Finding Freedom: ELA Lessons for Gifted and Advanced Learners in Grades 6-8

Finding Freedom invites students to follow America's journey in defining how freedom has evolved from multiple perspectives, conflicts, ideas, and challenges. This unit, developed by Vanderbilt University's Programs for Talented Youth, features close readings of some of the most famous American political speeches from presidents and notable Americans, who make arguments for personal freedom, freedom for all, and protecting freedom. Students will learn to evaluate speeches for effective rhetorical techniques and analyze how the writer develops his or her argument through claims, supporting evidence, techniques, and appeals. Lessons provide opportunities for students to make interdisciplinary connections and sharpen their historical thinking skills. Students synthesize their learning by comparing speeches to each other and to contemporary issues today. The unit features speeches from Patrick Henry, Frederick Douglass, and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lincoln, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, George W. Bush, Obama, and others.