Individual Lesson View
Constitutional Considerations
From: HSI: Historical Scene Investigation
Grade Level: HS, (College)
Remote Ready: With Modifications
Time: 2 class periods
Length of Reading: Pages
"I Smelt a Rat" Constitution Controversy
Patrick Henry (of "Give me liberty or give me death" fame) did not attend the Constitutional Convention because he said, "I Smelt a rat." Figure out what he meant. Read 7 documents and answer questions. Many questions ask about objections to the Constitution, namely the lack of a Bill of Rights.
Finally students write a paragraph or 2 answering the overarching question.
To give your students a little background on the making of the Constitution before tackling this assignment (perhaps as homework), Anti-textbook recommends this article from the National Archives: Constitution of the United States--A History
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Grade Level: HS, (College)
- This lesson is approved for high school (HS) students.
- However, we think it would be excellent for college students as well.
Remote Ready: With Modifications
- Links to the reading assignments can easily be emailed or posted for students.
- While group work isn’t explicitly mentioned in this lesson, it might be a good idea. It’s much easier for small groups or pairs to coordinate a phone call or video conference meeting than for the entire class to sync their schedules. Have these small groups post answers, a synopsis, or a video of their discussion to your LMS.
- Paraphrase questions into your LMS so you can grade student’s written answers online rather than in an email or on a worksheet.
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