Experience learning about the Declaration of Independence in a fun and engaging way with this Notebook Companion™!
Students will read the entire Declaration of Independence line-by-line alongside a modern kid-friendly translation of what each line means. Along the way, they’ll learn about the history and events surrounding the Declaration of Independence plus draw and write in response to what they learn.
Understanding The Declaration of Independence is a Notebook Companion™ to The Side-by-Side Declaration of Independence (sold separately).
194 black and white pages | for grades 3 and up
Get the American Revolution Coloring Notebook for free with purchase!
The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in the history of the United States, but reading and understanding it can be a challenge to modern readers. The Side-by-Side Declaration of Independence by Bushel & Peck Books makes it easy to understand, and our Notebook Companion™ guides students as they read the book.
Our open-ended narration questions encourage students to think about what they have read, and plenty of opportunities to sketch in response to the lessons are provided.
Understanding The Declaration of Independence is broken into 43 lessons that can be completed at whatever pace works for your family. It’s open-and-go and requires no prep-work.
Several lessons at the beginning and end of the book focus on the historical setting of the American Revolution and on the nation’s history in modern times. The remaining lessons walk students through the Declaration of Independence line by line in easy-to-digest sections.
Many lessons also include vocabulary work for key words shared throughout the text. A bonus glossary project is also included for students to record the vocabulary words featured in the study.
This publisher-approved Notebook Companion™ is the perfect tool to help your students truly understand the importance of the Declaration of Independence.
“The Side-By-Side Declaration of Independence and Understanding the Declaration of Independence: A Notebook Companion™ for The Side-By-Side Declaration of Independence work together as a complete course for grades four through ten.” — Cathy Duffy (read full review)
The Side-by-Side Declaration of Independence is a required book for our Notebook Companion™ and sold separately. Created with publisher approval, our Notebook Companion™ follows along with the book so you can get the most out of it.
The Side-by-Side Declaration of Independence is written in a way to help kids understand the Declaration of Independence. Oftentimes historical documents are difficult to understand (even for adults!), but this books breaks it down in easy-to-digest nuggets.
Using words and phrases that kids can understand, the book simplifies each part of this important historical document and explains what each section means. Colorful illustrations, helpful definitions, and other interesting facts round out this brilliant way to dive into the original language and meaning of this founding document.
Get the American Revolution Coloring Notebook for FREE with the purchase of Understanding the Declaration of Independence.
The American Revolution Coloring Notebook includes 21 coloring pages and 21 corresponding notebooking pages, each featuring a key person from the American Revolution.
The notebooking pages give students a chance to record what they have learned about the individual or write questions they have and what they’d like to learn about key figures from the Revolutionary War. Individuals included are:
Ebook Download, Printed Book + Digital Coloring Notebook
I think the writing assignments and bonus projects have great ideas to make kids think about what they are learning.
Rated 5 out of 5 Holly Carter – February 22, 2023I was so excited when I saw this Notebook Companion come up in your product list! My son loves everything about history and 6 months ago started asking me detailed questions about The Declaration of Independence. Thank you so much for creating a product that will help answer all of his questions and a notebook that he can refer back to for answers for years to come!
Rated 5 out of 5 Melanie Zorr – January 28, 2023The Declaration of Independence is such a vital document in our country! I have been looking forward to teaching this to my children but I had NO IDEA where to go or how to go about it. My oldest is now in 5th grade, the perfect age to start diving into our country’s government. He is learning about the Revolutionary War as part of his History curriculum. What better time to learn about the Declaration of Independence? I was so excited to find this resource! The Notebook Companion breaks the Declaration of Independence into 43 bite size lesson plans. It uses The Side-By-Side Declaration of Independence written by David Miles to explain both the original text as well as what it means today. You can easily complete this in a few short months or you can really dive deep and stretch it over the course of the year. As this companion notebook is ideal for 5th through 8th graders, my 5th grader is able to work at his own pace while he learns to research and look up information in books. I am loving this resource! I am looking forward to adding my current 4th grader into this companion book again next year as well! So much amazing information!
Rated 5 out of 5 Denise Rodriguez – January 28, 2023Several of our friends are using the Side-By-Side Declaration of Independence by David Miles to go along with their History curriculum. We purchased the book and have decided to start with it as an introduction instead of a supplement or add on. My daughter really enjoys the Notebook Companions to go along side the books we purchase. This companion, as expected, has been a big hit! I really love that it has been divided up into Lessons, there are 43. Some weeks she is able to do two lessons, it all depends on how much time she spends on the Research Projects. At the end of each lesson there are Writing Prompts and Research Ideas. At the end of the Companion there are additional blank pages to print, she uses these often for her Research. I also love the Glossary at the end so she can look up words and find their defintions. We travel alot so we really appreciate how easy the Notebook Companion makes taking our History on the go!
Rated 5 out of 5 Katherine Tanyu – January 15, 2023If you and your child (elementary-aged to middle schoolers) are studying American History this year, the text The Side-By-Side Declaration of Independence can be a bonus book to include in your reading list. It is a kid-friendly history book that you can turn into a curriculum via this notebooking companion. In our homeschool, we enjoy learning history; and the format of reading readable books and answering discussion questions is something I strongly believe can make the facts stick. Understanding the Declaration of Independence is divided into 43 lessons. You can easily schedule a lesson a week. There are research projects and writing prompts peppered in the lessons, so there is much to do in a week (or how long you prefer to do each lesson). I love that the scheduling has been done for us–it says what pages to read and the corresponding questions that go with them. There is a glossary at the end which highlights what words are important to learn. The student fills in the definition, so it can be sort of a test to see if they understand the meaning. We got the American Revolution Coloring Notebook as a bonus in the purchase. There are spaces beneath each historical figure for filling in information about them. Understanding the Declaration of Independence covers all the bases in the text–there are spaces for drawing and copywork–it is pretty complete and fully packed as a curriculum.
