CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Molly Anstett

Date: 11/7/16-11/8/16
School:
Challenger Middle School
Social Studies

Grade Level: 8th

Content Area:

Title: Seven Principles and Preamble

of 6

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

directly from the standard)
Students can:

Lesson #: 2

(Write Content Standards

1.2.f.Analyze ideas that are critical to the understanding of American history and
give examples of the ideals involved in major events and movements. Topics to
include but not limited to representative democracy, federalism, capitalism,
abolition, temperance, nativism, and expansionism
1.1.b Use and interpret documents and other relevant primary and secondary
sources pertaining to United States history from multiple perspectives
4.2.d.Explain the role and importance of the Constitution
4.2.e. Discuss the tensions between individual rights, state law, and national law
Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of
instruction, select applicable questions from standard)
1. How have the meanings of American ideals remained the same and changed over
time?
2. How have various people from different eras in our nations history promoted change
in the face of opposition and what democratic principles were advanced?

Concepts and skills students master: (Understandings, Big Ideas, Unit

objectives)
Students will understand the main ideas found in
the Constitution of the United States. Students will demonstrate understanding by
deducing/inducing the principles in the Constitution, providing examples of the
seven basic principles, and taking notes or asking questions about these principles.
Evidence Outcomes: (Knowledge/ Skills, Lesson Objectives)
Every student will be able to: give a least one example for one of the seven
principles found in the Constitution. Students will demonstrate understanding
through participation in classroom discussion, individual note-taking, and a ticket
out of the door.

Assessment of Evidence Outcomes: (How will you assess the selected lesson
objectives (general explanation, you will go into more detail at the end of the lesson
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plan)
I will assess these objectives through student
participation and their tickets out of the door. Questioning strategies, resulting in
student processing will also demonstrate achievement of objectives.

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Activities

Activity Name

Seven Principles of the Constitution and Preamble

Approx. Time

How long do you expect the activity to last?

90 Minutes

Anticipatory Set

Teaching/
Presentation:
(Select the most
appropriate teaching
model.)
-direct instruction
-presentation model
-concept teaching
-cooperative
learning
-inquiry

Teaching Strategy:
Guided Practice
&
Differentiation
Closure

Recap of Notes, Discussion of Constitutional Convention

Handout pocket Constitutions for students to read through
Share learning target for the day

Includes: Input, Modeling and Checking for Understanding

1. Direct Instruction: Introduce class to their Constitutions, including
the three major parts of the Constitution. Students will learn abou
Principles of the Constitution after identifying them: Popular Sove
Federalism, Checks and Balances, Limited Government, Separatio
Republicanism, Individual Rights
2. Checking for Understanding: Students will demonstrate understan
answers to questions about information found in the Constitution
3. Direct Instruction: Using the Preamble of the Constitution, studen
side-by-side translation on their iPads from the 18 th century langu
Constitution into modern-day English

Students will participate in class and respond to questions to demonstra

mastery and review.
Students will work in groups to find the Seven Principles, while teacher f
discussion to gauge student mastery as well as address other questions
provided through shortened questions, and/or making connections betw
and prior knowledge
Closure provided after lesson through discussion of questions, sho
Then, students will be instructed to provide three different examp
principle, based on their grouping as an exit ticket.

Materials

Apple TV, iPads, Composition Books, grouped desks, pocket Constitution

Accommodations
&

To modify: If the activity is too advanced for a child, students will have t
gain the knowledge through classroom discussion in groups, or through

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Modifications

questions. When facilitating the discussion, I will be checking in with stu

progress to make these adjustments.
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a child, I will adjust questions to
principles of the Constitution with their prior knowledge, including critica
strategies, increasing the challenge of the concepts. Additionally, studen
of the seven principles in the Articles of the Constitution

What accommodations will need to be implemented and for what studen

Accommodations need to be implemented for students previously identi
and 504s, as well as students who appear to be struggling as demonstra
understanding and questioning strategies. These accommodations can i
shortened questions, clarification, and more time to process/complete a

Post Lesson Reflection

1

To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize

assessment data to justify your level of achievement)
The lesson objectives were achieved by most students at a high level.
The seven principles are concepts that the students are somewhat
familiar with, but havent really discussed with a name, or in depth.

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

The students who participated achieved these goals. All students were
required to write an exit ticket, which allowed me to analyze their level
of achievement. The students with a high level of mastery helped
those who had not participated to understand the principles at the end
of the lesson. Overall, about of all students achieved the lesson
objectives at a high level of mastery. Particularly with their side-by-side
comparisons of the Preamble, all students were able to break down the
language and understand the purpose of the Preamble.

What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would

you make if you were to teach again?
To address some of the issues with participation and understanding, I
think next time I teach this lesson, I will have students pair up to
understand the seven principles and work together to identify them
using induction/deduction. I would also require all students to give one
example when discussing the seven principles. This way, when
students dont understand, they are required to speak up, even if they
are more introverted or quiet. I would also add my own examples into
the notes that students take, to get them to think about their examples
for the exit ticket or in classroom discussion. I would also breakdown
some of my questions even further to more efficiently create effective
questioning strategies. For the Preamble activity, I would omit the
example I used from the Preamble, and give an example from another
text, as the Preamble was so short.

3 What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice,

reteach content, etc.)
The next lesson should build on the principles of the Constitution and
start breaking down the actual text. To do that, we will use continued
practice in interpreting the 18th century language of the Constitution
into modern-day language and analysis of meaning. The first article of
the Constitution is the longest of the articles, and will therefore take a
lot longer to get through. The next couple of lessons will deal with
Article I of the Constitution, including making meaning and building on
the foundations of the Constitution.

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