Procedures

• WARM-UP:

  To begin class, have the students brainstorm answers to the following questions:

  • What is the purpose of the Constitution? What is included in it?

• INTRODUCTION:

  View the video clips providing an introduction to the purpose of the Constitution and its structure. Have the students use think-pair-share to develop answers to the questions listed below. Discuss the purpose of the Constitution, the principles contained in it, and its structure as a class.

• VIDEO CLIP: Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) on Constitution Day (1:51)

  • What is the purpose of the Constitution?
  • What are the principles that Senator Hatch mentions when describing the Constitution?

  VIDEO CLIP: The Structure of the Constitution (2:46)

  • How does the Constitution begin?
  • How does the structure of the Constitution address the three branches of government?
  • Besides the branches, what other topics do the articles of the Constitution include.
  • What is the Bill of Rights? How is the Bill of Rights different than the other amendments?
  • What is the difference between an article, a section and a clause?

• EXPLORATION:

  As an introduction to the Constitution, students will use the Constitution Clips Scavenger Hunt Handout to explore and answer questions. The questions will relate to one or more of the linked resources found on the Constitution Clips website. Using the chart, students will locate the article, section, clause or amendment that relates to the question and click on the link to watch the videos. Instruct students to answer the questions listed in the chart, provide examples relating to the videos and list keywords associated with the video clips and answers.

  HANDOUT: Constitution Clips Scavenger Hunt (Google Doc)

  Depending on time constraints, this activity can be adjusted to reduce the number of questions or broken up into a jigsaw. Teachers and students can make a copy of the Google Doc in order to edit or fill in answers.

• APPLICATION:

  Review the answers from the handout with the class to correct any misconceptions. Using the information gained from the scavenger hunt, have the students answer the question below.

  • In what ways does the Constitution reflect the following principles of U.S. government: Separation of Powers, Rule of Law, Federalism, Individual Rights and Liberties, Limited Government and Consent of the Government.

• CONCLUSION:

  End the class with a discussion on why the Constitution is important to the functioning of government.

• EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

  Create Your Own Scavenger Hunt- Use the Constitution Clips website to create additional questions that relate to the Constitution. Share these questions with your classmates to see how they do.

  Constitution Clips- Choose a provision of the Constitution and create a Constitution Clip. Use the C-SPAN Video Library to find and clip videos that represent that provision in action. A guide for clipping resources can be found here (Google Doc).

  Constitutional Amendment- Based on what you learned about the structure of the Constitution, propose a new amendment to the Constitution. Describe what it would do and why you think it would benefit the United States.

• ADDITIONAL PROMPTS:

  • Why was the amendment process added to the Constitution?
  • How is have individual rights been expanded as the Constitution has been amended?
  • Why do you think the largest section of the Constitution relates to the legislative branch?
  • Which part of the Constitution do you think has the most impact on your life? Explain your answer.