US HISTORY & GOVERMENT | The Constitution - UNIT PLAN LESSONS

This resource includes 10 Lessons that explore various subjects related to the Constitution. This offers students helpful background information to understand the Articles of Confederation and the problems that led to the Constitutional Convention.

Students can analysis various primary sources, compare arguments, and explore influential documents that played a crucial role in the development of the Constitution.

This resource provides a total of 161 Slides & 37 Pages distributed among the 10 lessons of various assessments, graphic organizers, assignments, and primary sources, allowing students to summarize, analyze and interpret documents.

Lesson 1 | Pre-assessment

· U.S. Government Civics Test (shortened)

· Preparation for future Instruction

Lesson 2 | Introduction

· Overview of the U.S. Constitution

· PowerPoint & Reading Excerpts

· Primary Source Assignment

Lesson 3 | The Articles of Confederation

· The 13 Colonies United

· The Necessity of a New Government

· The Articles of Confederation Worksheet (Summarizing & Analyzing the Document)

Lesson 4 | Governing Principles

· Checks & Balances

· Separation of Powers (Brief assessment)

Lesson 5 | Federalism

· Sovereignty

· State & Federal Powers

· Federalism - Powers in the Constitution

Lesson 6 | Constitutional Convention

(Note: Large Lesson)

· Understanding Compromises

· Determining Representation

· The Virginia Plan & New Jersey plan

· The Great Compromise

· The Future of Slavery in America

· 3/5ths Compromise

· 1808 clause

Lesson 7 | A More Perfect Union

· Constitutional Convention

· Educational Movie Guide

(Movie is 1 Hour 50 Minutes long, available for free on YouTube)

· Worksheet: Follow-along Questions

· Reviews Previous Lessons

Lesson 8 | The Electoral College

· How the Electoral College Works

· Problems with Pure-Democracy

· Constitutional Republic: Intentionally not a Pure-Democracy

Lesson 9 | The Amendments

· The Bill of Rights

· Amendments 11-27

· Bill of Rights: Matching Assignment

Lesson 10 | Ratifying the Constitution

· The First American Political Parties

· The Federalists & Anti-Federalists

· Federalist Excerpts #51 - Primary Source Analysis Assignment