The Preamble of the Constitution

Introduction

Imagine that you are a citizen in 1787. You, along with others have been designated by your community to find out as much as you can about the new Constitution. Your job is to break down the Preamble. More specifically, find out what the basic purposes of government are as defined in the Preamble. Use the links provided to research as much as possible but make sure to stay on task. Your community is counting on you!

SS-05-1.1.1 - Students will describe the basic purposes of the U.S. Government as defined in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution (to establish justice, to ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure blessings of liberty); give examples of services the U.S. Government provides (e.g., armed forces, interstate highways, national parks) and analyze the importance of these services to citizens today.

Task

By the end of this journey you will have dissected the preamble well enough to put it in your own words and have formed an opinion about it. While you are going through the steps, take notes on your notes worksheet. After you have completed all the steps, you will follow a link and create a column in the local newspaper. This is for your community so they can read about everything that you have learned.

*The newspaper article is a summary of what you have learned. Therefore, it will be done last.*

Process

Follow these steps. Remember to TAKE NOTES on everything that you learn!

**Leave the three facts section empty, you will use this later.**

1. Follow this link and read the Preamble all the way through. Note what you do not know yet. Don't worry- we will learn about it soon enough!

http://www.abcteach.com/free/p/poster_constitution.pdf

2. Secondly, watch both of the following video links to learn more about the Preamble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHp7sMqPL0g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rTIkQ5uiDI

3. Next, break down the promises made in the preamble.

http://kids.laws.com/preamble-of-the-constitution

What do each of them mean? How are they carried out? Think about these questions as you read the link. Then, pick one of them. Use the construction paper stapled to your note taking paper to make a graphic organizer. You will draw a circle in the middle and write the one you chose. Then you will draw 4-6 arrows coming from the middle bubble. On the arrows you will write how the promises made in the Preamble of the Constitution are carried out today. Research independently to find the answers to this.

You may not use the one in the example.

4. Did you know that a group of men came together and wrote the Preamble of the Constitution all by themselves? We refer to them as the founding fathers. Learn more about them by taking the quiz. Find out which founding father you are.

http://www.constitutionfacts.com/?page=foundingFatherShort.cfm

Who did you get as a result? What was their involvement in writing the constitution? Write three facts on your notes page about the founding father that matched your personality.

5. Are all of your blanks in your note sheet filled? Do you have any more questions? Fill them in. The note sheet must be filled in completely before you report your findings back to your community. (The class.)

6. Once you have done all of the research and recoded it correctly, you are ready to write the newspaper article to tell your community what the Constitution is all about and how you feel about it. Some of the things to include in your column are a summary of your journey, what you learned, the preamble word for word, the preamble in your own words, your opinion of the preambles effectiveness and what it means for the community. In Article 2, write about everything on your note sheet. Summarize it into sentence form. More specifically, write about the founding fathers, the most interesting thing that you learned, five new words that you learned, your text-to-self connection, and questions that you still may have. Make sure to include a creative title of your newspaper and a catchy headline.

Remember that the tone of a newspaper is very conversational. Add your voice!
Printing this is optional.

http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/newspaper-generator-plus.html

7. If there is extra time, get with others that have completed their assignments and create a preamble for the class.

(You may ask a teacher to print this out or one of you can print out just one copy.)

http://www.abcteach.com/free/w/writingprompt_constitution_wethestudents.pdf

Evaluation

How did you do? Check yourself using this rubric!

Answer Key to notes page:
All areas must be completed. Each section must correlate with the title.
For example, Text-to-self connection should not have facts or questions included. Must be accurate. Every answer will vary.

Answer Key for graphic organizer:

Answers will vary. Here are some possible answers for each Preamble statement:

Establish justice -

creating a government with three separate branches, right to a fair trial, innocent until proven guilty, unalienable rights, fair government.

Insure domestic tranquility -

fair elections, live peacefully, right to have private property, rights to own land

Provide for the common defense -

protection for everyone, army/navy/air force, police officers, firemen, sound military

Promote the general welfare -

The answers for this were provided in the example. Making laws to benefit all people, having food and water regulations, using tax money to fund public schools, regulating commerce, keeping all people happy, healthy and safe, manifest destiny, equal opportunities.

Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity -

protection of our freedom and liberties (rights to speak freely, worship freely, etc.), protection of our rights, right to vote, help the U.S. now, help the U.S in the future.

Ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America -

Set everything up in order for the country to become more prosperous and successful, stay true to the constitution.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have completed your mission!

By now you have completed learning the vocabulary in the Preamble, you now know who wrote the constitution, what the government does to stand by the words in the Preamble and you have shared with your community through writing how much you have learned. Your community appreciates your efforts and thanks you!

For more preamble and constitution fun, check out these funny videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf71LerhBMU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgI495d3_28

Still not understanding? Want to learn even more? Copy this link down and watch this episode of Liberty Kids on your own time. This episode goes into length about not only the Constitution but about everything else that was going on in the time period!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceb1wkSamG4

Credits

Special thanks to all the sources and links I used to make this 5th grade online learning experience successful!