The Declaration of Independence Children’s Book

You will create an illustrated children’s version of the Declaration of Independence that rephrases key excerpts from the real document. Your versions should be written in simple, clear language that a child in early elementary school could understand.

Your book should include:

  1. A cover featuring an appropriate illustration, a unique title and your full name.
  2. This brief introduction to the story:

Once upon a time, a group of people left their homeland to live in a faraway land ruled by Britain. The people were called colonists. The colonists loved their new homeland but many were unhappy with the British government. They thought the king was a selfish, mean ruler. Eventually, the colonists became angry with the king and fought against him because they wanted to be free. They said…

  1. Eight pages each with a typed, rephrased excerpt from the Declaration and a color illustration.
  2. Details to make your book visually appealing. For example, you could create borders for your pages, decorate some letters etc.
  3. Language that is free of spelling and grammatical errors.
  4. A copy of the Declaration of Independence or some other creative back cover.
  5. An optional “About the Author” page inside the back cover that might include a brief description of you and why you wrote the book or even a picture.
  • Your introduction can go inside the front cover or on its own page. If your introduction has its own page, your book will have nine pages.
  • Don’t change your words from “people” even if you know you are using cats or bees in your book.

Children’s Book Rubric

10 / 9-8 / 7 / 6 / 5-0
Words / The book accurately rephrases the Declaration. The story is very clear, flows well together and uses words that a young child could easily understand. / The book mostly accurately rephrases the Decl. There may be a lack of flow to the story or 1 unclear or inaccurate page or 1 page with difficult words. / The book rephrases the Declaration. There may be 2 pages with unclear or inaccurate wording or difficult words. / The book attempts to rephrase the Decl.
The story is not very clear or there are 3 or more pages with unclear or inaccurate wording or 3 pages with difficult words. / The book does not rephrase the Declaration accurately. The words are too difficult, very unclear or very inaccurate.
Design & Illustrations
X2 / The illustrations are detailed, creative and very attractive. Each picture relates clearly to the text on the page. The overall design and illustrations in this book are very visually appealing. This is a WOW product. / The illustrations are neat and attractive. The pictures relate to the text. The overall design and illustrations in this book are visually appealing. / The illustrations are mostly neat and attractive. The book is visually appealing. Overall, the design and illustrations may lack creativity or detail. / Some illustrations are not neat or attractive. The book has some visually appealing elements but as a whole it is lacking in creativity, neatness, attractiveness or detail. / The book is not visually appealing.
5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1-0
Requirements / Exceeded the minimum requirements. / All req. have been met. / Missing one of the required elements. / Missing two of the required elements. / Missing more than 2 of the required elements
Spelling & Grammar / Grammar and spelling errors do not interfere with understanding the book at all. / Grammar and spelling errors interfere very little. There is at least 1 page with an error. / Grammar and spelling errors interfere with understanding the book. There may be 2 or more pages with errors. / There are 3 or 4 pages with errors on them. / There are many errors in grammar and spelling.

adapted from History Alive!