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Comparing the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution

Guiding Questions

  • What were the primary problems faced by the United States under the Articles of Confederation? 
  • How did principles shape the republican framework of the new constitutional government?

Objectives

  • Students will explain the differences and similarities between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.   

Materials 

  • Comparing the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution Graphic Organizer

Overview 

  • This activity is meant to be an ongoing chart that students can complete as they learn about the Articles of Confederation and Constitution, it is not meant to be completed in one lesson. When finished, the chart could be used as a study guide or as part of an interactive notebook. The Articles of Confederation and Constitution can be divided into parts and read with a style of reading from our Modes of Reading teacher resource or discussed following one or more of the Discussion Protocols. Also, utilizing a combination of the videos, essays, lessons, and primary sources listed below will make the Articles and Constitution more manageable for students and teachers.  

Articles of Confederation 

Videos 

Essay, Lesson, and Primary Source

Constitution 

Videos 

Essay, Lesson, and Primary Source

Teacher note: These resources are intended for high school classrooms. If they do not fit your classroom as written, use some of these prompts with AI to modify the structure or difficulty to fit your classroom.  

 Examples:  

  • Simplify this high school lesson plan about the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation, including definitions of key terms and concepts that are age-appropriate for middle school students. 
  • Adapt a lesson on the Articles of Confederation to be more interactive and understandable for middle school students, including a matching game or scenario-based discussions. 
  • Design a scaffolded primary source analysis activity for the Federalist Papers (selecting key excerpts), with vocabulary breakdowns and comprehension questions. 
  • Adapt the preamble of the Constitution into a fill-in-the-blank or matching activity that helps students understand its purpose and meaning.