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Vocabulary: The Constitution of the United States: provides the structure of the government and describes how people are to be governed the Preamble: explains the purpose of the Constitution the Articles: explain how the government should be run the Amendments: changes made after the Constitution was written High Impact Teaching Strategies: Explicit Teaching, Collaborative Learning, Questioning Lesson Plan: 1. Ask students: Why is the U.S. Constitution an important document? Give them time to discuss the question. 2. Read the article. Ask students to pay particular attention to information that might help them answer the question “Why is the U.S. Constitution an important document?” 3. Invite students to reread the article with a highlighter or pencil in hand. Have them underline any phrases that explain why the U.S. Constitution is an important document. (sets the way the government functions; gives directions on what the government can and cannot do in the United States; defines our civil rights) 4. Use the image "Constitution Anchor Chart" to help students understand the three parts of the Constitution. The Preamble, which is the introduction, describes the goals of the Constitution. a. Read the text of the Preamble together, and have students underline the various goals. 5. The second part of the Constitution includes the Articles. There are seven articles. The first three articles describe the three branches of government. The last four articles describe how we make and approve amendments. 6. The final section of the Constitution is the Amendments. There are currently 27 amendments. The first 10 amendments are also known as the Bill of Rights. 7. Remind students of the importance of having formal documents. 8. Have students add information about the Constitution to the Important Documents graphic organizer. 9. Optional Extension Activities: a. Give students the Our Classroom Constitution graphic organizer, and have them complete it with a partner. Have students add the Our Classroom Constitution graphic organizer to their interactive notebooks. b. Using your previously established class rules, create a formal class constitution. You could use the language of the Preamble as a guide. Change the statements to everyday language, together with your class (i.e., We, the students of Ms. Smith’s class, in order to form a peaceful and happy classroom …). Then include your specific class rules and responsibilities as the articles and amendments. Create a large version of the class constitution on posterboard, and have a signing ceremony with your students.
Important Documents | Week 9
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