"We the People"

Students will gain a better understanding of the U.S. Constitution by exploring the language of the Constitution.

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

By Karen Creech, Terri Hodges, Megan Lawson, and Mary Ostwalt

Provided by Teachers Connect

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Related pages

• "I Declare, I believe this document May Flower!": The learner will apply ideas of self-government as expressed in America's founding documents. To be used with/for SLD and other exceptional students.
• The Bill of Rights and the U.S. Supreme Court: In this lesson, students work in groups and individually to understand how the Constitution/Bill of Rights is a living document and how Supreme Court decisions protect the rights of all Americans.
• The Declaration of Independence: In this interdisciplinary lesson, students will examine the role of the Declaration of Independence in the development of the American Revolution and as part of the American identity. They will also analyze the argumentative structure and write their own declaration.

Related topics

• Learn more about American history, Bill of Rights, Constitution, United States, government, history, language arts, social studies, and word choice.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• gain a better understanding of the U.S. Constitution
• use a variety of technology tools for research, production, and demonstration
• be introduced to and gain an understanding of related words and their meanings
• learn to work in cooperative groups to reach consensus and compromise

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

4 hours

Materials/resources

US Constitution (Option B)

Technology resources

• internet access (Option A)
• Word processing software
• Spreadsheet/charting software
• Desktop publishing software (Optional - Activity 3)

Pre-activities

Discuss the historical context of the Constitution’s origin. Identify needs that led to the writing of the Constitution and who the primary writers were. To complete the activities for the following lessons, you need to have the U.S. Constitution in a word processing program to utilize specific tools.

Option A

If you have World Wide Web access in a windows or Macintosh environment, copy and paste the text of the Constitution from Our Documents (this site also includes other historical documents) into your word processing program.

This can be a student activity if time permits or one completed by the teacher in advance. (David Warlick, Landmark Project)

Option B

If you do not have internet access, this could become a keyboarding activity for students. Each student would be assigned a small section of the Constitution to keyboard and save. Use copy and paste tools to create one document that contains the entire Constitution.

Activities

Activity 1

(Team taught by Language Arts and Social Studies teachers)

After students have an understanding of the purpose of the Constitution and the time period in which it was written, ask them to:

1. List five words they predict would occur frequently in the Constitution.
2. Group students into pairs to discuss their individual list of words and reach consensus to develop one list of five words.
3. Combine two pairs to form groups of four students and repeat the process.
4. Combine two groups of four to form a group of eight students and repeat the process (at this point there should be five words from each group of eight).
5. As a class, discuss the process of consensus and the difficulty the writers of the Constitution would have experienced when determining the text to be included.
6. Use the five words generated by each group of eight (there will be duplications) to create a spreadsheet.
7. Survey the students asking them to refer to their individual lists and compile the number of responses for each word.
8. Create a bar graph showing the results.
9. Discuss the results.

Activity 2

(Taught in Language Arts class)

Using the word processed document of the Constitution:

1. Use the replace tool to actually test to see how many times each word did occur (whole class activity with overhead and LCD, individually or cooperative groups).
2. Add this data to the created spreadsheet with predicted results and create a double bar graph to compare the two.
3. Choose one word that occurs frequently and use the find tool to locate where it is used in context.
4. Write the meaning of the word as it is used in context. List an antonym and synonym for each word.
5. Discuss the connotation of the word.
6. Spell check the Constitution document to identify which words are misspelled by today’s spelling standards.
7. Discuss the use of British spellings.

Activity 3

1. Students read all the Articles of the Constitution and discuss the various groups granted liberties.
2. Students will discuss possible strengths and weaknesses of the government framed by the Constitution.
3. Design an original flyer (word processed or desktop published) referencing Article II entitled “Position Available” or “Help Wanted.” Include specific responsibilities and requirements for holding the office of President of U.S.
• Options for flyer will be determined by software and hardware. Some options include:
• Create a frame using border art.
• Create an eye-catching heading using word art.
• Vary your text style and list a minimum of five requirements and five responsibilities for the job.
• Add at least one graphic design or picture using clip art.
• Check your work for spelling accurateness using spell check.
• Print final publication.

Activity 4

This activity can be done within a class using two groups, with two classes within one school, or with a class in another school using e-mail or video conferencing to communicate).

As a class, students reach a consensus on four principles to govern dress, behavior, communication, and one of free choice to govern another group. Assign these principles to another group and accept the ones assigned.

Assessment

Activity 1

Students will display bar graphs.

Activity 2

Students will display a double bar graph to compare the results from the most frequently used words that actually appear in the Constitution and the predicted list of words.

Evaluate the definitions and connotations derived from context.

Activity 3

Students will display original flyers “Position Available” or “Help Wanted.” with the specific responsibilities and requirements for holding the office of President of U.S. Students should select the one that demonstrates the most effective use of persuasive tone.

Activity 4

Students will write a descriptive narrative sharing their feelings about being governed and governing.

Supplemental information

David Warlick, Landmark Project

Comments

This lesson plan is from the collection of the Tried *n* True lesson plans from the Department of Public Instruction.