Grade 8 History Class Debates Independence in Role-Play Exercise

In class with Mr. Sokoloff, the students have been focusing on two units of study: The Road to Revolution - Colonial Era America, and the founding of America - articles of Confederation and the Constitution. The project linked the two units together with students being assigned a colony to represent one of three perspectives; specifically Patriot, Loyalist or Neutralist, to debate whether they should stay loyal to England and negotiate for better rights or to declare independence.

To prepare for the project, each student was provided with background information of their colony and the character they were representing to develop an opening statement outlining their position and reasoning for their perspective. A few guidelines for the opening statement included detailing life in the colonies, explanation of what factors led to the position of staying loyal or calling for independence with specific examples, and outlook on what life would be if independence was achieved. Mr. Sokoloff encouraged the students to be persuasive in their statements and reflect the persona as opposed to their own perspective.

On the day of the debate, the students arrived to class and took their seats with some even diving deeper into their roles with costumes and props reflective of the time period. Mr. Sokoloff opened the floor and each delegate delivered their opening statements. Following each speech, the other delegates asked follow-up questions and wrote down comments on a separate sheet of paper as part of the written assignment. At the debate's conclusion, the class joined together to discuss the pros and cons to independence.

The unit of study into the founding of America will continue with students reading about The Articles of Confederation and understanding that the colonies needed a stronger, more “complicated” government that can unify all the colonies into states. Later this month, they will explore basic civic principles and how they are linked to our constitution and eventually look at the Bill of Rights.

“The goals of the project were to help students construct an argument using historical details and also appreciate different perspectives when engaging in dialog in solving problems and develop more confidence speaking in front of their peers,” remarked Mr. Sokoloff. “Ultimately, we want students to gain an appreciation of how complicated and nuanced it was for colonists to declare their independence. Often, change can be fraught and it is not something that always is an obvious choice and everyone can be affected differently.”