General Overview
· The overall goal of this assignment is to have students form a connection between both historical information, as in the development of the United States Constitution, and the events that are affecting us in the modern day. This assignment allows students to see history in a new perspective as something that is continually changing.
· The subject matter itself will encompass the events between the colonies and Great Britain leading up to the development of the Constitution. The students will also study the process in which the Constitution was formed and created.
· The class would be a U.S. History class of 11th graders in Jamaica, Queens. The majority of students are born in the country but may be the children of immigrants. There is no major language barrier but there may be some cultural differences among the class.
· Students will be able to list a series of events that led to specific aspects of the United States Constitution. This will be shown specifically within a cause and effect timeline in which the students must depict British actions and how the Constitution prevents similar actions from occurring under the new government.
ISTE Standards
1 – Creativity and Innovation
2 – Communication and Collaboration
3 – Research and Information Fluency
5 – Digital Citizenship
6 – Technology Operations and Concepts
Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.3
Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
Preparation Information
· The majority of the research for this project will be based online. The few hard copies of materials that will be provided to the class are the textbook chapter describing the relationship with Great Britain and the colonies leading up to the Revolutionary War and a copy of the United States Constitution. Outside of these hard readings students will sue web based tools to crate each of the finals projects for the three activities. The final project that focuses on current issues will be web based in its search focusing on newspaper articles from major and credible news sources.
· For Activity #1 the students will have three days to complete the assignment (Monday-Wednesday). The first day will be researching and figuring out the cause and effects seen in the Constitution. This will be completed on the second day as a paper-based rough draft of the timeline is developed. The third day of this activity the students will have computer access and will work as a group to create the online timeline. If additional time is needed it may be completed during lunch, after school, or at home since the timeline is available from any computer.
· Activity #2 will only be for two days (Thursday-Friday). After completing the cause and effect timeline the research of the Constitution itself and its key aspects will have already been completed. The pairs will then have the day to translate these important points into modern day English to make an updated version of the Constitution. The second day will consist of any alterations the pair feels they need to make to the Constitution. Any edits must be submitted along with reasoning as to why they were deemed necessary.
· Activity #3 will last for an additional three days, possibly three and a half depending on how long the presentations run (Monday-Wednesday). The class will be assigned their new groups the preceding Friday after they finish they complete Activity #2. Over the weekend, their homework will be to research the possible current issues relating to the Constitution today. Monday they will meet as a group to decide what topic they would like to work on and then spend the class day figuring out the Constitutional relationship. Tuesday they will have the class period to develop a brief presentation or online book to explain the ideas that they came up with on Monday. Wednesday will be for presenting the classes current events. (Note: Groups will pick their current event and it will be announced what they are doing so that each group will do different current events)
· In order to create a more class wide environment between each of the three activities the groups will change. For the first activity where students must create a cause and effect timeline the grouping will be very heterogeneous. It may be assigned by counting off around the classroom. These groups will be approximately four people in a group. And maybe one or two groups of three depending on the amount of students in class. The second activity where students must translate the Constitution into modern English will be done in pairs from different groups. The third and final activity where the students must choose a current event will be in groups of four students where two are assigned the affirmative side and two are assigned the negative side. These groups of four will be made by picking individuals from the first activity groups so they will be working with entirely new people.
· As the teacher I will play the role of the facilitator. I will be available for any questions regarding either content or process throughout the week and a half Unit. The information itself is provided very sparingly because the majority of it will depend on student’s options and interpretation.
· The timeline that was created will be used over the course of the school year to show where it played a major role in history throughout the course of the year. The concluding slides in the timeline will be those of the current events discussed in Activity #3.
Implementation Plan
· Activity #1 will be a cause and effect timeline of Great Britain’s actions and the measures the colonies took against those acts by creating laws within the constitution. The class will utilize tikitoki.com to create a visual timeline that can be worked on collaboratively and updated as the semester continues.
· Activity #2 will be a side by side modern translation of all key aspects of the Constitution. After seeing why the ideas were put into place the students will have to translate these same ideas into modern language. They will also have the opportunity to edit and adjust anything in the Constitution that they feel needs revisions. These must be accompanied by reasons defending the change. This will be completed using Google Docs so students can work collaboratively.
· Activity #3 will take the information that was learned over the past week and exemplify how these same key elements of our government are being used today to either attack or defend decisions that are part of our modern day lives. Groups will create either a presentation using Prezi or an online storybook creator to show both side of the modern issue and explain what aspects of the Constitution are in play.
· Because each of the activities provides much of the information needed for the next activity there is very little information disseminated in between each activity. The only major times information is provided is prior to the assignment overall as we work together to set up the scene of Great Britain and the colonies in the earlier times before the Revolutionary War and prior to the third activity. In order to give a more guided and assisted research focus some examples of current events issues will be provided. Students will be encouraged to find other currents events than the ones provided but to make sure they are able to do more specific research over their weekend a few examples will be given out on the Friday afternoon following the end of Activity #2. Once the class has completed the unit they class as a whole will vote on each of the current events issues to show which side they believe made the greater point in their presentation for each issue.
Assessment Plan
· Since many of the activities are based off of each other it would only make sense to grade each activity as it is completed. If the knowledge about the Constitution pulled from Activity #1 is incorrect then it is highly unlikely that a modern translation will become correct for Activity #2. If information about the Constitution itself is incorrect then it becomes very difficult to use that as the cause for your defense or offense in a current events debate. Grades will be received the day after the assignments are completed to allow the students to continue and reevaluate anything that they did not get correct the first time around.
· Activity #1 and #3 will have project rubrics while Activity #2 will be graded in the same fashion as an essay. This essay based grading will include grammar, defense of their position (in regards to any alteration made), the clarity of their writing, and the accuracy of the translations.
· The overall goal of this assignment is to have students form a connection between both historical information, as in the development of the United States Constitution, and the events that are affecting us in the modern day. This assignment allows students to see history in a new perspective as something that is continually changing.
· The subject matter itself will encompass the events between the colonies and Great Britain leading up to the development of the Constitution. The students will also study the process in which the Constitution was formed and created.
· The class would be a U.S. History class of 11th graders in Jamaica, Queens. The majority of students are born in the country but may be the children of immigrants. There is no major language barrier but there may be some cultural differences among the class.
· Students will be able to list a series of events that led to specific aspects of the United States Constitution. This will be shown specifically within a cause and effect timeline in which the students must depict British actions and how the Constitution prevents similar actions from occurring under the new government.
ISTE Standards
1 – Creativity and Innovation
2 – Communication and Collaboration
3 – Research and Information Fluency
5 – Digital Citizenship
6 – Technology Operations and Concepts
Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.3
Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
Preparation Information
· The majority of the research for this project will be based online. The few hard copies of materials that will be provided to the class are the textbook chapter describing the relationship with Great Britain and the colonies leading up to the Revolutionary War and a copy of the United States Constitution. Outside of these hard readings students will sue web based tools to crate each of the finals projects for the three activities. The final project that focuses on current issues will be web based in its search focusing on newspaper articles from major and credible news sources.
· For Activity #1 the students will have three days to complete the assignment (Monday-Wednesday). The first day will be researching and figuring out the cause and effects seen in the Constitution. This will be completed on the second day as a paper-based rough draft of the timeline is developed. The third day of this activity the students will have computer access and will work as a group to create the online timeline. If additional time is needed it may be completed during lunch, after school, or at home since the timeline is available from any computer.
· Activity #2 will only be for two days (Thursday-Friday). After completing the cause and effect timeline the research of the Constitution itself and its key aspects will have already been completed. The pairs will then have the day to translate these important points into modern day English to make an updated version of the Constitution. The second day will consist of any alterations the pair feels they need to make to the Constitution. Any edits must be submitted along with reasoning as to why they were deemed necessary.
· Activity #3 will last for an additional three days, possibly three and a half depending on how long the presentations run (Monday-Wednesday). The class will be assigned their new groups the preceding Friday after they finish they complete Activity #2. Over the weekend, their homework will be to research the possible current issues relating to the Constitution today. Monday they will meet as a group to decide what topic they would like to work on and then spend the class day figuring out the Constitutional relationship. Tuesday they will have the class period to develop a brief presentation or online book to explain the ideas that they came up with on Monday. Wednesday will be for presenting the classes current events. (Note: Groups will pick their current event and it will be announced what they are doing so that each group will do different current events)
· In order to create a more class wide environment between each of the three activities the groups will change. For the first activity where students must create a cause and effect timeline the grouping will be very heterogeneous. It may be assigned by counting off around the classroom. These groups will be approximately four people in a group. And maybe one or two groups of three depending on the amount of students in class. The second activity where students must translate the Constitution into modern English will be done in pairs from different groups. The third and final activity where the students must choose a current event will be in groups of four students where two are assigned the affirmative side and two are assigned the negative side. These groups of four will be made by picking individuals from the first activity groups so they will be working with entirely new people.
· As the teacher I will play the role of the facilitator. I will be available for any questions regarding either content or process throughout the week and a half Unit. The information itself is provided very sparingly because the majority of it will depend on student’s options and interpretation.
· The timeline that was created will be used over the course of the school year to show where it played a major role in history throughout the course of the year. The concluding slides in the timeline will be those of the current events discussed in Activity #3.
Implementation Plan
· Activity #1 will be a cause and effect timeline of Great Britain’s actions and the measures the colonies took against those acts by creating laws within the constitution. The class will utilize tikitoki.com to create a visual timeline that can be worked on collaboratively and updated as the semester continues.
· Activity #2 will be a side by side modern translation of all key aspects of the Constitution. After seeing why the ideas were put into place the students will have to translate these same ideas into modern language. They will also have the opportunity to edit and adjust anything in the Constitution that they feel needs revisions. These must be accompanied by reasons defending the change. This will be completed using Google Docs so students can work collaboratively.
· Activity #3 will take the information that was learned over the past week and exemplify how these same key elements of our government are being used today to either attack or defend decisions that are part of our modern day lives. Groups will create either a presentation using Prezi or an online storybook creator to show both side of the modern issue and explain what aspects of the Constitution are in play.
· Because each of the activities provides much of the information needed for the next activity there is very little information disseminated in between each activity. The only major times information is provided is prior to the assignment overall as we work together to set up the scene of Great Britain and the colonies in the earlier times before the Revolutionary War and prior to the third activity. In order to give a more guided and assisted research focus some examples of current events issues will be provided. Students will be encouraged to find other currents events than the ones provided but to make sure they are able to do more specific research over their weekend a few examples will be given out on the Friday afternoon following the end of Activity #2. Once the class has completed the unit they class as a whole will vote on each of the current events issues to show which side they believe made the greater point in their presentation for each issue.
Assessment Plan
· Since many of the activities are based off of each other it would only make sense to grade each activity as it is completed. If the knowledge about the Constitution pulled from Activity #1 is incorrect then it is highly unlikely that a modern translation will become correct for Activity #2. If information about the Constitution itself is incorrect then it becomes very difficult to use that as the cause for your defense or offense in a current events debate. Grades will be received the day after the assignments are completed to allow the students to continue and reevaluate anything that they did not get correct the first time around.
· Activity #1 and #3 will have project rubrics while Activity #2 will be graded in the same fashion as an essay. This essay based grading will include grammar, defense of their position (in regards to any alteration made), the clarity of their writing, and the accuracy of the translations.