As a new nation was born, the founders of the United States struggled
to create a governing document strong enough to hold a country together,
while insuring the country's citizens’ freedom from tyranny. Through
the use of FREEDOM: A History of US video and Web site,
students will develop a better understanding of the struggles, issues,
leaders, and results of the process of creating the United States Constitution.
In this lesson, students will review the weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation, and learn about the major debates during the writing of
the Constitution. Students will review vocabulary, compare primary source
documents, and finish by applying critical reading skills as they refer
to the Constitution to categorize the powers of the three branches of
government.
Students will be able to:
- Name the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
- Describe the major obstacles of faced by the writers of the US
Constitution
- Compare the roles of the three branches of the US government
New
York State Learning Standards for Social Studies
http://www.nysatl.nysed.gov/ssstand.html
Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning
points in the history of the United States and New York.
Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental
system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution;
the basic civic values of American Constitutional democracy; and the
roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues
of participation.
Video:
FREEDOM: A History of US #2
Web sites:
FREEDOM:
A History of US
http://www.pbs.org/historyofus
This is the companion Web site to the FREEDOM: A History of US video
series. The sixteen Webisodes reflect the topics in each segment of
the video series with additional historical information, sound clips,
pop-up biographies, images, timelines, glossary, and many primary source
documents.
Per class:
Per student:
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