Scott Luepke

RED 414
Social Studies Lesson Plan
Fall 2015
Constitution Day
Standard
3.4.1.1.1
Reference different time periods using correct terminology, including
the terms decade, century, and millennium.
3.4.1.1.2
Create timelines of important events in three different time scales
decades, centuries and millennia.
3.4.1.2.1
Examine historical records, maps and artifacts to answer basic
questions about times and events in history, both ancient and more recent.
Objectives
Content: The student will be able to explain what the Constitution is.
Language: The student will be able to state why the Constitution is important to
Americans.

Materials
SMART Board Lesson
Sentence frames exit slip
Social Studies books (may not need them, depending on how much time other
activities take)
Instructional Plan
Teacher:
Great job coming over and sitting on the carpet right away when you
came in from break! This is great. As you can see from our Learning Target, were
going to be talking about the Constitution today. So, lets put our Social Studies
thinking caps on. Everyone take twenty seconds to think about this question: What
is a constitution?...Ok Justin, what is a constitution?
Student:

Its something that has rules on it.

Teacher:
I like your answer. A constitution does have rules on it, in fact, our
Constitution lists the laws that Americans need to follow. We can even compare the
Constitution to the rules we have at school. The Constitution tells Americans how
they can be responsible and respectful to themselves and others, so that
everyone can be safe.

The lesson will continue by going through the SMART Board lesson. Key points:
James Madison is nicknamed The Father of the Constitution because he wrote the
document and worked very hard on it.
George Washington oversaw the convention when the document was written; he
later became our first president.
Benjamin Franklin was the oldest person to sign the document.
Other key terms: Independence Hall, Philadelphia, We the People,
Listen to the audio file James Madison speaks; especially tracks 1, 2, 7, and 8
Play the Matching Game within the SMART presentation

Evaluation
With five minutes of class time remaining, hand out an exit slip to each student.
Explain that they must fill out numbers one and two, and they should fill out number
three if they have time. If they finish all three before its time to go, they may sit
quietly and read a book at their level. The sentence frames will be:
1. The U.S. Constitution is
__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. The Constitution is important to Americans because
___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________(Name) was important when the Constitution
was written
because
he/she_________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________.