Teaching Guide
Please refer to the module Teaching
Guide for additional information.
Lesson summary
Instructional use
Pre-lesson activity
Standards covered by this lesson
Selected bibliography
Assessment
Lesson
summary
This lesson on the Constitution centers on the story of David Claypoole
and John Dunlap, who scooped the world when they published the new plan
of government in their newspaper, the Pennsylvania Packet, on September
19, 1787. Claypoole tells the story of how a group of men got together
for the goal of writing a new plan to replace the Articles of Confederation.
In the process, they brought together many of the ideals expressed in
the state constitutions. The story emphasizes the concepts of checks and
balances and the separation of powers as they are expressed in Articles
I-III of the Constitution.
Instructional use
Please refer to the module Teaching
Guide for instructional use scenarios.
Pre-lesson activity
It is recommended that teachers preview the lesson to identify
concepts that may need to be reviewed before students begin. Concepts
include separation of powers, checks and balances, the three branches
of government, and freedom of the press. Teachers may also wish to create
a vocabulary/spelling list for terms found in this lesson.
Teachers may want to pose some questions to students before getting started:
How do you think people got their news in colonial times? How fast do
you think news travelled then? How fast do we get our news now? How do
we get news about our government today? Do you think people always had
news about their government? Why would that be important?
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Standards covered
by this lesson
Refer to the module Teaching
Guide for list a Language Arts goals covered by all WebDocent lessons.
Grades 7-8 Social Science and American History
Illinois State Goal 14
Understand, analyze, and compare political systems
with an emphasis on the United States.
Illinois State Goal 16
Understand and analyze events, trends, individuals, and movements shaping
the history of Illinois, the United States, and other nations.
Selected bibliography
Alfred E. Young and Terry J. Fife, with Mary E. Janzen.
We the People: Voices and Images of the New Nation. Philadelphia: Temple
University Press, 1993.
Assessment
Refer to the module Teaching
Guide for an explanation of the online journal for assessment purposes.
See the Additional Activities page for ideas
for extending the lesson offline.
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