Essential Questions 

• How did the United States Constitution develop?

• How did the United States Constitution influence the development of the Wyoming Constitution?

• What are the major characteristics of the United States and Wyoming Constitutions?

Content 

• Students will explain how the United States Constitution developed.

• Students will understand how the United States Constitution influenced the development of the Wyoming Constitution.

• Students will compare and contrast the United States Constitution and Wyoming Constitution.

Skills 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Webb's Depth of Knowledge

www.loc.gov

www.ed.gov

www.state.gov

www.interior.gov

WY: Social Studies (2014)

WY: Grades 9-12

Citizenship, Government, and Democracy

Students will:

SS12.1.5 Demonstrate an understanding of the structures of both the United States and Wyoming Constitutions.

Culture and Cultural Diversity

Students will:

SS12.2.1 Analyze and evaluate the ways various groups (e.g., social, political, and cultural) meet human needs and concerns (e.g., individual needs and common good) and contribute to identity (e.g., group, national, and global), situations, and events.

SS12.2.2 Analyze human experience and cultural expression (e.g., language, literature, arts, traditions, beliefs, spirituality, values, and behavior) and illustrate integrated views of a specific culture.

Time, Continuity, and Change

Students will:

SS12.4.3 Given a significant current event, critique the actions of the people or groups involved; hypothesize how this event would have played out in another country.

SS12.4.4 Describe the historical interactions between and among individuals, groups, and/or institutions (e.g., family, neighborhood, political, economic, religious, social, cultural, and workplace) and their impact on significant historical events.

SS12.4.5 Using primary and secondary sources, apply historical research methods to interpret and evaluate important historical events from multiple perspectives.

People, Places, and Environments

Students will:

Physical Place and Region

SS12.5.2 Describe regionalization and analyze how physical characteristics distinguish a place, influence human trends, political and economic development, and solve immediate and long-range problems.

CCSS: Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects 6-12

CCSS: Grades 11-12

Writing

Text Types and Purposes

1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

WHST.11-12.1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

WHST.11-12.1a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

WHST.11-12.1b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.

WHST.11-12.1c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.

WHST.11-12.1d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

NCSS: Social Studies 2010

NCSS: High

CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICES

Knowledge 

Learners will understand

The theme of civic ideals and practices helps us recognize where gaps between ideals and practices exist, and prepares us to work for social justice;

Concepts and ideals such as: human dignity, social justice, liberty, equality, inalienable rights, responsibilities, civil dissent, citizenship, majority and minority rights, the common good, and the rule of law;

Key practices involving the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the exercise of citizenship (e.g., respecting the rule of law and due process, voting, serving on a jury, researching issues, making informed judgments, expressing views on issues, and collaborating with others to take civic action);

Scholarly interpretations of key documents that define and support democratic ideals and practices (e.g., the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constrtution, the Declaration of Sentiments in Seneca Falls, New York, the Gettysburg Address, the Letter from Birmingham Jail; and international Documents such as the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Children);

The origins, functions, evolution, and outcomes of major institutions and practices designed to sustain and more fully realize democratic ideals

That seeking multiple perspectives is required in order effectively to grasp the complexity of issues involving civic ideals and practices;

The importance of becoming informed as the basis for thoughtful and positive contributions through civic action

Processes

Learners will be able to

Ask and find answers to questions about how to become informed and take civic action;

Compare and contrast the roles of citizen in various forms of government past and present;

Identify examples of civic ideals and practices throughout history and in a variety of cultural sellings;

Identify assumptions, misconceptions, and biases in sources, evidence, and arguments used in presenting issues and positions;

Identify, seek, describe, and evaluate multiple points of view about selected issues, noting the strengths, weaknesses, and consequences associated with holding each position;

Develop a position on a public policy issue and defend it with evidence;

Evaluate the effectiveness and importance of public opinion in influencing and shaping public policy development and decision-making;

Evaluate the degree to which public policies and citizen behaviors reflect or foster their stated civic ideals;

Participate in the process of persuading, compromising, debating, and negotiating in the resolution of conflicts and differences.

Products

Learners demonstrate understanding by

Writing an informed personal position on a civic issue based on reasoned arguments developed by consulting multiple sources;

Developing and sharing policy positions in such forms as position statements, editorials, political cartoons, blogs, and media presentations;

Using a variety of media (e.g., a documentary film, PowerPoint presentation, or gallery of project posters) to report on debates, petitions, and findings from surveys;