Did you know that the Declaration of Independence was really a breakup letter due to a "failing relationship." See, the couple thought they would be "together forever but then things change." One party thought the other was taking their relationship for granted. So it was time to break up. Alone time was needed .
This was how the Declaration of Independence is presented in a Common Core lesson as reported by Nan Austin of the Modesto Bee in California. The funniest thing about her article is that Ms Austin obviously thought she was presenting Common Core in a good light instead of inadvertently revealing its absurdity including a video of this "relationship" breakup lesson:
Here is Austin mocking Common Core without even realizing it:
Relationships are hard, especially with colonies and royalty involved. But with each breakup comes a new beginning, an independence even.
The tale of the 13 Colonies that defied taxation and battled their way to nationhood got a Common Core twist Monday, giving about 500 Enochs High juniors a history lesson they won’t forget.
Three social studies teachers worked together on the lesson, delivered in U.S. history classes schoolwide. The lesson started with background information but not through a lecture, reading the chapter aloud or doing the unit quiz.
Clicking through a series of slides, teacher Janeen Zambo strode around the class asking students to figure out why something happened, what might happen next, and where they could get the information for their homework.
...As students move away for work or college, she pointed out, “you start seeing yourself as separate. It’s part of growing up. Maybe the Colonies were growing up.”
With the background covered, she switched gears. A letter was left in her room, she said, unfolding a paper. Students need to remember their papers, not pass notes, because she reads aloud what gets left behind, she said to stunned silence.
The letter described a failing relationship. The writer needed space. It just wasn’t going to work out. Sympathetic murmurs greeted the harshest lines. As the bell rang, Zambo admitted it was not a classmate’s life they were hearing about, but the birth of a nation.
“We’re going to study the best breakup letter in the history of the world,” Zambo said as she ended her first-period U.S. history class.
One has to wonder if the Treaty of Paris in 1783 concluded with a group hug to show that both sides bore no hard feelings despite the breakup of their relationship.
