Goals & Objectives
Students will learn about the critical period (1780s) of the United States under the Articles of Confederation. Students will summarize the main ideas of a secondary source in order to identify, evaluate and argue the positions between creditors and debtors and the conflict between the two that preceded the Constitutional Convention.
California State Content Standards & Common Core
12.1.3 Explain how the U.S. Constitution reflects a
balance between the classical republican concern with promotion of the
public good and the classical liberal concern with protecting individual
rights; and discuss how the basic premises of liberal constitutionalism
and democracy are joined in the Declaration of Independence as
"self-evident truths."
12.1.4 Explain how the Founding Fathers' realistic view of human nature led directly to the establishment of a constitutional system that limited the power of the governors and the governed as articulated in the Federalist Papers
12.1.5 Describe the systems of separated and shared powers, the role of organized interests (Federalist Paper Number 10), checks and balances (Federalist Paper Number 51), the importance of an independent judiciary (Federalist Paper Number 78), enumerated powers, rule of law, federalism, and civilian control of the military.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3 Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
12.1.4 Explain how the Founding Fathers' realistic view of human nature led directly to the establishment of a constitutional system that limited the power of the governors and the governed as articulated in the Federalist Papers
12.1.5 Describe the systems of separated and shared powers, the role of organized interests (Federalist Paper Number 10), checks and balances (Federalist Paper Number 51), the importance of an independent judiciary (Federalist Paper Number 78), enumerated powers, rule of law, federalism, and civilian control of the military.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3 Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Vocabulary
Students will decode the academic vocabulary through a word map (form of graphic organizer). In the word map students must define the word, use it in a sentence, and draw an illustration representing the word. Below are the academic vocabulary for the lesson.
Bondholders
Creditors Currency Debtors Taxpapers |
paper money
James Madison War Bonds Articles of Confederation Ratification |
Anticipatory Set (15min)
The teacher will conduct a game in order to open up discussion on the origins of the Constitution. The teacher will ask the students to shout out the specific clauses in the Constitution they most appreciate-the ones that make them feel safe and free. Having previously divided the blackboard into three sections, the teacher will place each clause that the students mention in one of the three categories. The teacher will number the columns but not label them. That is the student's challenge: to figure out, as the three columns fill up, what each one is. The columns consist of the Bill of Rights, the basic Constitution before the Bill of Rights, and the Articles of Confederation
What student's will realize is that the vast majority of the most popular constitutional clauses are not actually in the Constitution that the Framers signed before ratification. The teacher will explain that the Bill of Rights was a concession that the Framers made in order for the Constitution to be ratified. The teacher will explain that the states and thousands of Americans were troubled that the delegates had codified the powers of government but not the rights of citizens. States ended up giving their approval to the Constitution only on the condition that it would contain a Bill of Rights.
Which raises a question: If the most compelling motive for the Constitution was not to safeguard civil liberties, what was it?
What student's will realize is that the vast majority of the most popular constitutional clauses are not actually in the Constitution that the Framers signed before ratification. The teacher will explain that the Bill of Rights was a concession that the Framers made in order for the Constitution to be ratified. The teacher will explain that the states and thousands of Americans were troubled that the delegates had codified the powers of government but not the rights of citizens. States ended up giving their approval to the Constitution only on the condition that it would contain a Bill of Rights.
Which raises a question: If the most compelling motive for the Constitution was not to safeguard civil liberties, what was it?
Content Delivery (Day 1 Reading [35min], Day 2 Discussion [45min])
Day 1 -The teacher will pass out the secondary source reading, the introduction to Woody Holton's Unruly Americans "Evils Which . . . Produced This Convention". The teacher will quickly go over the concepts of annotation that have already been taught prior to this lesson. The teacher will have passed out the abstracts and amended versions of the chapter introduction ELLs, Struggling Readers, and Students with Special Needs. As the students are reading the material, the teacher will roam the room to monitoring student engagement. The introduction is 18 pages long but the teacher will have provided "stopping points" with questions to answer. There are four "stopping points" and each stopping point has three questions to answer. Some questions include:
1) Explain what Alexander Hamilton meant by "growing tired of an excess of democracy"?
2) Compare Hamilton's views of the "excess of democracy" to James Madison's fear of "the tyranny of the major number of the constituents."
3) In what way did paper money cause runaway inflation?
Students will answer these questions in their secondary source packets. Reading activity will continue until 5 minutes before the class is over. At this point the the remaining questions will be assigned for homework and students will be required to read the primary source document Madison Debates as well. For the primary source document, students will be required to write a brief one-paragraph summary, which is due at the start of day of the lesson. The teacher will inform the students that they will take part in Socratic seminar for day 2 of the lesson and in order to be successful must complete the stopping point questions and primary source summary since each group will be called at random. Students will be working in their home groups (already prearranged at the start of the school year) and will be responsible for one "stopping point."
Day 2 - During the seminar each group will discuss the questions in their stopping point and introduce one concept from their primary source summary. Students who are not discussing a stopping point will be responsible to complete a peer evaluation handout. Here, students will write down the answers to the stopping point questions and provide 5 additional details per discussion. Each group will have 11 mins to discuss the stopping point questions.
1) Explain what Alexander Hamilton meant by "growing tired of an excess of democracy"?
2) Compare Hamilton's views of the "excess of democracy" to James Madison's fear of "the tyranny of the major number of the constituents."
3) In what way did paper money cause runaway inflation?
Students will answer these questions in their secondary source packets. Reading activity will continue until 5 minutes before the class is over. At this point the the remaining questions will be assigned for homework and students will be required to read the primary source document Madison Debates as well. For the primary source document, students will be required to write a brief one-paragraph summary, which is due at the start of day of the lesson. The teacher will inform the students that they will take part in Socratic seminar for day 2 of the lesson and in order to be successful must complete the stopping point questions and primary source summary since each group will be called at random. Students will be working in their home groups (already prearranged at the start of the school year) and will be responsible for one "stopping point."
Day 2 - During the seminar each group will discuss the questions in their stopping point and introduce one concept from their primary source summary. Students who are not discussing a stopping point will be responsible to complete a peer evaluation handout. Here, students will write down the answers to the stopping point questions and provide 5 additional details per discussion. Each group will have 11 mins to discuss the stopping point questions.
Student Activities
Students will participate in the origins of the Constitution game. Here, they will shout out their favorite clauses of the Constitution.
Students will annotate a secondary source and answer a series of questions that accompany the secondary source.
Students will write a one-paragraph summary on a primary source document that they will incorporate in a Socratic Seminar on Day 2 of the lesson.
Students will discuss both the primary source and secondary source in order to answer this question, If the most compelling motive for the Constitution was not to safeguard civil liberties, what was it?
Students will summarize the main ideas of a secondary source in order to identify, evaluate and argue the positions between creditors and debtors and the conflict between the two that preceded the Constitutional Convention.
Students will annotate a secondary source and answer a series of questions that accompany the secondary source.
Students will write a one-paragraph summary on a primary source document that they will incorporate in a Socratic Seminar on Day 2 of the lesson.
Students will discuss both the primary source and secondary source in order to answer this question, If the most compelling motive for the Constitution was not to safeguard civil liberties, what was it?
Students will summarize the main ideas of a secondary source in order to identify, evaluate and argue the positions between creditors and debtors and the conflict between the two that preceded the Constitutional Convention.
Lesson Closure (10 min)
The teacher conduct a class debrief after the Socratic Seminar. During this debrief the teacher will go over any lingering questions or misconceptions. At this point, the teacher will also collect the peer evaluation handouts.
Assessment
Formative: The teacher will monitor the level of discussion during the Socratic seminar. During the seminar, the teacher will redirect the discussion if necessary and pose questions to all group members to check for understanding and enable participation. The teacher can gauge the level of discussion and make appropriate accommodations if needed (i.e., additional resources or scaffolding).
Summative: The peer evaluations will help the instructor gauge whether students were paying attention to the material, understood the material and can also help the instructor find out what the students had the most trouble with. If the material needs to be retaught then the teacher can create an additional assignment that covers the areas that were misunderstood. The class debrief will also serve as a Summative assessment as well.
Summative: The peer evaluations will help the instructor gauge whether students were paying attention to the material, understood the material and can also help the instructor find out what the students had the most trouble with. If the material needs to be retaught then the teacher can create an additional assignment that covers the areas that were misunderstood. The class debrief will also serve as a Summative assessment as well.
Accommodations for English Learners, Struggling Readers and Students with Special Needs
Prior to lesson, ELLs, Striving Readers, and Students with Special Needs will be given a shorter verson of chapter from Unruly Americans, accompanying this shorter version will be an abstract of the chapter (summary of the material). This will help the ELLs, Striving Readers, and Students with Special Needs decode the material and allow them to focus on the larger question: If the most compelling motive for the Constitution was not to safeguard civil liberties, what was it? Also, the wordmap serves as accommodation (graphic organizer) because it incorporates the use of an visual aid. Illustrations help keep learning comprehensible by coordinating auditory and visual modes of input.
Resources
Whiteboard, Chapter from Unruly Americans, Primary source document (Madison Debates), Peer Evaluation handout.
"Evils Which…Produced This Convention" (The teacher will have already printed copies of this chapter prior to the lesson)
Madison Debates June 16 1787 (The teacher will have already printed copies of this primary source prior to the lesson)
"Evils Which…Produced This Convention" (The teacher will have already printed copies of this chapter prior to the lesson)
Madison Debates June 16 1787 (The teacher will have already printed copies of this primary source prior to the lesson)