AP US History, Mrs. Orr
Debate on Declaring Independence from England
You will be given a primary source reading either supporting or refuting the argument for the American Colonies to
declare their independence from England in the mid 18th century. Steps 1-3 will be your reading homework and are
necessary to participate in the graded discussion activity. If you do NOT have the reading and research completed prior
to the class discussion, you will automatically receive a zero for the discussion activity which is a summative grade. You
will also be required to complete the reading while your classmates are collaborating.
Directions:
1. Please read and annotate the assigned document. Make sure you have an understanding of the position of the
author.
2. After reading, research and make connections to support the opinion of the author. You will need to bring in
outside information to support and defend your document.
3. Be ready to present your findings to your group.
4. In your group of 3, compare your research and determine the 5 most valid arguments supporting the documents
being sure to include any other sources you found in your research.
5. Next, with your group of 3, join a group of 3 that had the opposing side of the argument. In that group of 6, you
will use silent discussion to debate your claim. You will be given a starting prompt. This will be timed, so please
make sure you are focusing on the key points. If you run out of time, please put (…) at the end of your thoughts
so you know to go back to complete it. Make sure you put your initials after each statement.
6. If you run out of time, you will have time at the end of the activity to finish your thoughts before handing in the
silent discussion paper.
AP US History, Mrs. Orr
Debate on Declaring Independence from England
You will be given a primary source reading either supporting or refuting the argument for the American Colonies to
declare their independence from England in the mid 18th century. Steps 1-3 will be your reading homework and are
necessary to participate in the graded discussion activity. If you do NOT have the reading and research completed prior
to the class discussion, you will automatically receive a zero for the discussion activity which is a summative grade. You
will also be required to complete the reading while your classmates are collaborating.
Directions:
1. Please read and annotate the assigned document. Make sure you have an understanding of the position of the
author.
2. After reading, research and make connections to support the opinion of the author. You will need to bring in
outside information to support and defend your document.
3. Be ready to present your findings to your group.
4. In your group of 3, compare your research and determine the 5 most valid arguments supporting the
documents.
5. Next, with your group of 3, join a group of 3 that had the opposing side of the argument. In that group of 6, you
will use silent discussion to debate your claim. You will be given a starting prompt. This will be timed, so please
make sure you are focusing on the key points. If you run out of time, please put (…) at the end of your thoughts
so you know to go back to complete it. Make sure you put your initials after each statement.
6. If you run out of time, you will have time at the end of the activity to finish your thoughts before handing in the
silent discussion paper.