Explorica is very proud of our new resource for teachers: our 2018-19 Around the World classroom calendar!
The calendar features a new country and an international holiday or event for you to celebrate with your students each month. Download a new page each month on this blog (and subscribe!), hang it up in your classroom, and talk to your students about how the holiday reflects the country’s history and culture.
This July, we’re featuring the United States’ Independence Day. While Congress actually voted to declare independence from the British on July 2, 1776, the official date of Independence Day is what appears on the Declaration of Independence, July 4th. Today, New York City has the largest celebration in the country. In fact, more than 60,000 fireworks shells were launched in the city on July 4, 2017!
When you cover U.S. history during the school year, use this to teach your students about the American Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, and how the 13 American colonies gained their freedom from Great Britain. Discuss what freedom and independence means to them today.
Questions to ask your students:
What were some of the reasons the American colonies wanted independence from Britain? What were they fighting for?
What were the “Unalienable Rights” listed in the Declaration of Independence? What do they mean to you?
If you were a colonist during the time of the American Revolution, which side do you think you would have supported and why?