LESSON 8 - Portland Public Schools



LESSON 8.09 The Constitution: A More Perfect Union | |

|Learning targets |SUMMARY OVERVIEW |

|(clear, understandable versions of standards in student friendly language) |History Alive! lesson plan |

|Understand that different factors influenced change in American history from|Students take on the role of law students as they study the |

|1787 through the 1900. Those factors include the influence of individuals, |Constitution in preparation for the “bar exam”, take the exam, |

|issues and events. |and then give legal advice on Constitutional questions. Learning|

|Explain how the federal system divides powers and responsibilities between |focuses on the three branches of government, checks and balances,|

|federal, state and local governments.   |the amendment process and the federal system. |

|Identify the powers of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of | |

|government.  Explain how these powers form a system of checks and balances. | |

| |Recommended changes to HA! lesson plan |

| |Day 1 – Preview (ISN), Interactive Read Aloud of 9.1, read and |

| |discuss 9.2. For students needing language support use sentence |

| |frame for discussion: |

| |The phrase ____________ in the Preamble means _______________. |

| |The Introduction discusses the division of the Constitution into |

| |Articles and Sections. This provides an ideal time to have |

| |students turn to the copy of the Constitution on pages 474 – 481 |

| |and examine its layout. Ask students to find specific provisions|

| |in the Constitution, such as the minimum age requirements for |

| |President, Senator and Representative. |

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| |Day 2 – Working in mixed ability pairs, students read appropriate|

| |sections in HA text and answer questions on Question Cards. |

| |Conduct whole class review of correct answers (in ISN). |

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| |Days 3 & 4 – Skip the graduation exercise and the “bar exam” for |

| |now. Place students in mixed-ability groups of 4 to give legal |

| |advice on Constitutional dilemmas (Information Master 9). Make |

| |this a competition, as outlined in the HA Lesson Plan. |

| |Suggestion: Award extra points to groups that use the |

| |Constitution on pages 474 – 481 to find the Article and Section |

| |in which the question is answered. Students can use |

| |“Constitutional Dilemmas” matrix (linked from PPS Curriculum |

| |page) to record their legal advice and to identify where the |

| |information is found in the Constitution. |

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| |Day 5 – Instead of Processing Assignment– Use the “Bar Exam” to |

| |review for the Chapter test. This can be done with open notes |

| |(ISN) or open text. Students can prepare flash cards from the |

| |“Bar Exam” questions to quiz each other. |

| |Day 6 – Lesson Assessment |

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| |Flexible grouping pattern of the lesson |

| |Day 1 – Whole class, with partner activities. |

| |Day 2 – Mixed ability pairs. |

| |Days 3 & 4 – Mixed ability groups of 4. |

| |Day 5 – Individual or pairs. |

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|Language objectives | |

|(identified cognitive functions correlated to the learning targets, such as | |

|sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, infer, and argue, as well as the | |

|signal words to be deliberately taught/used in discussion and writing; | |

|sentence frames in support section) | |

|The basic structure of the chapter is within the Elaboration cognitive | |

|function, though there are opportunities within the chapter for | |

|compare/contrast. | |

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|Post on Wall: | |

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|Orally and in writing, students will use the following signal words to | |

|explain, describe and elaborate on the parts of the Constitution: | |

|Includes | |

|Such as | |

|Consists of | |

|Contains | |

|Identified by | |

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|Sentence frames are located in the “Support” section below. | |

|History Alive! Preview activity | |

|(builds background; links to student experience) | |

|The Preview Activity includes several higher level thinking tasks for | |

|students. They are asked to assume the perspective of James Madison (with | |

|whom they are familiar from the previous lesson) to answer questions about | |

|government, then asked to evaluate the need for governments in their own | |

|lives. | |

|Pre-assessment activities/documents | |

|(serves as self-assessment for students; informs instruction for teachers; | |

|charts or documents may be used as a place to gather concepts/information | |

|throughout lesson through debriefing; may include visuals, lesson questions,| |

|lesson vocabulary, language objectives, and/or learning targets) | |

|Knowledge rating chart | |

|Lesson questions | |

|(drive instruction; may create links to previous learning; may be included | |

|in pre-assessment) | |

|What were the goals of the Constitution? | |

|What is the role of the legislative branch? | |

|What is the role of the executive branch? | |

|What is the role of the judicial branch? | |

|How do the powers of the three branches provide a system of checks and | |

|balances? | |

|Additional background building | |

|(streaming video segments, DVD, map review, read aloud of a related piece of| |

|fiction, etc.) | |

|Video –Key Constitutional Concepts – available at | |

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|(free login required) | |

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|Learn 360 - Turning Points: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances | |

|(L1404903), 7:20 | |

|Key content vocabulary (italicized words are assessed) | |

|US Constitution | |

|Bill of Rights | |

|federal system/Federalism | |

|separation of powers | |

|checks and balances | |

|legislative branch | |

|bill | |

|veto | |

|executive branch | |

|impeach | |

|judicial branch | |

|amendment | |

|Preamble | |

|READING SUPPORT |

|Lesson-specific instructional supports |

|* see Enrichment Plan for Compacting/Extensions |

|Suggested Strategies for introduction |Focus pages/paragraphs for teacher guided |Thinking or Process-Related|

|Interactive Read-Aloud |reading group |Words (for example, |

| | |Bloom’s, etc.) |

|Visual Analysis of Picture (page 118) – What are these|“How Congress Passes Laws” – page 122, first two |Explain |

|buildings and what do they represent? |paragraphs |Tell |

|Think/pair/share. Students will probably recognize |“The Executive Branch Carries out Laws” – page 123, first |Specify |

|the White House (executive branch), possibly the |two paragraphs |Find |

|Capital Building (legislative branch) and perhaps the |“Powers of the President” – page 124, first three |Describe |

|Supreme Court Building (judicial branch). |paragraphs | |

| |“The Judicial Branch Interprets the Law” – page 125, last | |

|How is the Constitution a “living” document? |paragraph | |

| |“Checking the Powers of Other Branches” – page 126, 3rd | |

|Turn and talk. |and 4th paragraphs on the page | |

| |“Changing the Constitution” – page 127, 2nd and 3rd | |

| |paragraphs on the page | |

| |“Powers Belonging to the States” – page 129, first full | |

| |paragraph | |

| |Chapter Summary - all | |

|WRITING SUPPORT |

|Lesson-specific instructional supports |

|* see Enrichment Plan for Compacting/Extensions |

| |Sentence frames | |

| |for parts of the lesson | |

| |For entrance/exit slips: | |

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| |I think the Constitution is a “living” | |

| |document because ____________. | |

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| |It is important to have a system of | |

| |checks and balances because | |

| |________________. | |

|DISCUSSION SUPPORT |

|Lesson-specific instructional supports |

|* see Enrichment Plan for Compacting/Extensions |

| |Sentence frames | |

| |for parts of the lesson | |

| | | |

| |For discussion of Preamble: | |

| |The phrase ___________ in the Preamble | |

| |means ______________. | |

|FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT (for student and teacher use) |

|“Check for understanding” |Checkpoints in Student Interactive |Questions for |

|points during activities |Notebook |exit and entrance slips |

|By the end of Day 3, students should be able to identify the |Check each set of answers before giving |What makes the Constitution a |

|responsibilities of each of the 3 branches of government. |students the next set of questions. |“living” document? Why is this |

| | |important? |

|By the end of Day 4, students should be able to explain checks| | |

|& balances, the Amendment process and the federal system. | |Why is it important to have a system |

| | |of checks and balances? |

|REVIEW |

|Processing Assignment |Games |Other |

|(also serves as a formative assessment) | | |

|The Processing assignment in the ISN is lengthy (requires |The questions on the Question Cards can |“Tree of Government” assignment – |

|students to write a 5 paragraph persuasive essay) and does not|be used to create a Jeopardy-style |Students create a graphic organizer |

|adequately prepare for the final assessment. Instead, use the|review game. |for the three branches of gov’t. and |

|“Bar Exam” as an open-notes or open-book review of the content| |their responsibilities |

|of the chapter. Students could also make the questions on the| |(posted with this lesson.) |

|“Bar Exam” into flash cards to quiz each other. | | |

|RECOMMENDED LESSON ASSESSMENT AND KEY |

|Assessment |

|Key |

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