Paving the road to the Constitution

Students will be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation as related to the United States and North Carolina. Students will be able to demonstrate an argument for or against ratification of the United States Constitution.

A lesson plan for grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Kim Bennett

Learn more

• Teacher Lesson Plan - In Congress Assembled From the Library of Congress' American Memory Project, this page provides a teacher lesson plan to teach drafting the Constitution.

Related pages

• Liberation and deliberation: The North Carolina ratification debates of 1788: This lesson focuses on the deliberations over ratification of the US Constitution by the North Carolina legislators. In particular it traces the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-federalists found in the primary sources digitized in the Documenting the American South collection.
• Exploring the 1835 NC Constitutional Convention: This Internet Scavenger Hunt allows students to read the actual proceedings of the 1835 Constitutional Convention while they discover for themselves some of the significant amendments that were made. The activity also sets the foundation for class discussions about why the state Constitution was amended in 1835 and what impact the amendments had on religious groups, free blacks, and American Indians.
• Change in a democratic society (Lesson 1 of 3): This lesson will demonstrate how art can imitate society. Students will learn about democracy in America through an examination of and a Paideia seminar on "The Sword of Damocles," an oil painting by British painter Richard Westall. This lesson should be used after a study of colonial times in America and through the American Revolution.

Related topics

• Learn more about American history, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, North Carolina, history, ratification, and social studies.

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Learning outcomes

The learner will be able to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. The learner will then use this knowledge to demonstrate the ability to argue for or against ratification of the United States Constitution.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 weeks

Materials/resources

• North Carolina: The History of an American State (Ch.10)
• The American Journey (Ch.7) (Map: page 191)
• Posterboard
• Markers
• Post-it notes
• Bulletin Board Paper
• Chalkboard
• 1 box file folders
• Teacher copy of activity sheet

Technology resources

Computer w/ internet access and printer

Pre-activities

• Class discussion/review of the problems the new nation faced after the American Revolution.
• Do a Consensogram
• Go to the website for photos and introductory background information. After you have accessed the website listed you will need to scroll down the screen and click on “Student Background on the Articles of the Confederation”. This will lead you to the helpful background information.
• Place students into small reading groups and use class time to read the chapters in the textbooks.

Activities

All activities in the lesson plan are designed to be done either in small groups or as a class.

Activity 1

The first activity is a simple list of terms and people that students will be working with and will need to know. Break students into small groups and have each group evenly divide the words among the members.

List of Terms

• Articles of Confederation
• Bill of Rights
• Compromise
• Constitution
• State’s Rights
• Tariff
• Bicameral
• Republic
• Ordinance

List of People

• James Madison
• Robert Morris
• Alexander Hamilton
• John Adams
• Daniel Shays
• Baynard V. Singleton
• David Fanning
• Hugh Williamson
• Richard Caswell
• Nathanael Greene

Activity 2

Students should hold a class discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. All reading in the text should be completed at this time, and it is now appropriate to do the Force Field Analysis. After students have completed the force field, they should take a few minutes at the end of class to copy this into their notes.

Activity 3

Activity Three allows students to travel back in time and use their imagination. Students should illustrate an event or place of this era using only the notes they have in their folder. They should not be allowed to go by other pictures about the lesson. You should encourage them to be creative and use their imagination.

Activity 4

The last activity will consist of students creating an Affinity Diagram using the Paving the Road to the Constitution. This activity will help organize people, places, and events important to this lesson.

Assessment

Assessment can be done using one or all of the following methods. It is usually best to use some combination of the following methods.

• Re-give consensogram quiz.
• Check file folder for completeness: all notes, terms, etc.
• Have each student prepare a five paragraph essay on the effectiveness of the Articles of Confederation.
• Have each student write a short biography of one prominent North Carolinian during this era.
• Have each student prepare an argument for or against the ratification of the Constitution.
• Hold a class debate and take a secret ballot vote at the end of the debate.

Supplemental information

The list of terms is included in the activity section Teachers resource kit for The American Journey. The exercise is called Mapping History Activity 7.

Comments

This lesson can move slowly or fast depending on class size and ability level. I work with Alternative students and have found that when they take on a big topic as a group, they do not feel overwhelmed. They seem to have fun while studying the topic and retain more information while doing hands-on work.

Also be sure to monitor your debate at all times. Some students can become really passionate about their position.