Picture yourself at the signing of the Declaration!

I find the ultimate signing of the Declaration of Independence to be a fascinating topic for discussion and debate. Mainly because the history our students are most often taught is watered down and does a disservice to those who created the document through countless hours and months of debates and disagreements. Some have said that the signing was more a product of disagreement than it was the opposite.

For my photoshop picture I have put myself in that fateful moment in world history in order to have the students imagine someone from the modern world in that situation. I would use inquiry based methods, and ask the students to take sides with particular figures and ideas that they agree or disagree with. I could also add more slides of situations that occurred at independence hall, or abroad with our diplomats and insert photos of my students.

The beauty of manipulating imagery with various photos is that many pictures that depict figures as well as events from our past seem fictional. I want my students to try to understand what it was like being in different periods of history. Furthermore, they should become aware of the different ideas from the people depicted. What better way than to plaster some kids face in a famous event.