SS.912.CG.1.4

In this assessment, students will discuss controversies over ratification of the U.S. Constitution, as well as identifying and analyzing differences between Federalists and Anti-Federalist perspectives. 

Type: Assessment

Students will explore the critical contributions that led to the development of the Cell Theory and those that led to the development of our constitutional republic. They will also be able to explain how both science and politics involve people working together from various backgrounds and specialities to build ideas and solve problems in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn about the foundational ideas behind the Cell Theory and the U.S. government and begin to understand how both science and politics involve people from different backgrounds and specialities working together to build ideas and solve problems in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn and implement the basic rules for effective paraphrasing. Students will read the 1979 State of the Union address by President Jimmy Carter. They will paraphrase several key sections to develop their paraphrasing skills and deepen their knowledge of the United States’ foundational principles referenced in the address, particularly those related to the Bill of Rights. Students will also answer text-dependent questions to further analyze President Carter’s address.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn the basic rules for effective paraphrasing. Students will read the 2021 inaugural address of President Joseph Biden. They will paraphrase several key sections to sharpen their paraphrasing skills and deepen their knowledge of the United States’ foundational principles referenced in the address. Students will also answer text-dependent questions to further analyze President Biden’s address.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson 1 in a series of integrated civics lessons for the text The Odyssey by Homer. After reading and discussing Book One of The Odyssey, students will analyze how Odysseus fits the description of an epic hero by creating a trading card. Additionally, students will research one of the Founders of the United States to create a trading card as they determine and analyze how he fits the description of an epic hero.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments,” presented at the Seneca Falls Convention (Seneca Falls, N.Y., July 19th and 20th, 1848). Students will categorize selected text by type of rhetorical appeal: ethos, pathos, logos, or kairos.

Students will also complete text-dependent questions to further analyze the document. As part of this analysis, they will evaluate Stanton’s use of various appeals and compare and contrast the ideas and language in this document and in the Declaration of Independence.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson will be used to introduce or review the Declaration of Independence, a founding document of America. This lesson will familiarize students with one of the Founders, Thomas Jefferson, and his influence on the American government by incorporating ideas from the European Enlightenment era.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students identify the difference between Federalist and Anti-Federalist viewpoints through analysis of primary source writing. Students will identify concerns from each side and their impacts on the final ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this integrated lesson plan, students will use an interactive program in Scratch to create an informational interactive presentation identifying key factors regarding the impact of Landmark Supreme court cases on the law.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will be able to explain the 3 main subjects of The Federalist Papers and Alexander Hamilton's role in writing them.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will become familiar with James Madison's influence on the creation of a three-branch government system in the United States. 

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn about James Madison and his contributions to American government. Students will review the three branches of government and simulate the system of checks and balances.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze, with partners, how to create a values debate argument. In order to do this, they will first look at excerpts from several foundational American documents and then use a worksheet to analyze, summarize, and incorporate the documents' components into a full values debates. Finally, they will pick their own values topic and prepare a brief argument both for and against that they will then argue with their partner based on a coin toss.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will interact with principles and ideals taken from the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution and will make connections between them.  Students will then try to group the ideas with the correct documents.  In the end, they will reflect in writing about the ideological shifts they see from one Founding document to another. 

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will review key terms and people behind the Constitution.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students analyze excerpts from the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Essays and determine the founding principles presented in each one. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will compare the viewpoints of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists regarding ratification of the U.S. Constitution using a graphic organizer and an informal debate.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will learn to evaluate how ideas from the past influenced the political thinking of the Framers when writing both the Declaration of Independence and in reforming the country under the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will be provided historical context regarding the public debate to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Students will be assigned either a Federalist or Anti-Federalist document and will conduct a close-read document analysis either individually or with another student. After the individual close-reads are completed the students will be grouped with one or more students who read another document that also expanded on their given position. This lesson can be used as the first part of a two-class debate activity. Part II of this lesson is 200716. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will engage in small group debates on the issues raised by the ratification debate centered on the U.S. Constitution. After the individual close-reads are completed the students will be grouped with one or more students who read another document that also expanded on their given position. The groups will then use the given organizers to prepare their debate points and to track their debate progress. The lesson will conclude with the group writing a consensus statement as to which arguments best answered the debate focus question.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will use historical context and close reading to investigate the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence. Students will compare both documents to uncover intellectual continuities and appreciate the foundational position both documents occupy in American political and governmental history.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will use text analysis and historical context to explore the impact of foundational documents, such as the Mayflower Compact, on the U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights. Students will engage in close reading and analysis of the documents and provide some contextualization of the principles included within each document. A graphic organizer is designed to assist with a formative assessment writing assignment. The intention is for this lesson to follow 200022, but it is not essential provided students have a background understanding of the Mayflower Compact. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan designed for the debate classroom, students will read and critically analyze various American foundational texts, identify a common theme, and create a thesis statement that encompasses the identified theme. Students will work individually and collaboratively to find commonalities among the various pieces of literature.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Grades 9-12 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 1 at these grade levels.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource provides teachers with the tools to help students analyze a speech by Carrie Chapman Catt, an advocate for women’s suffrage. Catt utilizes the rhetorical devices of anaphora and rhetorical questions in her speech to establish and achieve her purpose. Students will evaluate the effectiveness of these rhetorical devices as they relate to Catt’s purpose.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this lesson, student groups will discuss their understanding of the U.S. Constitution, Federalists' arguments in support of ratification, and Anti-Federalist arguments against ratifying the Constitution. Students will discuss controversies over ratification of the U.S. Constitution, as well as identify and analyze differences between Federalist and Anti-Federalist perspectives. Students will then complete a group writing assignment.  

Type: Teaching Idea

In this lesson, students analyze the speech delivered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The speech contains two distinct central ideas for students to analyze. Students will also read the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to compare the foundational principles and ideals in the Constitution with those found in Roosevelt's speech.

Type: Teaching Idea

Students will debate which foundational ideas found in American documents are most important in the Great Mini Debate. Students will use evidence from the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble and the Bill of Rights to support their arguments. The Great Mini Debate Cheat Sheet will prompt beginning debaters as to what should go in each speech of the debate.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this activity, designed for students in the debate classroom, students will use prior knowledge on ethos, logos, and pathos to analyze the grievances in the Declaration of Independence and classify the rhetorical appeals in each.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource provides the tools for teachers to help students analyze the use of rhetorical appeals in President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. This resource will help students understand how President Lincoln specifically used ethos, pathos, and logos to achieve his purpose.

Type: Text Resource

This teaching resource provides teachers with the tools to help students evaluate the author’s choices using rhetorical appeals in The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) that influenced the Preamble and Bill of Rights section of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Type: Text Resource

This teaching resource provides the tools to help students analyze President George W. Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation.” This resource will help students examine the president’s rhetoric and how he uses figurative language to achieve his different purposes. This includes his use of both imagery and alliteration. Students will also examine how the president uses the rhetorical device antithesis to achieve his purposes.

Type: Text Resource