An inquiry unit immediately makes abstract concepts into intriguing and relevant lessons.

Each activity is driven by a guiding question that builds towards the unit question as well as has students exploring current issues and relevant examples.

The unit culminates with students answering the question in a DBQ-style essay and an optional authentic PBL project. 

This unit can be done well in about three weeks and has been crafted to support the standards of various states.

Included in this complete Foundations of Amerian Democracy unit:

Overview

• Teacher Unit Overview with general notes, links, standards, and a pacing guide
• Daily Lesson Plans with step-by-step details, planning, and lesson takeaway notes
• Detailed Answer Keys for each activity
• Instructional Slide Deck 60 slides to support activities and essay writing
• Student Unit Review and Skills handouts with self-checking questions and “I Can…” statements
• Student Unit Notes sheet for building deep and nuanced mastery of concepts over the course of the unit using powerful graphic organizers
• Student Skill Handouts that include Analyzing News Media Sources, Analyzing Political Cartoons, Deciding a Precise Position, Creating a Thesis Statement, and Including Evidence

Student Activities

• America’s Mission hook students in with this overview of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution through the lens of the qualities of a strong mission statement
• Principles of Democracy brainstorm, discuss, research current political news, and display using gummy bears the main aspects of American democracy: popular sovereignty, republicanism, individual rights, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and rule of law
• Declaration of Independence Podcast Notes get the backstory of this equally complicated yet well-organized document using an engaging Civics 101 episode
• Declaration of Independence Analysis closely read the words that shook the world and tie them to the principles
• Preamble Analysis revisit the nation’s mission statement with an eye for its inclusion of the principles
• Preamble in Political Cartoons / News Media connect to how issues today continually call back to these famous words
• Federalists & Anti-Federalists Podcast Notes get the overview of the debate that democracy made possible by using an engaging Civics 101 episode
• The Federalist & Anti-Federalist Papers Analysis closely read key excerpts from arguments supporting and expressing reservations about the proposed Constitution and tie them to the principles
• America Wants a Government That… analyze recent survey findings of what Americans feel is the responsibility of the federal government
• Other Forms or Types of Government brainstorm, discuss, and display using gummy bears the other common forms of government worldwide to contrast against American democracy (autocracy, monarchy, theocracy, unitary, etc.)
• Print PDF & editable Google versions of all student sheets included!

2 Summative Assessments

• DBQ Essay support your students with a collaborative brainstorm review activity, detailed instructions, outline template, sentence stems, step-by-step PPT slides, and rubrics that encapsulate their complete understanding by arguing their answer to the not-so-simple question, “How is our American democracy defined?”
• Mission Statement Project after brainstorming one’s own core values, students carefully develop their mission statement for the year, using the Preamble and other modern exemplar statements as their guide

ELL & Neurodiversity Supports

• Icon images included in activities to assist in concept understanding
• Collaborative, small-group activities that utilize spatial and kinesthetic skills and promote low-stakes student talk
• How-to skill sheets for essay writing skills
• Clear fonts and visual organization best practices used assignment sheets

This resource is 138 PDF pages, plus Google files. 

Additional Information

What grades is this intended for?
This was designed at a mixed-ability high school level. I cannot guarantee it for grades younger than that, though middle school teachers have reported success with the units in this course. 

If you teach middle school, you may succeed best with the stand-alone activity kits available. 

What supports are included? How can I modify this?
Activities are built with included supports to accommodate varying needs within a typical on-level course: images, sentence stems, graphic organizers, chunking, small-group and low-stakes student talk, manipulatives, how-two skill sheets, step-by-step essay and project forms, etc.  

Student materials come in editable Google file versions to allow you to modify activities by shortening, re-leveling, translating, or using text-to-speech software to support student needs. 

Can I use this in a homeschooling setting?

Sure! While this unit was designed with a traditional classroom setting in mind, it can be used in a solo or a small-group setting. 

Is this editable? What file types does this resource come in?

The main resource is a secured, non-editable PDF file intended to be printed. Included are links to editable Google Doc files of all the student materials.

What standards does this address?

Several! Standards vary, but this resource supports these from various states:

• Identify how the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution shape American beliefs and principles
• Explain the importance of a written constitution 
• Explain the importance of the purpose set forth in the Preamble to the US Constitution
• Analyze how the Federalist Papers explain principles of the American system of government
• Evaluate constitutional principles like limited government, republicanism, checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, and individual rights
• Contrast the American form of constitutional federal democracy with other forms of government, such as monarchy, authoritarian, socialist, direct dmeocarcy, theocracy, and unitary 
• Analyze primary sources, determining central idea, citing textual evidence, and identifying author’s point of view and purpose
• Integrate multiple sources in diverse formats in order to form a coherent understanding and address a question

• Write argument focused on discipline-specific content, developing claim and counterclaim, selecting most signfignat pieces of evidence, using precise domain-specific language, and organizing ideas into a coherent arugment
• Make personal and real-world connections and refections to content

What are the terms of use for this resource?

This resource, including all ancillary files, may be used as needed for regular, non-commercial single-classroom use between a teacher and their students. 

This includes printing copies and sharing digital files with students through a secure platform, like Google Classroom or Canvas, email, or a classroom-only shared drive.

The using and sharing of any part of this resource in any manner outside the above-mentioned capacity is strictly prohibited. Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to,

• posting files on the open internet or in a Facebook group
• emailing files to or sharing print copies with others (without purchasing additional licenses)
• uploading or storing files in a shared cloud drive accessible by anyone other than students
• including any part, or any derivative work, within any commercial endeavor like curriculum development, professional training, or for-profit teaching like Outschool, or selling this resource as your own in either print or digital formats

Doing so violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright law, and these terms.

By downloading this resource from Let’s Cultivate Greatness, the original user has been granted one license for a single teacher (or number of teachers matching the number of licenses purchased) and their students at any one time. 

Let’s Cultivate Greatness retains the full copyright of this resource.

Reviews

This unit is pound for pound the best I have purchased! Downloaded as a PDF or Google, the assignments are easily paced and work for in-person or digital (or a combination). I print off materials and post them on Classroom. Thank you! I will be purchasing more!!  – Kara G.

I used this unit with my 10th grade government class. We read some of our textbook as a base and then used the unit to make it real for them. They were more engaged and it was easy to link in current events with each lesson. – Glenda L.

I have tried a lot of different curriculums to teach Government, but this one is the best. Students are engaged and challenged. I have especially loved the conversations that we have had about how Government applies to them today. While learning about the foundations they were able to apply the principles and values to their lives.   –  Rebecca W.