Constitution Book for 5th grade

The Constitution

Teaching through Understanding and Sharing

Storyboard Activity #1

Charting Constitutional History

For this two-part activity, students will create a Constitutional “storyboard” as a way of organizing and
reviewing their knowledge of the Constitution. One of the best ways to study and review the complexity of
the Constitution is for students to create a visual representation of the chronology of events and their
historical relevance. Constructing a Constitutional “storyboard” is one way for students to trace the
narrative of the Constitution and ratification process. Explain to students that filmmakers and writers often
use “storyboards” when they are writing film scripts. These can be either charts or drawings that represent
the chronological structure of a story. Students may want to research storyboards online or using the
Internet in order to get a sense of the variety of how they can be constructed. Then, have students
construct their own storyboards. These can be text- based or include drawings but they must include the
following events and terms (including those you or your students want to add) and explain their
Constitutional relevance:

Important parts to include - These should be major sections of your
book. Think of the storyboard as a rough draft.

Chapter 1 - Declaration of Independence

Chapter 2 - Legislative Branch - define &
summarize

Chapter 3 - Executive Branch - define &
summarize

Chapter 4 - Judicial Branch - define &
summarize

Chapter 5 - Amendments (define)/Bill of
Rights

How to get the information?

There are 5 chapters:

Remember anyflip? Well here is an example plus a great resource for you to use.

http://anyflip.com/vmrl/lufl

Here is a lesson plan full of ideas for teaching the constitution.

https://www.archives.gov/legislative/resources/education/constitution

There are thousands of resources you can use to help develop this presentation.

http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/pages.aspx?name=all-games-and-interactives&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

How to Storyboard - http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/page.cfm?id=23&cid=23&sublinkid=37

Assignment Activity #2

From Storyboard to Story Book

A great way to assess whether students have absorbed information about the Constitution is to test their
ability to explain what they have learned to others. Have students use the storyboards they created for
Activity #1 to write and illustrate a Constitutional story designed for 5th graders. These stories can be a
series of drawings, written in text form, or presented as cartoons. The goal of these stories is to challenge
8th school students to translate their knowledge of the Constitution in a new way. They should imagine
that they will be reading these books, so they can frame their stories in their own language as long as they
include relevant information about the Constitution and the process of ratification. Have students share
these presentations with younger students at your school or in your community. Or, have the class invite
younger students to your classroom for a Constitution storytime.

Storyboard to Book

Create your storyboard on paper, or digital
Title - Understanding Our Government
Using your storyboard, create a book on paper or digital
There are online storyboard programs you can use, and
Sites like Anyflip can help transfer to the book
**Remember that Anyflip uses PDF files

You will now become the teacher!

You will be paired with 5th grade students

Your book must be engaging

Create 1 learning activity to review the information with your partners
a. Three branches of government, or
b. The Bill of Rights

You will have 30 mins to teach

Review the important stuff!

YOU ARE THE TEACHER!

Now Reflect on Your Learning and Project

https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/d/1rcuRBY3Gj1aZjsmwRBwii3MrdeLVaRAUZd
H4csER7Aw/edit
After you teach the lesson, complete the Google form.
Rubric - grade sheet - see link below the presentation