11th Grade
Foundations of the American Dream:
What do we believe? What do we stand for?
CA H/SS with CCSS Literacy and ELD Alignments & Language Support
Standard(s):CA History:
11.1 Students analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its attempts to realize the philosophy of government described in the Declaration of Independence.
CCSS: Literacy in History/Social Science
RH 11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
CA ELD:
Grades 11-12 Part I A.3 Offering and justifying opinions, negotiating with and persuading others in communicative exchanges.
Content Objective:
Students will be able to analyze the Constitution and argue which of the articles is most important to our philosophy of government.
Language Objective(s):
1/2: Students will be able to negotiate with or persuade others in conversations (e.g., ask for clarification or repetition) using learned phrases (e.g., Could you repeat that please? I believe . . .) and open responses to express and defend opinions.
3: Students will be able to negotiate with and persuade others (e.g., by presenting counter‐arguments) in discussions and conversations using learned phrases (e.g., You make a valid point but my view is . . .) and open responses to express and defend nuanced opinions.
4/5: Students will be able to negotiate with or persuade others in discussions and conversations in appropriate registers (e.g., to acknowledge new information and politely offer a counterpoint) using a variety of learned phrases (e.g., You postulate that X. However, I’ve reached a different conclusion on this issue.) and open responses to express and defend nuanced opinions.
Teacher and Student Activity / PLP Opportunities
Scaffolding
r Activate prior knowledge / Revisit previous lessons:
In the past few days, we’ve reviewed the Declaration of Independence and learned a bit about the struggles of creating the Constitution. I’d like you to think back to the video and choose one quote or image you remember well. Be prepared to explain why you remember it, and to listen for similarities with your partner.
PLP
P1: One image or quote I remember from the video is ______. I remember it / This stayed with me because ______.
P2: I remember that too. I felt ______. OR I don’t remember that. Tell me how it made you feel.
Switch roles. / · Partner discussion with stems
· Differentiated language support
r Clarify objective and procedures
r Activate prior knowledge
r Connect to previous lessons / Link:
So we’ve reviewed the history surrounding the Constitution, what ideas were commonly held at the time and what major conflicts had to be addressed by it. It’s important to understand that the Constitution is not about individual rights as much as it is about how our rights will be protected—in other words, how will our government be formed and run to make sure it doesn’t revert to the tyranny of monarchy? Today we’re going to read the original version of the Constitution and decide which article we believe is most important in setting up a strong government that will protect individual rights, not remove them.
Share Lesson K.U.D.s with Students:
By the end of this lesson, you will:
Know the content of the seven original articles.
Understand how they create our government and protect our rights.
Be able to (Do) defend your choice of the most important article. (content objective)
CFU:
Students repeat the content objective to a partner (Be Able to Do).
I will be able to ______.
Comprehensible Input & Modeling
r Explain, demonstrate, or give examples of learning task
r Use visual representation
r Check for understanding / Modeling, Guided Practice, and Independent Practice will include the following pieces of history content: the seven original articles of the Constitution.
Close Reading
The teacher will use the Constitution of the United States to guide students through close reading, selecting a position, engaging in collaborative conversation to support that position, and completing a note-taking template. This will provide a starting point for future proposals resolving national conflicts. (Students will later refine their arguments independently or with a partner).
Teacher Model:
Close reading Think Aloud
Using the expository text, teacher reads aloud. S/he thinks aloud while reading, noting aspects of the first article and selected sections.
Teacher directs choral reading (KK p. 54), then models annotating text with the main idea of the first article.
I’ve read Article I, Section 1, and it talks about Congress, and a House of Representatives and a Senate. Then I skimmed sections 2, 3, and 8 to get a little more info about how people are chosen for this Congress, and what power Congress has. So in my own words, the main idea of Article I is “The US will have a congress, with two parts. It has people, or representatives, from every state, and has power to make a lot of laws or decisions.” I’m going to write that in my Cornell notes.
Repeat for second article.
PLP student echo of think aloud; KK p. 54 Build Fluency steps 1-3, 5 / · Think Aloud
· Fluency practice
· Note-taking template
Guided Practice
r Lead students through practice step by step
r Use overhead or chart along with visual representation
r Scaffold language production / Guided Practice:
Students read along as the teacher reads aloud third article and draw from it further details. Again practice fluency with steps 1-3. Students first write the main idea, then turn and discuss with their partner.
Repeat for fourth article.
PLP I think the main idea of article ____ is ______.
I agree. I read ______. OR I disagree. I think the main idea is ___.
Pairs must agree on the main idea before moving on to the next article. / · Partner talk with stems
· Note-taking template
Independent Practice, Part I
r Students practice with partners
r Teacher present to monitor and give corrective feedback / Independent Practice:
Students finish reading fifth through seventh articles and annotating with a main idea. They should use their text for evidence and information. They may work with a partner.
Teacher pulls small groups to support reading and annotation as needed. / · Note-taking template
· Partner discussion
· Small group differentiated support
Comprehensible Input & Modeling
r Explain, demonstrate, or give examples of learning task
r Use visual representation
r Check for understanding / Supporting opinions
The teacher will use notes on main ideas in the articles of the Constitution of the United States to guide students through selecting a position, engaging in collaborative conversation to support that position, and revising the position or support as needed.
Teacher Model:
Using the notes, teacher reads aloud. S/he thinks aloud while reading, explaining his/her decision-making process.
After selecting one article as the most important, teacher asks for a volunteer to help talk through finding evidence to support the opinion.
Well, we’ve done a lot of work to understand these articles, but remember, our objective is to defend our position on the most important article.
So I’ve read all my main ideas, and I believe that Article V is the most important—Congress can propose amendments as needed. But I need to support my opinion with evidence from this text, as well as from prior knowledge—what I learned before today. I need another brain to help me find the best evidence to support this opinion.
Teacher then talks through finding evidence from text to support the opinion—“whenever necessary”, amend means change, no state deprived of equal suffrage, etc.
Next teacher talks through recalling evidence to support the opinion—video discussion of drafters knowing they were human and could make mistakes.
Finally teacher elicits contributions from student—revising writing, being wrong with friends, etc., importance of being able to change something, recent amendments with right to vote for all adults, etc.
I think we came up with some good evidence to support our opinion that the fifth article is most important. We need to record this on our Cornell notes, because we need to present this to another pair too!
Teacher models summarizing evidence and recording.
CFU:
PLP oral discussion of steps in process (possible student language):
P1: First we will _[verb phrase]__ and __[verb phrase]__ (discuss our main ideas and choose the most important article).
P2: After that, we will _[verb phrase]__ and __[verb phrase]__ (find evidence from the text, from other reading, take notes). / · Think Aloud
· Note-taking template
· CFU with stems
Independent Practice, Part II
r Students practice with partners
r Teacher present to monitor and give corrective feedback / Independent Practice:
Students work in pairs to decide which article is the most important and find evidence from the Constitution and prior knowledge to support that opinion.
Teacher circulates to monitor and coach as needed, possibly pulling pairs or small groups for further support.
“Exactly what part of the text supports your opinion? What else backs up your idea?”
PLP
Academic conversation stems, KK p. 26 / · Note-taking template
· Partner discussion
· Small group differentiated support
· Academic stems
Independent Practice, Part III
r Students practice completely alone after 85-90% accuracy in guided practice
r Delayed feedback provided / Independent Practice:
Student pairs join another pair to present their opinion and evidence. They have one minute to present, then the other pair has one minute to provide feedback, respectfully challenging the opinion and evidence.
Switch roles, with other pair presenting and getting challenged.
When both pairs have finished sharing and getting challenged, conduct whole-class share using Kinsella’s strategies for inclusive participation.
PLP
Academic conversation stems, KK p. 26
Democratic sharing/Inclusive Participation, KK p. 11 / · Note-taking template
· Partner discussion
· Academic stems
Performance Assessment / Performance Assessment:
Note-taking template
Oral conversation with classmates
Democratic sharing
Closing / Closing:
In this lesson, you
· practiced reading complex text, forming an opinion, and supporting your opinion with classmates.
· learned about the specific guidelines in each article of the Constitution
Now I’d like you to reflect on your work today. What went well, or was successful for you? What was challenging, or caused you to struggle?
Students Think, Write, Pair share their reflections, and turn in as Exit ticket.
In this lesson I was most successful with ______.
In this lesson I struggled the most with ______. / · Sentence stems
· Partner talk
· Metacognition
Next Steps / Deepen supporting and defending opinions by having students revise/improve their arguments and evidence after sharing, and then sharing stronger arguments with a new pair.
Continue to investigate importance of various constitutional articles and philosophical ideals through secondary sources:
http://fsweb.bainbridge.edu/jvanzo/Philosophical%20Foundations.pdf
http://www.civiced.org/papers/political.html
http://www.usconstitution.net/philosophers.html
Revisit text for “juicy sentences” to dissect and emulate when preparing to write persuasive speeches
Xavier De La Torre, Ed.D.
County Superintendent of Schools