This Influential Documents Close Read for Civics & American Government resource covers three of the main influential documents of American Government: the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and the Mayflower Compact. Aligned to the Florida State Standard for 7th Grade Civics students, SS.7.CG.1.3 Influential Documents, each of these worksheets has students read an excerpt from the historical document, annotate the margins with the answers to close-read questions, and determine the “Big Idea” behind the document. This is a challenging activity that will appeal to both middle school and high school students of Civics, American Government, or American History.
The included reading passages cover:
- Magna Carta
- English Bill of Rights
- Mayflower Compact
The margins are lined with close-read questions that ask students to define words, interpret chunks of the text, and think critically about what they’re reading.
✯ For Magna Carta, the close-read questions include:
- The Fourth Amendment guarantees our rights against “illegal search and seizure”. Which excerpts [from Magna Carta] protect English citizens from the same?
✯ For the Mayflower Compact, such questions include:
- The colonists are agreeing to “combine” themselves into a “civill body politick”. What are they creating?
- The Mayflower Compact was the first example of what in American history?
✯ For the English Bill of Rights, some of the questions include:
- Which line calls for free government elections?
- Why did the English nobles want the King to sign a Bill of Rights? What did they want to protect?
Pair this with my Colonists’ Library resource for an even deeper dive into the foundational documents of American government!
This resource comes as a non-editable, printable PDF and includes an Answer Key. There is also a digital version available through TPT Easel, which can be assigned directly to Google Classroom or shared with your students via a link!
What other teachers are saying about this resource:
“We were able to have meaningful conversations”
This resource was excellent as a whole class lesson. I tried to have them do it on their own, but it proved to be a bit difficult because of the way they spoke/wrote back then. My students are not used to seeing/reading old english or as one of my students called it “old timey language”. But reading it out loud for them and making it a whole class discussion was much better suited for them and we were able to have meaningful conversations.
★ ★ ★ ★
— Bleidy I.
“We discussed all the big ideas as a class!”
My students are not huge fans of reading and this made these confusing documents easier to manage! They were able to break it down piece by piece and we discussed all the big ideas as a class! Thanks for the great resource
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
— Shelby M.
“Great supplement”
My students enjoyed this activity. It was a great supplement to the county curriculum.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
— Rebecca P.
More Happy Teacher Products You Might Enjoy:
✩ Standards-Based Bell Ringers for Civics & American Government | Quarter One
✩ The Colonists’ Library | Foundations of Government: Influential Documents
✩ Understanding the Declaration of Independence | Civics & American History
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