The American Constitution

Title of Project: The American Constitution

The Constitution is a “Living Document” that attempts to balance the rights of individuals with the common good.

Schools and Teachers

Bridgehampton School Teacher: Ninfa Boyd Co-Teacher: Henry Meyer

ENL Proficiency Level | ENL Program | Standards | Technology

Entering | Stand-Alone | 7W2c | Book Creator

Assessments

Summative Assessment: Rubric

Description

At the end of the Unit on the American Constitution, students will create a book describing and summarizing the following concepts: The Great Compromise, The Three Fifths Compromise, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Federalism, and the Electoral College. Using Book Creator was an essential tool for English learners to be able to interact with information in their L1 and use visuals and sound to enhance their understanding of the content material.

Content

I can explain from multiple perspectives arguments regarding the balance of power between the federal and state governments, the power of government, and the rights of individuals.

Language

I can compare and contrast the balance of power between the federal and state governments (establishment of the system of federalism).

Technology

I can use BookCreator to examine how key issues were resolved during the Constitutional Convention, including: state representation in Congress (Great Compromise or bicameral legislature), the balance of power between the federal and state governments (establishment of the system of federalism), and the prevention of parts of government becoming too powerful (the establishment of the three branches).

Student work

Student digital work about The Great Compromise

Student digital work about the Checks and Balances system and Federalism

Student digital work about The Three-Fifths Compromise and Separation of Powers

Student digital work about the Electoral College

Procedure

The learning experience was designed to support an entering level English learner in building content knowledge while developing language skills. The student used Book Creator to create a digital book explaining key U.S. government concepts: The Great Compromise, The Three-Fifths Compromise, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Federalism, and the Electoral College. The lesson began with the teacher modeling using visual aids and sentence frames to introduce each concept. Then the student conducted guided research using bilingual texts and videos, which helped expand her background knowledge in both English and her home language.

Technology was integrated meaningfully through Book Creator, allowing the student to insert text and images. This multimodal approach supported all four language domains: listening (via videos), speaking (class discussion), reading (researching using bilingual materials), and writing (drafting summaries). Differentiated scaffolds included the use of bilingual materials and graphic organizers. The process encouraged high engagement by giving the student choice in design and ownership over the final product, while also building both language proficiency and civic content knowledge.

Resources and Other Materials

Book Creator

Reflection

Designing and implementing this learning experience using Book Creator was both rewarding and insightful. The project successfully supported my entering English learner by combining content instruction with language development in an accessible, student-centered format. I observed a high level of student engagement as she took pride in creating a digital book that reflected her understanding using both languages. The multimodal features of Book Creator made it easier for her to express complex ideas that may have been difficult through writing alone, especially at her proficiency level.

This project was assigned by the Social Studies teacher and completed in the ENL class. Our collaboration addressed scaffolding strategies and language objectives, and bilingual resources ensured the lesson was linguistically appropriate and rigorous.

Page updated

Report abuse