Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Government
Theme / Focus
Essential Questions
February
Foundational U.S. Government Documents
(12 classes)
The Declaration of Independence
The Articles of Confederation
The U.S. Constitution
1. What events, ideas, and documents
influenced the creation of the U.S.
Constitution?
2. What are the major ideas of our founding
documents? Who did they represent
historically and who do they represent
presently?
3. Where do we see the impact of the
Constitution in our daily lives?
March
The Bill of Rights and U.S.
Constitutional Amendments (4
classes)
Assessments
Entrance/Exit Slips
Journal writes
Cornell Notes
Graphic Organizers
Portfolio creation (Authentic
self-assessment)
Social Contract Group Project
Forms of Government Jigsaw
Presentations
Collaborative rubrics for group
work
End of Unit Summative Exam
Entrance/Exit Slips
Journal writes
Cornell Notes
Graphic Organizers
Portfolio additions (Authentic selfassessment)
Collaborative rubrics for group work
Constitution Reading Packet with Jigsaw
activity
U.S. Constitution Socratic Seminar
Ratifying the U.S. Constitution Promotional
Project
End of Unit Summative Exam
Content
2
Examine the purposes
and role of government
in the U.S. and other
countries.
Investigate the major
philosophies/ideas that
contributed to the
creation of the U.S.
Constitution
Magna Carta
English Bill of
Rights
Mayflower
Compact
Iroquois
Confederation
Skills:
Writing Skills Development
Pre-write, Draft, Revise, Edit,
Publish
Content Obligatory Language
Note Taking Skills
Pre-Reading Strategies
Summarizing main ideas
Investigate events that led to the
creation of the United States
government
Strategies:
ATB/Homework Journal
Writing
KWL / Graphic Organizers
Visual Vocabulary Cards
Word Wall
Think-Pair-Share activities
Skills:
Argumentative and Analytical Writing Skills
Content Obligatory Language
Academic Language Skill Development
Note Taking Skills
Improved Pre-Reading &Strategic Reading
Compare and Contrast the Articles of
Confederation with the U.S. Constitution
Summarizing interpretations of the U.S.
Constitution
Using evidence from documents to construct
an argument
Public speaking skills / Interpersonal skills
Reading and creating timelines
Strategies:
ATB/Homework Journal Writing
KWL / Graphic Organizers
Think-Pair-Share activities
Group Discussion
Skills:
Analytical Writing Skills
Content Obligatory Language
Academic Language Skills
Note Taking Skills
Strategic Reading
Summarizing main ideas
Research Skills
Public Speaking/Interpersonal
Skills
Strategies:
ATB/Homework Journal
Writing
KWL / Graphic Organizers
Think-Pair-Share activities
Build up the Board to activate
prior knowledge
Resources
Textbook Chapter 1
Word Wall
Dictionary
Local and/or National
Newspaper (print or digital)
YouTube videos (TBA)
Websites
3
Socratic Seminar
Build up the Board to activate prior
knowledge
Skimming/Scanning documents for main
ideas and key facts
Explicit instruction on making inferences
while reading
Expertise Reading/Jigsaw
Letter to the Editor
Textbook Chapters 2, 3, 4
Primary Documents/artifacts/images
Dictionary
YouTube videos (TBA)
Local and/or National Newspaper (print or
digital)
Websites:
http://constitutioncenter.org/
http://constitution.org/
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention
Explicit instruction on
skimming/scanning to pre-read
text
Jigsaw research/reading activity
Poster project