Author: Francesca Duncan

About this Lesson

Target Student Group: 10th Grade, Government Class

Lesson Context: This lesson gives students an in-depth look into the rights specifically enumerated by the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments to the Constitution. In the previous lesson, students were introduced to the Articles of the Constitution, setting the stage for the criticisms put forth by the Anti-Federalists that the people’s rights were not explicitly enumerated in the body of the document. In this lesson, students will examine examples of opposing viewpoints regarding the inclusion of enumerated rights in the Constitution as well as the actual the text of the Bill of Rights.

Primary Source Documents

If the documents are difficult to read on this webpage, please click on the “Source” links to view the docs in their original online locations.

Document 1: Excerpt from the Federalist Papers: “Federalist No. 84, ” Written by Alexander Hamilton in 1788 Source

Guiding Questions for Document 1:

1. What is the author’s perspective?
2. Is this document reliable?
3. Why was this document written?
4. What claims does the author make?

Document 2: Excerpt from a Letter to James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 20 December 1781 Source

1. What is this author’s perspective?
2. What is the author’s purpose in writing this letter?
3. What evidence does the author use to support their claim?
4. How does this document agree or disagree with Document 1?

Document 3: The Bill of Rights, Printed Copy Source

Guiding Questions for Document 3:

1. Why was this document written?
2. How might the circumstances in which the document was created affect its content?
3. How does this document express the same or different viewpoints as the previous two documents?

Teacher’s Guide:

Document 1:

1. Students should describe the author’s perspective as “federalist” or in support of the ratification of the Constitution without a Bill of Rights.
2. Students should state that this document is reliable. Although it was submitted anonymously to a newspaper, students’ background knowledge about Alexander Hamilton and his role both in the Constitutional Convention and later in the US government should inform their decision about the reliability of this source.
3. The reason it was written was to rally support for the ratification of the Constitution in response to concerns that it lacks a Bill of Rights. Student responses should include something that addresses the ultimate purpose being to advocate against the inclusion of a Bill of Rights.
4. The major claim that students should note is that Hamilton, the author, argues not only that a Bill of Rights is not necessary, but that it would actually be dangerous to include because tyrants might use this to limit citizens’ right to only those enumerated specifically. Other claims about the Constitution’s power being upheld by the people or the existing clarity of rights in the Constitution are also acceptable answers.

Document 2:

1. The author’s perspective is that the Constitution must include a Bill of Rights although others have suggested it is not necessary.
2. Students’ background knowledge from the previous lesson includes the knowledge that James Madison was the writer of the Constitution. Students should use this fact to inform their answer, which should reflect Jefferson’s desire to convince Madison to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution.
3. Students should include pieces of evidence from Jefferson’s argument such as: the enumeration that all rights not specifically given to the government are given to citizens is not a strong enough claim to protect individual rights, no uniformity amongst the states to guarantee certain rights without a Bill of Rights, people are inherently entitled to a Bill of Rights against any government.
4. This document directly disagrees with Document 1 because it strongly states that a Bill of Rights is necessary and beneficial for the people whereas Document 1 says a Bill of Rights is unnecessary and even dangerous for the people.

Document 3:

1. This document was written in response to the debate established in Docs 1 and 2. The Bill of Rights was written to appease anti-federalists who would not ratify the Constitution without the specific enumeration of the people’s rights.
2. Students might choose to connect specific amendments to their historical context (i.e. Amendment 3 was created due to forced housing of British troops during the Revolution) or students could describe the overall context of the Revolutionary War and Federalist vs. Antifederalist debate.
3. Document 3 supports Document 2 because it is the realization of the goals established in Doc 2. Its creation opposes Document 1.

Audience: This video is intended for 9th grade students in a Modern World History class.

Lesson Context: This video is to help my students digest the requirements of their upcoming Imperialism Poster Project. The link to this video will be posted on Canvas for my students, and I will require students to watch this video during asynchronous time before I introduce the project in class.

Purpose: This video will help me save synchronous class time because students will be able to come to class with any questions about the assignment. I can spend time addressing these questions without having to explain the entire project over again. The purpose of this video is also to provide students with a clear set of instructions that they can refer back to during asynchronous learning.

“In working to formulate a solution, students naturally build their skills in collecting evidence, organizing and interpreting information, and developing logical hypotheses and explanations. In addition, because the Mystery strategy capitalizes on the human affinity for the intriguing and perplexing, it arouses student curiosity and increases motivation in any classroom” (Silver, Strong, & Perini, 2007, p. 107).

Silver, H. F., Strong, R. W., & Perini, M. J. (2007). The Strategic Teacher: Selecting the Right Research-Based Strategy for Every Lesson. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Target Audience and Setting: This lesson is designed for a 9th grade Modern World History Class. It is the introductory lesson to a unit on “Colonialism in the Congo,” which uses the example of Belgian imperialism in the Congo as a case study on the effects of colonization, especially leading up to WWI. Later in the units, students will connect the concept of imperialism and its characteristics to a country of their own choosing, illustrating the impacts of colonialism in the modern day.

Content: In this lesson, students will be introduced to the concept of imperialism, including its key characteristics and typical structure. Students will also be briefly introduced to the Belgians in the Congo as a case study of imperialism. This is important because imperialism was such a far-reaching system that has affected the present situation of many countries throughout the world, including our own. The Congo was a particularly violent example of imperialism that illustrates the harms and lasting damages inflicted by imperialism.

Process: I will be using an activity from Silver, Strong, & Perini’s 2007 book Strategic Teacher: Selecting the Right Research-Based Strategy for Every Lesson. The strategy I am using is called “Mystery,” and it requires the students to act as detectives and sort through clues to solve a key question.

1. Ask the key mystery question, “What are the defining factors of imperialism?” to the class.
   • Teacher asks the key question and instructs the students to silently brainstorm what they might know about imperialism.
   • Students are brainstorming about the key factors of imperialism, recalling any prior knowledge.
2. Receiving the clues
   • Teacher gives the students a document with about 20 clues (pieces of information such as the names of colonizing and colonized nations as well as examples of imperialism such as the hands of Congo natives being cut off by their Belgian rulers or the spread of Catholicism to Latin America). The teacher then gives students the clues and gives students a minute to read them over.
   • Students briefly read over the clues individually.
3. Small group “investigation” on Jamboard
   • Teacher creates breakout rooms (or “investigative teams”) with about 5-6 students in each and moves from group to group, clarifying questions and monitoring student progress on the Jamboard page.
   • Students are sorting the clues into different categories based on similarities or what they believe the category is. They will eventually decide on what they think the defining factors of imperialism are based on the clues, and each group will rearrange the clues on Jamboard accordingly. It is not expected that each group will create exactly the same categories, but they should be able to explain their rationale. Students will choose one group member to be the spokesperson who will share the group’s findings with the class.
4. Solving the mystery through whole-class consensus
   • Teacher calls on each group’s spokesperson to share what their group identified as the key features of imperialism. Teacher will record a running list of the features the students identify. After the class has created a definition of imperialism, the teacher will show them the actual categories created and the textbook definition of imperialism, which is “a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.”
   • Students will engage in a whole-class discussion. Spokesmen will share their groups’ ideas and try to find consensus on what the characteristics of imperialism are, recording each other’s answers. After listening to each group’s list of characteristics, the class will decide what they think the defining characteristics of imperialism are. Students will record the characteristics on their note sheets. This is their exit ticket before leaving class. Students will leave class with a comprehension definition of imperialism informed by each other’s detective work.

Resources for Lessons: Below is the list of categories and clues that are used in this assignment. The left column of imperialism’s features are solely for the teacher, the students will not see them:

The images and facts in the “clues” column are randomly arranged in a Google Jamboard, in which students can drag and drop the various clues around their screen. With a Google account, the teacher can monitor the students’ work in real time: Jamboard Link

Instructional Slide Show: A Google Slides presentation containing maps of imperialized nations as well as instructions for the mystery activity. Google Slides Link

Consensus Discussion Guide: This sheet is to be screenshared by the teacher during the whole-class consensus discussion. It contains a space for the teacher to record the features created by the students, the dictionary definition of imperialism, and the clues sorted into their original chart. Google Doc Link

Delivery Considerations: If this was an in-person class, I would literally cut out each clue, put them in envelopes for the students, and have them physically rearrange them according to their categories. However, because of the online format, I will provide the students with a Google Doc listing all of the clues from the section above (without the categories, of course!). The students will then work together on Google Jamboard to reorder the clues, dragging them into piles on the screen.

Featured Image Source

Target Audience and Setting: This lesson is designed for a 9th grade Modern World History Class. It is the introductory lesson to a unit on “Colonialism in the Congo,” which uses the example of Belgian imperialism in the Congo as a case study on the effects of colonization, especially leading up to WWI.

Content: In this lesson, students will be introduced to the concept of imperialism, including its key characteristics and typical structure. Students will also be briefly introduced to the Belgians in the Congo as a case study of imperialism. This is important because imperialism was such a far-reaching system that has affected the present situation of many countries throughout the world, including our own. The Congo was a particularly violent example of imperialism that illustrates the harms and lasting damages inflicted by imperialism.

Process: I will be using an activity from Silver, Strong, & Perini’s 2007 book Strategic Teacher: Selecting the Right Research-Based Strategy for Every Lesson. The strategy I am using is called “Mystery,” and it requires the students to act as detectives and sort through clues to solve a key question.

1. I will employ this strategy by first posing the question, “What are the defining factors of imperialism?” to the class.
2. I will then give them a document with about 20 clues (pieces of information such as the names of colonizing and colonized nations as well as examples of imperialism such as the hands of Congo natives being cut off by their Belgian rulers or the spread of Catholicism to Latin America).
3. Then, the students will be put into small groups. They will must then sort the clues into different categories based on similarities or what they believe the category is. They will eventually decide on what they think the defining factors of imperialism are based on the clues, and each group will rearrange the clues on Jamboard accordingly.
4. As a whole class, the students will discuss their ideas and try to find consensus on what the characteristics of imperialism are, recording each other’s answers.

Resources for Lesson: The students will be given the following clues typed in a document and placed into a random order (not the order listed below):

Additionally, all students already have Google accounts through the school, so they will have access to a Google Jamboard that I will create. Each group will have their own page on the Jamboard.

Delivery Considerations: If this was an in-person class, I would literally cut out each clue, put them in envelopes for the students, and have them physically rearrange them according to their categories. However, because of the online format, I will provide the students with a Google Doc listing all of the clues from the section above (without the categories, of course!). The students will then work together on Google Jamboard to reorder the clues, dragging them into piles on the screen.