Picture the Preamble

Preamble Phrase We the people of the United States Picture Why Picture Was Chosen The U.S. is known for the diversity of its population, and I chose a picture of people to represent that homogeneity.

in order to form a more perfect union

establish justice

insure domestic tranquility

This picture continues the idea of diversity prevalent in the U.S., but also shows a connection and unity among the citizens. The scales and gavel are symbols of equality and due process in American society. They were chosen to show what established justice looks like in the U.S. Police officers are citizens first defense against violence and crime. They provide peace and order locally.

provide for the common defense

promote the general welfare

The volunteer military of the U.S. keeps the country safe from domestic and foreign attacks. They different branches of the military have diverse duties, but all branches provide defense for the U.S.A. General welfare refers to the personal happiness and security of Americans as a whole. This picture reflects the joyful and relaxed nature of the U.S.

and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity

do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Liberty is synonymous with freedom, and the freedom to protest for civil rights is a cornerstone of American History. Starting with the Founding Fathers, countless generations have enjoyed the gift of freedom to organize. The quill represents the Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution, giving their support to the living document of the U.S.A. The gavel represents the Constitution as the law of the new country.

Picture the Preamble is an engaging, interactive assignment that shows students a different way of using a word processing program. I assign my students essays and assignments to be typed, and I may show them basics like adding italics or changing font size, but this assignment has more depth. Students enjoy adding clip art to their essays, even when it is not appropriate. Picture the Preamble lets students explore clip art and learn about one of the bedrocks of American government and society as well. I am long removed from high school, which is the last time I explicitly came into contact with the Constitution, and even then, I was only memorizing the Preamble and the Bill of Rights. This assignment taught me to slow down and examine the Preamble of the Constitution, and to really think about what those nine clauses mean to me and how they influence the development and evolution of the United States. If they do not already know about it, I am going to pass this assignment along to our Social Studies teachers, but I think the concepts of this assignment can be applied to any content area. For example, in my ESL classes, I envision using something similar to this to analyze an important scene in a text.