Culminating Project
For the culminating project, students will be given a scenario that tells them they have just escaped from their former government with their classmates (fellow citizens). They escaped the rule of a tyrannical king and, while sailing to freedom, they came across a deserted island. They soon realized that this could be a place for them to stay and live away from the vicious rule of their king. However, they have no form of government in their new land. Since it is their land now, they can come up with their own form of government and rules that will work best for everyone on this new island. Their first assignment takes place as homework for lesson 8, after they have finished learning about the content in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They are asked to come up with 6 rules they would want for the island. They are asked to be prepared to back up these rules with reasons as to why they believe they are necessary. For the next lesson (lesson 9), time will be taken for each student to present their 6 rules. They will be written on the smartboard for everyone to see. If there are rules that are repeated, the number of times they are repeated will be next to the rule. The class will then get time to get into 4 groups and pick 6 rules that hthey all had in common or that they find of the most importance. These will then be written for all to see. Voting will take place once again to pick the final 6 rules (or laws) that will be used in their Constitution. Once students have picked their 6 rules, its time to write them like the Constitution. Students will have to think back to the language used in the Preamble and body of the Constitution in order to write a well-thought and organized version of their own. They will get large pieces of paper and black calligraphy pens in order to draft their Constitution. The next lesson will be used to move on the to Bill of Rights. I will review their Constitution over night and find things in their list of rules that are vague or arent worded clearly enough. I will create an Imagine If worksheet for them to fill out like they did in lesson 8, but I will use their Constitution to do so. This will show them what they are missing and what they must add in their own Bill of Rights. Again, this will take place in an open circle debate. Once the Bill of Rights is decided on, the students will write this on large paper with a calligraphy pen. After they have created their Constitution and Bill of Rights, I will take them home and make them look like actual old documents like the ones the students have seen. This culminating project gives students the chance to show what they have learned in this unit. They have learned all about the type of government needed in order to make everyone happy and keep a balanced level of power. They have learned about how a government with 3 branches has been our most successful one to do, and they have learned about the process of getting to this form of government. Having their own Constitutional Convention and creating their own Constitution
puts them in the shoes of the Founding Fathers because now they are the ones making these important decisions. This project gives them the chance to see the very careful decisions that needed to be made in order to make the most successful Constitution possible that satisfies everyone. By having me create the Imagine If sheets for them, they will get the chance to see what specifics they left out of their Constitution and will debate how to write them in their Bill of Rights. This project also challenges students in the discipline of English Language Arts. In order to write a professional and official Constitution, students have to use the same tone and language as the actual Constitution. They cannot just bullet list the rules they want for their new society. They have to include their own Preamble and write their set of rules in a way that mimics the Constitution. The same must be done for their Bill of Rights. If time permits and students can make a decision with too much arguing, a President will be elected to run the debates in terms of time management and making final decisions. An Official Writer will be elected to write the final Constitution and Bill of Rights. If time permits, it is possible that this project (especially the debating time) may go into a third lesson time that students can use to complete their drafts.
