East Detroit Public Schools
Lesson Design

Author: Sharon Cowells
Subject: Social Studies
Grade: 5th Grade
Course: Core Democratic Values
Title: With Liberty and Justice for All

Length of Unit: Approximately two weeks
Materials Needed:
Power Macintosh G3 computers
large monitor
“Core Democratic Values” packet
Hyperstudio software
props and costumes for skits (from students’ homes)

Standards-Based Outcomes (MDE):

Social Studies:

I. Historical Perspective

Content Standard I, 2: All students will understand narratives about major eras of American and world history by identifying the people involved, describing the setting, and sequencing the events. (Comprehending the Past)

1. Summarize the sequence of key events in stories describing life from the past in their local community, the state of Michigan, and other parts of the United States.

III. Civic Perspective

Content Standard III, 2: All students will explain the meaning and origin of the ideas, including the core democratic values, expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other foundational documents of the United States. (Ideals of American Democracy)

2. Interpret the meaning of specific rights guaranteed by the Constitution including religious liberty, free expression, privacy, property, due process of law, and equal protection of the law.

3. Explain responsibilities citizens have to uphold constitutional rights.

English Language Arts:

IV. Voice

Content Standard IV, 6: All students will learn to communicate information accurately and effectively and demonstrate their expressive abilities by creating oral, written, and visual texts that enlighten and engage an audience.

2. Explain the importance of developing confidence and a unique presence or voice in their own oral and written communication.

IX. Inquiry and Research

Content Standard IX, 11: All students will define and investigate important issues and problems using a variety of resources, including technology, to explore and create texts.

2. Identify and use the kinds of resources that are most useful and most readily available for the particular questions or topics they wish to investigate. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips, tables of contents, indexes, glossaries, icons/headings, hypertext, storage addresses, CD-ROM/laser disks, electronic mail, and library catalogue databases.

4. Using multiple media, develop and present a short presentation to communicate conclusions based on the investigation of an issue or problem. Examples include charts, posters, transparencies, audio tapes, videos, and diagrams.

Prior Knowledge:

• Students must be familiar with the Bill of Rights and the core democratic values.
• Students must have basic computer skills and be familiar with the Hyperstudio software program.

Cue Set:

• The teacher begins a discussion by posing two questions:
  
  
  • How does one become a responsible citizen of the United States?
  • What are some common beliefs that help bind together all Americans?
    
    
• The teacher then acts out a short skit, asking the children to watch closely and be ready to guess which CDV is being represented.
  
  
  • Example: Crumpled up newspapers, tissues, etc. are on the floor. The teacher walks over to area and discusses how unsightly the park is with all the litter strewn about. The teacher then picks up the litter while discussing how one person can make a difference in making America a better place to live. The teacher helps the children realize how this action portrays the CDV of “common good”

Best Shot Instruction:

• In cooperative learning groups, the students identify and define in their own words the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
• As the class reconvenes, each group reads a definition as others compare and contrast it to their own. The teacher clarifies and corrects any misunderstandings in meaning, and all the children write the definition in their packets.
• Each child is assigned a CDV or amendment from the Bill of Rights and creates and presents a one-minute skit demonstrating it. He/she recites the CDV or amendment and explains the meaning in his/her own words before starting the skit.
• While one child presents, the other students sketch pictures of that CDV or amendment in the corresponding place in their packets.
• Children then create two Hyperstudio cards. Included on each card are: 1) a color background, 2) the value or amendment title, 3) scrolling text of the formal definition and an example, 4) the child’s voice reading the scrolling test, 5) created buttons, and 6) a picture drawn by using the software tools. (The first card also has a picture of the student, scanned in by support staff.)

Reteaching and Enrichment:

The students as a whole group view the Hyperstudio presentation and discuss what they have learned.

Review and Closure:

The students play Jeopardy using the terms and definitions of the CDVs and the amendments of the Bill of Rights as the bases for the questions.

Assessment:

• 
  The student’s “Core Democratic Values” packet of definitions and illustrations of CDVs and amendments will be judged for accuracy.
• The one-minute skit representing the value or amendment will be judged on creativity, the ability of the child to state the CDV or amendment in his/her own words, and the correct content of the skit in alignment with the CDV or amendment.
• The two Hyperstudio cards will be evaluated for accuracy of the definitions and
  technical procedures.
• The student will finish this unit by writing an extended response as required on the Social Studies MEAP. The MEAP standards will be used to evaluate the response.
  

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