the story in the style of the delegate's personality that you drew. For example, John Dickenson would be very upset and perhaps angry; remember that he is going to fight for America even though he believes the Americans cannot win the war. Another example would be that John Adams would be relieved because he's been working toward independence for several years. He was very frustrated with the people who didn't want independence and was angry that the clause speaking out against slavery was taken out of the Declaration of Independence.
The address you are mailing the letter to should be in your colony (ex. John Adams would be writing to his wife in Massachusetts.). You may need to make up the city, street address, etc. Only for some of the delegates do we know what city was home. Your return address will be from some number on Independence Avenue in Philadelphia, PA 19126.
II. One page composition accompanied with research notes (35 points)
Students will also be responsible for writing a ONE PAGE composition(following the same requirements/format as the letter) discussing the following:
- What was the most interesting thing you learned about your delegate and/or his life?
- How is your delegate important to history today?
- In what way was your delegate most like you?
I would suggest that you answer each question with a separate paragraph fully explaining your thoughts.
Language Arts
I. Letter Form (15 points)
Students will use the correct form for a social (friendly) letter. All six parts must be present: the heading, salutation (greeting), body, closing, and signature. Each part must contain the correct information according to the Write Source handbook; this information must be capitalized, punctuated, and spelled correctly.
II. Envelope Form (12 points)
Students will address an envelope for their 1776 letter. There must be a return address and a mailing address. Each part must contain the correct information according to the Write Source handbook; this information must be capitalized, punctuated, and spelled correctly.
III. Letter Beginning (6 points)
Students will begin their letters in an interesting manner that will catch the reader's attention. The beginning is not, in any way, "Hi, how are you? I am fine." There should be no questions asked in the first introductory paragraph.
IV. Letter Folding (2 points)
Students will fold their letters according to the preferred method when using a standard-sized business envelope as outlined in the Write Source handbook.
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Process
Document Format: We will be going to the computer lab here at school and word processing the letters in Microsoft Word. Since use of this program is a portion of the grade, the student must process the letter here in our computer lab. Students will be reminded how to use specific parts of this program during history class. In this part of the assignment grade, I will be looking for effective use of the program. Students must use at least one different style, size, and font to add character and emphasis to parts of the letter, as well as show use of the spell check portion of this program. (Please make style, size, and font changes obvious.) The font size for the letter is 12.
Length: The rough draft should be hand-written and approximately 1 1/2-2 pages long. The typed final draft must be no shorter than 1 full page typed, 12-point font, and double spaced with 1 inch margins all around.
- Background information will be gathered by students by viewing "1776" IN CLASS, searching web sites, and locating information in other sources.
- Each student will work individually and think about
the different aspects of their person's life and the
world they lived in. In an attempt to guide your
thinking, use the following questions to really try to
explore your delegate's mind and what they might have
been thinking after this historical event:
- What are the EMOTIONS of your delegate after they have completed the declaration?
- Why are they feeling all of those emotions?
- What are your delegate's feelings as their NEW country attempts to defeat the mighty British?
- What are the most important things your delegate would want to include in this letter to the loved one back home in the colony?
- What can you use from "1776" and seeing your character portrayed to help make your letter seem authentic?
- Use the following link to help gather additional
information:
- 1776
Links from my webpage: 1776 Characters and
Biographies
- This link contains 11 sites that provide quality information
- STUDENTS: If you come across additional sites that have quality information, please share those sites with Mr. Garrett
- 1776
Links from my webpage: 1776 Characters and
Biographies
- The activity will be debriefed by students reading an excerpt from their letter and sharing interesting information about the life and times of their delegate.
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Evaluation
Students will be evaluated based on the thoroughness of their research and attention to the film as relayed through their writing. The following rubric will be used to score the two pieces of writing:
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Poor Effort |
Average |
Exemplary |
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Factual / Historical Accuracy of Letter 30 points
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Letter shows little researched information, no facts about events surrounding declaration, and information is inaccurate 0-10 points |
Letter has some researched information, few facts about events surrounding declaration, and some information is inaccurate 11-23 points |
Letter clearly includes researched information, many facts about events surrounding declaration, and all information is accurate.
24-30 points |
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Appropriate Style/Language for Delegate 10 points
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Letter shows no style and/or language befitting the delegate
0-4 points |
Letter shows some style and/or language befitting the delegate
5-8 points |
Letter clearly shows style and/or language befitting the delegate
9-10 points |
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Shows Knowledge and Appropriate Use of Microsoft Word 10 points
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Student has not shown proper use of program because of multiple misspelled words, and no variation of font, style, or size 0-4 points |
Student has shown proper use of program but has some misspelled words and some variation of font, style, or size 5-8 points |
Student has shown proper use of program and has no misspelled words and variation of font, style, or size is obvious and correct 9-10 points |
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Composition Content 25 points
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All three questions are not fully answered, little development and thought are shown, and page length is not met 0-10 points |
All three questions are answered with some development and thought shown, page length is met
11-20 points |
All three questions fully answered, development and thought are clear, and page length is met
21-25 points |
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Research Notes 10 points
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Research notes are missing
0 points |
Very few research notes are present.
1-7 points |
Research notes are present and clearly demonstrate thorough research
8-10 points |
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Conclusion
After you have completed this project, you have a much better understanding of what the founding fathers went through as individuals, and the amazing document and republic they created under these strenuous circumstances. How would you have reacted in that role? Would you have fought in the Revolution against your mother country and the strongest military power in the world? Why did the delegates feel so strongly about achieving independence? Hopefully, this project put a taste in your mouth to learn more about the founding fathers and their amazing role in our history.
An excellent book about John Adams was written by David McCullough titled "John Adams". It gives great insight into the struggle for independence and the effect on Adams' family and also chronicles the lives and letters of other founding fathers, most notably Thomas Jefferson. There are also many more interesting and informational sites on the web for you to explore!
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Credits & References
The Backgrounds and graphics were used from Claris Home Page ,WebQuest and rubric templates as well as design elements were found on The WebQuest Page and Design Patterns.
Additional graphics were used from The American President.
"We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL."