Download - Geography - History Lesson Plan
The Constitution
Standards:
From the Iowa Common Core Social Studies Standards:
o Understand that primary sources such as artifacts, photographs, and documents
are used to learn about the past
Selected due to the fact that the Constitution is a historical document
which provides information regarding the past
o Understand the need for government and how our government came to be
Selected because the Constitution provides the basis for the United States
governmental structure
From the Core Knowledge Curriculum:
o History and Geography
American History and Geography
American government is based on the Constitution, the highest law
of our land
o Selected, again, to learn about the governmental structure
of the United States – specifically in regards to the
Constitution
Government by the consent of the governed: “We the people”
o Selected because the concept of “consent of the governed”
is an imperative characteristic that provides the basis of the
entire governmental system of the United States
Objectives:
After the second grade students have had a chance to closely examine the Constitution
and look at several children’s books about the Constitution and the people who created it,
students will create a journal entry that reflects upon what they feel are the major
important parts of the United States government and what values created these parts,
using at least four important (i.e. not “the,” “a,” etc.) words located in the Constitution
and less than five punctuation, grammar, or spelling errors.
Resources / Materials:
DVD of SchoolHouse Rock! clip of the Preamble
o If a DVD is not available, the clip is also available at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHp7sMqPL0g (not the best quality but
better than many of the others on YouTube)
A copy of the Constitution
o Can be found at the following link:
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/constitution/text.html
List of books about the Constitution, writers of the Constitution, colonists, etc. attached
Writers Notebooks / Journals
Learning Plan:
Introduction:
o Today we are going to start our unit about how the government of the United
States was formed. We will be closely examining the Constitution itself, which
was the basis upon which our government was formed, as well as the people who
helped to create the Constitution and government. Throughout today’s class, we
are going to be looking at several books that will help us to understand exactly
what led to the creation of the Constitution. At the end of the class, I’m going to
have you take out your notebooks and write an entry that will demonstrate what
values you believe are contained within the Constitution while using at least four
words actually contained in the Constitution. These words will need to be more
important to the values in the Constitution than just “the” or “a,” a good way will
be to use headings as opposed to the text itself. You will also need to write your
entries with fewer than five punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors, similar to
every other journal entry you have written.
o In order to begin our lesson today, we are going to watch a video about the
Preamble of the Constitution, which is basically the introduction of the document.
Group Practice:
o Now we are going to look at the text of the actual Constitution. I am going to ask
each table group to look at a particular section of the Constitution, called an
Article (for those groups assigned Articles 1 – 3, they will not be required to look
at the entire article, due to the length of these articles in particular). Please grab
your group dictionaries and look up any words that confuse you or that you do not
recognized. The student with the red nametag at your group will record the words
that you have looked up as well as a definition in your own words.
o Before the table groups do this, however, the teacher will work through the
Preamble with the class, as it is fairly short. The following words are encouraged
to be looked up as a class:
Union
Justice
Tranquility
Welfare
Liberty
Posterity
Ordain
o If any of the students are having particular difficulties, the teacher will be
available to answer any questions and define words whose definitions may be
confusing as well.
Individual Practice:
o After the table groups have finished defining the specific words from their article,
each of the students will select at least one book from those provided to read and
use for their journal entries. If the students do not have enough time to complete
this assignment in class, they will be able to work on it throughout any free time
the rest of the day and/or bring the book and journal home to complete for
homework.
Assessment:
The students will turn in their notebooks at the beginning of the next day, so that all
students are turning them in at the same time and the students who brought their
notebooks home do not feel singled out. After all of the notebooks are turned in, they will
be graded based upon the rubric below:
Exceptional Notable Adequate Developing
Number of
“Important”
Words Used
Used at least
four
“important”
words
Used three
“important”
words
Used one or
two
“important”
words
Did not
include any
“important”
words
Vocabulary /
Grammar /
Spelling
There are five
or fewer
errors of the
following:
o Sentence
structure
o Grammar
o Punctuation
o Spelling
There are
between six
and eight
errors of the
following:
o Sentence
structure
o Grammar
o Punctuation
o Spelling
There are
between nine
and eleven
errors of the
following:
o Sentence
structure
o Grammar
o Punctuation
o Spelling
There are
more than
eleven errors
of the
following:
o Sentence
structure
o Grammar
o Punctuation
o Spelling
Differentiation:
For students who need additional time, resources, etc.:
o The students who would like additional time will be able to complete their
assignment in the evening, rather than feeling pressure to complete it during class.
o The students who need additional resources will be able to use the class
computers to find additional information or to find even simpler explanations.
o For the students in the class who are ESL or EL, they will be able to use the
following website to receive very simplified information regarding the
Constitution: http://www.elcivics.com/constitution_civics_1.html
For students who are considered to be high ability:
o For those students who are at a higher reading level, there will be more difficult
books to select.
o For those students who simply do not feel challenged by the assignment, they can
speak with the teacher in order to come up with a personally more challenging
assignment to complete (as this lesson will likely come later in the year, the
students who need a more challenging assignment will know to come to the
teacher and the teacher will know these students as well). The following are some
examples of possible additional assignments:
Take on the role of a colonist or a writer of the Constitution and write a
journal entry about “The Day in the Life of…”
Create a timeline depicting the important events leading up to the creation
of the Constitution, writing of the Constitution, and several years after the
Constitution was written
Create an art project that depicts the meaning of the Constitution in
whatever form the student feels most comfortable with
There will likely need to be additional rubrics created in order to grade the students with
higher ability, but hopefully the teacher will have some rubrics created that will be
specific to those students who need to have adjustments made for the assignment.
Resources:
Iowa Common Core Standards:
"Social Studies - Kindergarten-Grade 2." Iowa.gov. Iowa Department of Education, n.d.
Web. 1 Oct. 2014. <https%3A%2F%2Fwww.educateiowa.gov%2Fpk-
12%2Fiowa-core%2Fsocial-studies%2Fsocial-studies-%25C2%25BB-
kindergarten-grade-2>.
Core Knowledge Curriculum:
"Core Knowledge Sequence: Content and Skill Guidelines for Grades K-8." (n.d.): n.
pag. Core Knowledge. The Core Knowledge Foundation. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/documents/480/CKFSeq
uence_Rev.pdf>.
Places Consulted for Lists of Books:
o "Constitution for Kids -- Best Children's Books for K-8." The Best Children's
Books.org. The Best Children's Books.org, n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/Constitution-for-
kids.html#Constitution-for-kids>.
o "Books for Constitution Day." Goodreads. Goodreads, n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2401.BOOKS_FOR_CONSTITUTION_D
AY>.
List of Books to Use
If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution by Elizabeth Levy
The Founders: The 39 Stories Behind the U.S. Constitution by Dennis Brindell Fradin
The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution by W. Cleon
Skousen
Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz
Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence by Benson John Lossing
Constitution Translated for Kids by Cathy Travis
We the People: The Story of Our Constitution by Lynne Cheny
1776 by David McCullough
We, the People by Peter Spier
We the Kids by David Catrow
George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides by Rosalyn
Schanzer
Our Constitution Rocks! by Juliette Turner
Constitution Construction by Bentley Boyd
Father of the Constitution: A Story about James Madison
Creating the Constitution: 1787 by Christopher Collier
A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy Maestro
The U.S. Constitution and You by Syl Sobel
The Children’s Book of America by William J. Bennett
Our Country’s Founders by William J. Bennett
Wives of the Signers: The Women Behind the Declaration of Independence by David
Barton
Separation of Church and State: What the Founders Meant by David Barton
The Real Thomas Jefferson: The True Story of America’s Philosopher of Freedom by
Andrew M. Allison
The Real George Washington by Andrew M. Allison
The Real Benjamin Franklin by Andrew M. Allison
Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, and Religion by David Barton
The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathon Hennessey
This list can be adapted and changed based upon the personalities, reading levels, etc. of the
actual class of students.