Classroom Activities
Lesson One
Essential Question-What are some examples of fundamental rights, responsibilities, and privileges of American citizenship?
Background information- Students will have already investigated and discussed the events leading to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Students will have already read, discussed, and interpreted the Declaration of Independence. Students will have developed an elementary level of understanding of why this document is important in American history.
Instruction- The class will view a short video about the Preamble to the Constitution. Next we will examine the U.S. Constitution. It will be explained that the Constitution is the framework for our government and outlines the duties and powers of each of the three branches of the government.
Activity-Students will participate in a jigsaw activity. First students will be grouped and each group will explore a different Article of the Constitution. Then we will regroup and expert will give the information on their Article. Students will discuss which rights are important to them and which rights are important for the class. Groups will create their own classroom Constitution.
Assessment-Each group will create a presentation for their Constitution and will justify what they included in their Constitution.
Lesson Two
Essential Question- What does freedom mean to you?
Background Information- The Founding Fathers realized that the Constitution may need to be changed from time to time and provided for a procedure to amend the Constitution. The Constitution has 27 Amendments, the first ten are known as the Bill of Rights.
Instruction-Focusing on The Bill of Rights, we will investigate one right at time. Students will take quick notes about the Bill of Rights. As the notes are taken, examples will be given of their rights that are protected and what could happen if we didn't have this right. Discussion and examples of what could happen if this right was not included will occur.
Activity-Students will participate in an activity using the Think-Pair-Share cooperative learning format. As each right is introduced, students will "Think" about what this right means to them, making a connection to themselves. They will then "Pair", meaning they will find a partner and each will discuss the connections they have made to the right. Finally each pair will "Share" with the class their discussion and connections. Next, students will work in small groups and will receive a copy of the Bill of Rights. They will only be able to select 5 of the rights to start their own country. They must come to a consensus within their group and justify why they chose those rights. This hopefully will give the students an idea of how difficult of a task this was for the writers of the Constitution. They will need to present their chosen rights to the class and explain why they chose the rights they chose.
Assessment-Students will describe three freedoms that are granted to them by the Constitution and how it affects their everyday lives. Students will create a visual interpretation, such as poster, google doodle, or video representation, of one or more of the rights covered in The Bill of Rights.
Lesson Three
Essential Question-How does the ideas of the President shape the ideas of America?
Background information-There have been 44 Presidents elected to represent the interest of the citizens of the United States. The President pledges to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States" during their inauguration. Each president that has been inaugurated after an election since Washington has also given an Inaugural Address. In this address, the president details what is their vision for America.
Instruction-Modeling how to dissect and interpret the presidential address will be completed as a whole group activity using Washington's Inaugural Address. A vocabulary list, see Appendix B, will be distributed to the students. Students will complete a Student VOC, see Appendix C, will be completed in groups, with students being able to jigsaw the words. Next the original copy of the selected Inaugural passage will be given to the students. Using the Think-Pair-Share cooperative learning strategy, students will develop an interpretation of the address. A paraphrased passage will then be handed out and students can compare the interpretations. Students will look to identify how the president explains his vision for American rights. As students work through the addresses, they will look for common ideas.
Activity-Once again a jigsaw cooperative strategy will be completed. Small groups of students will be assigned another of the preselected Presidential Inaugural Addresses. Each of these small groups will mimic the procedures modeled from Washington's Address. In addition to examining the address, students will research background information on their president in order to create a picture of what their president was facing. Next, students will be regrouped and will bring their expertise to their new group. Each student will bear the responsibility to impart their new knowledge on the other group members.
Assessment-Student groups will create a timeline of the studied presidents. They will compare and contrast the messages to determine if there are any common ideas that are present throughout the addresses. As a culminating activity, students will then have to write their own Inaugural Address. They will determine what American rights and freedoms are important to them and explain them in a speech.
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