Activities and Strategies
Part A – New Nation, New Government
The unit will start with a quick revision of the American Revolution using the video The American Presidents 1754-1861 from Disney Education. The Making of the Presidency is a 20-minute segment in this DVD that depicts the causes of the American Revolution, the important events of the conflict, the use of the Articles of Confederation to create a common government for the 13 colonies and the eventual development of the Constitution. I always find it more engaging when students are provided a few questions to answer as they are watching the video. This is also a good opportunity to have students review and reason about the causes and consequences of the Revolution as well as the ideals that supported it, later embedded in the writing of the Constitution.
A discussion in three or four small groups will continue using scenarios that will help the students get introduced to the ideas of federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and balancing powers between small and large states –most of these scenarios are provided in The Document Based Question (DBQ) Project: Mini-Qs in American History, Volume I: Constitution. The students are first presented with four questions that guide the discussion and their thinking in regards to the new government of the United States and the possibility of tyranny: individual states over the central government; the Chief Executive as legislator and justice (in the absence of a legislative and a judicial branch); and, states with more population having more power than less populated states. After the discussions, every group will present their conclusions and summaries to the whole class.
Later, the students will study the picture Scene of the Signing of the Constitution of the United States by Howard Chandler Christy, and a discussion will follow about the Philadelphia convention in the summer of 1787. The picture is easy to find in the Internet and I suggest a high resolution image that can be copied into a Power Point document. Present the picture like a puzzle, one piece at a time, and start a discussion/guessing game about the time, people and occasion of this depiction. Invite students to dig deep into the painting, accept all comments but guide students towards the significance of this event that motivated an artist to paint it. Work with the students on identifying the most important people depicted (Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, etc.); you may want to use the website: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention /christy/; when you move the mouse over the picture the representatives' names and states are displayed. If there is time, have groups of students act the painting; challenge them to mimic the expressions and postures of the most visible men. To finish this section, have students write a descriptive/explanatory paragraph about what was happening and the possible thoughts of some of these men at that time (for instance, prompt students to speculate on what Hamilton may be whispering to Franklin; or elaborate on what the manner in which Franklin is seated reflects about his thoughts or disposition.)
Four documents from the DBQ Project will be given to the students next, in the following order: A) Federalism, B) Separation of Powers, C) Checks and Balances and D) Big States and Small States. These documents contain fragments of the Federalists Papers and the Constitution and graphic organizers that will help the students answer and discuss a series of questions that will clarify how the new Constitution guarded against tyranny. Invite peer and group discussions, with a reporter at the end of each section presenting their group's conclusions to the whole class.
The final activity of Part A is to guide the students to develop an outline for an essay, its drafting and final publication in the form of an article in a newspaper of the time. The students will be given rubrics to guide them on how they will be assessed; they will also have a peer review, individual conference with the teacher and a final co-evaluation of the essay between the teacher and the student. Provide models of newspapers from the time, for example The Pennsylvania Gazette (several good images on the Internet), and have students work on the design of their front page over a week in class or as homework.
By the end of this part, students should be familiar with the Constitution and its layout. It is useful to have posted around the classroom, summaries of each article so students can refer to when discussing the first three presidencies and the role of the Constitution in preventing government tyranny. Additionally, the company Teacher Created Materials has a kit labeled Constitution and New Government that includes very realistic copies of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, a good visual for the students.
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