CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Molly Anstett

School: Challenger Middle School

Date: 11/7/16-11/8/16
Grade Level: 8th

Content Area: Social Studies

Title: Article I of the Constitution

Lesson #: 3 of 7

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson: (Write Content Standards directly from the standard)
Students can:

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.
2.

How have the meanings of American ideals remained the same and changed over time?
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 how the legislative branch is supposed to function. Students will
demonstrate understanding by taking notes about the legislative branch, asking questions and
generating discussion of the branch, and outlining the powers of Congress.
Evidence Outcomes: (Knowledge/ Skills, Lesson Objectives)
Every student will be able to: explain who is involved in the legislative branch and what the legislative
branch is responsible for in government. 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 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.

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Activities

Activity Name

Article I of the Constitution

Approx. Time

How long do you expect the activity to last?

Two class blocks (180 Minutes)

Anticipatory Set

Recap of the Seven Principles, Discussion of Constitutional Convention and

lawmaking process
Discuss the importance of laws in their lives, including limited discussion of the
recent presidential election
Share learning target for the day

Teaching/
Presentation:

Includes: Direct Instruction and Checking for Understanding

1. Direct Instruction: Introduce class to Article I and the legislative branch
2. Lecture: Walk students through the sections of Article I, asking for at
least two questions per section
3. Checking for Understanding: Teacher will circulate and check in with
students as they take notes about the first article

(Select the most

appropriate
teaching model.)
-direct instruction
-presentation
model
-concept teaching
-cooperative
learning
-inquiry

Teaching Strategy:
Guided Practice
&
Differentiation

Closure

Materials

Students will participate in class and generate questions to demonstrate

content mastery.
Students will take notes about Article I of the Constitution, while teacher
facilitates discussion to gauge student mastery as well as address studentgenerated questions. Differentiation provided through shortened questions,
cloze notes, and/or making connections between the activity and prior
knowledge
Closure provided after lesson through discussion of express powers of
Congress and how the legislative branch interacts with the other two
branches
Then, students will be instructed to identify the differences between
express and implied powers of Congress, as an exit ticket.

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

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Accommodations
&
Modifications

To modify: If the activity is too advanced for a child, students will have the
opportunity to gain the knowledge through classroom discussion, cloze notes,
or through modified questions. When facilitating the discussion, I will be
checking in with students about their progress to make these adjustments.
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a child, I will adjust questions to
connect the principles of the Constitution with their prior knowledge, including
critical thinking strategies, increasing the challenge of the concepts.
Additionally, students could identify examples of implied powers of Congress
from Article I.
What accommodations will need to be implemented and for what students?
Accommodations need to be implemented for students previously identified
through IEPs and 504s, as well as students who appear to be struggling as
demonstrated by checks for understanding and questioning strategies. These
accommodations can include modified, shortened questions, clarification, and
more time to process/complete activities.

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

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. 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.

2. 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.

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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