1. INDEPENDENCE DAY
Date July 4th
Focus Present and Past Passive. Vocabulary related to the topic.
Level Intermediate
Time 90 minutes
Keys
1. Pre-reading: 1) flag 2) fireworks 3) parade 4) eagle 5) picnic 6) ribbons
7) Declaration of Independence 8) barbecue 9) stars 10) Thomas
Jefferson
2. Questions:
a) It commemorates the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on
July 4th, 1776.
b) In 1941
c) It is celebrated with parades and pageants, patriotic speeches, organized firing
of guns, and cannons and fireworks.
d) It proclaimed the independence of the 13 British colonies in America.
e) Thomas Jefferson.
3. Video:
a) True
b) False
c) True
d) False
e) True

2. INDEPENDENCE DAY
1) What do you know about the Fourth of July or Independence Day?
The following symbols or activities are all associated with the Fourth of
July holiday. Can you write the correct word under each picture?
fireworks barbecue picnic Declaration of independence
parade Th. Jefferson eagle stars ribbons flag
1. _____________ 6. _____________
2. _____________ 7. _____________
3. _____________ 8. ______________
4. _____________ 9. ______________
5. _____________ 10. _____________

3. 2) READING
The History of July 4th
Independence Day in the U.S., is an annual holiday commemorating the
formal adoption by the Continental Congress of the Declaration of
Independence on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia. Although the signing of the
Declaration was not completed until August, the Fourth of July holiday has
been accepted as the official anniversary of U.S. independence and is
celebrated in all states and territories of the U.S.
The holiday was first observed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, at which
time the Declaration of Independence was read aloud, city bells rang, and
bands played. It was not declared a legal holiday, however, until 1941. The
Fourth is traditionally celebrated publicly with parades and pageants,
patriotic speeches, organized firing of guns and cannons and displays of
fireworks. Family picnics and barbecues are typical private Fourth of July
celebrations.
The Declaration of Independence document proclaimed the independence
of the 13 British colonies in America and was adopted by the Continental
Congress on July 4, 1776. Thomas Jefferson was the main writer and
Benjamin Franklin and John Adams made minor changes. The Preamble
states that all men are created equal and that they have unalienable rights
which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
3) Answer these questions about the reading
a. What does Independence Day commemorate?
b. When was it declared a legal holiday?
c. How do people celebrate the 4th of July?
d. What did the Declaration of Independence document proclaim?
e. Who wrote it?

4. 4) Video: Are these statements true or false according to the following
video?
a) Most colonists in 1770 didn´t consider themselves American.
b) Colonists were convinced that independence from England was a good
idea.
c) In 1776, twelve colonies declared themselves independent.
d) The Declaration of Independence was approved on July 2nd 1776.
e) The history of the holiday began on July 4th 1777.
http://www.history.com/video.do?name=culture&bcpid=1681694254&bcli
d=1672079684&bctid=1577995921
5) Listen to “Born in the USA”, one of Bruce Springsteen’s best known
songs. It deals with the effects of the Vietnam War on Americans,
although it became a patriotic anthem about American pride.
Born down in a dead man's town To go and kill the yellow man
The first kick I took was when I hit
the ground [chorus]
You end up like a dog that's been beat
too much Come back home to the refinery
'Til you spend half your life just Hiring man says quot;Son if it was up to
covering up mequot;
I go down to see the V.A. man
[chorus:] He said quot;Son don't you understandquot;
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A. [chorus]
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A. I had a buddy at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
I got in a little hometown jam They're still there, he's all gone
And so they put a rifle in my hands He had a little girl in Saigon
Sent me off to Vietnam I got a picture of him in her arms

5. Down in the shadow of the penitentiary I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Out by the gas fires of the refinery Born in the U.S.A.
I'm ten years down the road I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to Born in the U.S.A.
go
“We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we
practice it”. ~William Faulkner