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COOPERATIVE LESSON PLAN—GUIDE TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTUION By Terry Shores Grade level: 6-8 Objective Students will learn the powers and functions of the three branches of government by creating an easy to read guide to the U.S. Constitution. Introduction Teacher will introduce the lesson by explaining to students that they will be in groups of four, whose purpose is to create a mini-booklet outlining the U.S. Constitution. Groups are not to go too much in depth when making these mini-booklets, or “guides”, but rather they should serve as an easy to read guide that anyone would be able to understand. Procedures 1. Teacher will first outline the necessary requirements for creating these guides. a. Groups will first complete an information sheet before they begin to create their guides. This is essential because the groups will be using the information from this sheet to create their guides. THE STUDENTS MUST GET INFORMATION SHEETS OK’D BY THE TEACHER BEFORE MOVING ON!!!! (Again, this is important because the answers that they give on this sheet will be the basis for their guides. Before handing this out to the groups, the teacher should fill one out for themselves to serve as an answer key.) b. Once the groups have their information sheets OK’d, they are now ready to make their guides. Each guide will consist of a title page and nine additional pages: Page 1: Preamble—What is it? What does it say? Pages 2-3: Article I, Legislative Branch. These pages should have the following 3 sections: 1) The House of Representatives: How many members are there? What are their qualifications? What are their powers? How long are their terms in office? 2) The Senate: How many members are there? What are their qualifications? What are their powers? How long are their terms in office? 3) Congress: What are the powers that both sides share? Page 4: Article II, Executive Branch. Who makes up this branch? How long is the term of office? What are the qualifications? What are the powers that this branch has? Page 5: Article III, Judicial Branch. Who makes up this branch? What are the different types of courts? What are the terms of office? What powers do this branch have? ***Groups are to use the information from their information sheets to answer these questions for pages 2-5. Page 6: Articles IV and V. In one or two paragraphs, summarize them into today’s English. Page 7: Articles VI and VII. In one or two paragraphs, summarize them into today’s English. Page 8: Conclusion. In one or two paragraphs, summarize the importance of the Constitution and what life would be like if we didn’t have it. Page 9: About the authors. On this page describe the role that each person played in the group and include a brief bio about each individual. ***Each page should include a visual representation of the information presented on that page. 2. Next, the teacher should describe the roles that will be assigned in each group. The roles are as follows: A. Writers. There will be two writers in each group. These people will be responsible for writing the product. B. Illustrator. The person who has this job is responsible for designing the product. C. Editor. The person who has this job is responsible for overseeing the product. They help complete whatever tasks need to be done D. Although students have specific roles, it is EVERYONE’S responsibility to see that the guide gets done on time. Sometimes this may mean helping out someone else with their job. 3. After going over the requirements of the project and the roles that will be assigned to each group, the teacher will then place the students into the groups they will be working with. 4. After assigning students to their groups, the teacher should hand out a role sheet to each group. Groups should decide who will be responsible for what part of the project, and assign their name according to their role on the role sheet. 5. Once groups have decided what students will have what role, they are now ready to begin the project. Teacher may now hand out the information sheets. 6. Once groups have completed their projects, they will present their Constitution guides to the class with each member presenting one or more portions of the project to the class. Time Teacher should allocate 5-7 class periods. (50 minute classes) Materials Textbooks, old newspapers and magazines, (for pictures) computer access (for pictures as well, for those students who do not like to draw), art supplies for the designing of the guide. Elements of Cooperative Learning Individual Accountability—Each group member has a specific role that he or she must complete in order for the guide to be completed. Positive Interdependence—Each role within the group is essential to getting the task finished in the time frame provided. Again, each member is important in completing the task at hand. Social Skills: In order for the constitution guides to be of quality work, it will require students to use various social skills such as communication, cooperation, and the sharing of ideas. Face to Face Interaction—Groups will start off the project sitting in two pairs, each pair facing each other. As groups start getting into their roles, it will be essential that students work closely together so that they can collaborate their ideas. (ex. The two writers working together in brainstorming ideas about the importance of the constitution, the editor and illustrator coming together to brainstorm and look for ideas of good pictures.) Heterogeneous Grouping—Each group will consist of one student who has demonstrated good writing skills throughout the year. Other considerations in making up the rest of the groups will include who does and does not work well together, what is the boy to girl ratio of the group, racial make-up of the group, and what students are likely to have attendance problems throughout the group project. Evaluation—Students will be graded based on group evaluations that will be given to each student within the group. They will also be graded according to their finished product, with the criteria including: completed requirements, visual appearance of the project, creativity, clarity of information presented. Processing—Groups will present their projects to the class. Each member will be responsible for presenting a portion of the project in their own words, and the significance of their portion of the project.