Essential Questions 

• How did the United States Constitution develop?

• What are the unique freedoms and rights of Americans?

• What are the responsibilities of U.S. citizens living in a democratic society?

Content 

• Students will understand how the U.S. Constitution developed.

• Students will identify the freedoms and rights that are unique to Americans.

• Students will demonstrate a knowledge of the responsibilities of being a U.S. citizen.

Skills 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Webb's Depth of Knowledge

www.loc.gov

www.ed.gov

www.state.gov

www.interior.gov

U.S. and Wyoming Constitutions DSPA

Standards Assessed

WY.18.SOC.9-12.SS12.1.1

WY.18.SOC.9-12.SS12.1.2

WY.18.SOC.9-12.SS12.1.5

WY.18.SOC.9-12.SS12.1.6

WY.18.SOC.9-12.SS12.1.3

WY: Social Studies (2014)

WY: Grades 9-12

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.

SS12.2.4 Analyze and critique the conflicts resulting from cultural assimilation and cultural preservation in Wyoming, the United States, and the World (e.g., racial, ethnic, social, and institutional).

Time, Continuity, and Change

Students will:

SS12.4.1 Describe patterns of change (cause and effect) and evaluate how past events impacted future events and the modern world.

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.

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.

Technology, Literacy, and Global Connections

Students will:

SS12.6.1 Analyze, evaluate, and/or synthesize multiple sources of information in diverse formats and media in order to address a question or solve a problem.

SS12.6.2 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text supports the author's claims.

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

CCSS: Grades 11-12

Capacities of the Literate Individual

Students Who are College and Career Ready in Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, & Language

They demonstrate independence.

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They build strong content knowledge.

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They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline.

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They comprehend as well as critique.

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They value evidence.

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They use technology and digital media strategically and capably.

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They come to understand other perspectives and cultures.

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Reading: History/Social Studies

Key Ideas and Details 

1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

RH.11-12.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

RH.11-12.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

RH.11-12.3. Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.

Craft and Structure

4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

RH.11-12.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

RH.11-12.5. Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.

6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

RH.11-12.6. Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

RH.11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

RH.11-12.8. Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.

9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

RH.11-12.9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity 

10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

RH.11-12.10. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 11–12 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

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;

Research primary and secondary sources to make decisions and propose solutions to selected civic issues in the past and present;

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;