United States Government: Structure and Principles

Unit 2: Lesson 1

 

amendments

 

 

Standards:

                  USG.2.4    Define and provide examples of foundational ideas of American government, including popular sovereignty, constitutionalism, republic or representative government, federalism, and individual rights, which are embedded in founding-era documents.

 

                  USG.2.6    Define and provide examples of fundamental principles and values of American political and civic life, including liberty, the common good, justice, equality, tolerance, law and order, rights of individuals, social diversity, civic unity, constitutionalism, popular sovereignty, and representative democracy. (Individuals, Society, and Culture)

                 

                  USG.3.2    Compare and contrast types of government, such as parliamentary and presidential, democratic and nondemocratic, constitutional and nonconstitutional, and republican or aristocratic.

 

                  USG.3.5    Explain the constitutional principles of federalism, separation of powers among three branches of government, the system of checks and balances, republican government (republicanism) or representative democracy, and popular sovereignty; provide examples of these principles in the governments of the United States and the state of Indiana.

 

Rationale:

                  This unit focuses on the building blocks of the United States and the Constitution. It is important for students to have a solid understanding of the building blocks of our nation and it’s Constitution in order to gain a more complete picture in how the Constitution shapes the United States today and how it has affected those who created their country.

 

Objectives:

Critically think through journaling

Explain the Structure of the Constitution

Identify the parts of the Constitution

Explain the process of Checks and Balances

 

Readings:

                  The Constitution pages 775-788 (more like skimming)

 

Sources:

                  Remy, Richard, “United States Government: Democracy in Action.” Glencoe McGraw-Hill, New York, New York. 2003.\

                 

                  “Constitution of 4 October 1958.” Assemblee-nationale.fr. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/8ab.asp

 

Questions:

                  What is the structure of the Constitution of the United States?

                  How does the system of checks and balances affect the United States government system?

 

Activities:

                  Journaling- At the beginning of the class period, students will be asked to answer the journal question (Document 1-1): Why do you think 18-25 year olds have the worst voter turn-out rates? Give two examples of ways to improve this age group’s voter turn out. This journal question will allow the teacher to have time to take attendance and prepare for the days lesson, as well as give a great platform to start from when discussing the Constitution.

                 

                  Pre-test- After briefly discussing the relevance of voting to the Constitution, the teacher will put a pre-test on the overhead (Document 1-2). Each student will have been handed a pre-test while they were working on the journaling question. The students will begin on the pre-test at the teacher’s command. After every student is finished or at the end of a set time, the teacher will read through each question and ask the students to raise their hand and give their answers. The questions will be discussed as a class and used to introduce the lecture on the Constitution. Students will be asked to hand the pre-test in so the teacher can gauge how much the students knew or didn’t know about the Constitution. The pre-test will not be graded and will be returned to the students at a later date to be used as a study aid for a future test.

 

                  Brief Lecture- While the students are handing in their papers, the teacher will put the first portion of the notes on the overhead or display the lecture through power point (Document 1-3). A brief lecture will be conducted to help give the students a base for the lesson. Primary documents such as pictures of the Constitution and the Amendments, quotes, and critical thinking questions will be used to help make this lecture come alive.

 

                  Checks and Balances Chart- As students are finishing up their note taking and putting their notes away, the teacher will pass out the Checks and Balances worksheet (Document 1-4). As a class, the students will fill out the worksheet labeling the tasks of each branch and drawing arrows to each branch that the task takes precedence over. The teacher will guide the practice and spur students to answer by facilitating questions. When the worksheet is complete, students will be asked to put this in their notebooks, folders, or somewhere where they can easily access it for future reference.

 

                  Constitution Scavenger Hunt- While the students are putting away their worksheets from the previous activity, the teacher will pass out the Constitution Scavenger Hunt worksheet (Document 1-5) (Document 1-6). The teacher will read the directions and ask the students if they have any questions. If there are no questions, the students will be encouraged to begin the assignment. The students will use the Constitution of the United States in the back of their books or posted on the walls, to answer the ten questions on the worksheet. The students will be responsible for completing the worksheet on their own and will be encouraged to take the worksheet home as homework if they did not finish in class. The purpose of the scavenger hunt is to help students become familiar with the structure and principles of the Constitution.

 

                  Constitution Comparison- This activity is to be used if time is permitting. When the students are finished with their worksheets from the previous activity or when a set time is up, they will be asked to put their work away and pay attention to the overhead or projector screen. On the overhead the teacher will place a document containing similar portions of the French Constitution and the American Constitution (Document 1-7). The French Constitution will be marked in black while the American Constitution will be marked in red. The teacher will ask the students to read specific sections of each constitution and then ask questions encouraging the students to compare and contrast the two documents and what they have to say about specific topics. This activity, with closing remarks from the teacher and discussion of what will be discussed the next class day, will be used to wrap up the lesson for the day.

                 

 

Materials Needed:

                  Pencil, paper, overhead, chalkboard, textbook, and handouts. Markers are optional.

 

Lesson Assessment:

                  A pre-assessment test will be conducted to gauge how much the students already know on the topic. The “Constitution Scavenger Hunt” worksheet is another way in which the teacher can gauge how much they learned about the structure of the Constitution.


Professor comments: Professor Munn followed a rubric when grading my lesson plan and my presentation of it to my SS 395 class.  To access the grading rubric, please click the professor comments link.



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