Lesson
Creating a Classroom Constitution Government Lesson
Guiding question
What are the foundational principles and virtues that should be included in a constitution to ensure a fair and just society?
What role does a constitution play in establishing a framework for governing a community, and how does it protect the rights and responsibilities of its members?
Guiding Questions
- What are the foundational principles and virtues that should be included in a constitution to ensure a fair and just society?
- What are the essential elements of a positive and productive classroom environment, and how can a classroom constitution promote these qualities?
- How can collaboration and compromise be utilized to create a classroom constitution that reflects the diverse perspectives and needs of the student body?
- How can the principles and lessons learned from creating a classroom constitution be applied to broader societal contexts and the understanding of larger-scale constitutions in the world?
Objectives:
- Students will explain the importance and purpose of a constitution.
- Students will identify and compare essential structures of the U.S. Constitution and the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Students will collaborate to create a classroom constitution that reflects the values, rules, and responsibilities they want to uphold for a positive learning environment.
Materials
Student Resources
Teacher Resources
- Whiteboard, chalkboard, larger poster board, or digital whiteboard
- Markers
- Blank sheets of paper or poster boards for group work
- Writing materials (pens, pencils)
Lesson plan
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Standards
Related materials
Primary SourceThe Constitution
The Constitution was written in the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by delegates from 12 states, in order to replace the Articles of Confederation with a new form of government. It created a federal system with a national government composed of 3 separated powers, and included both reserved and concurrent powers of states.
