1. EDRS 610 – Strategy Lesson #1
Name: Tony Orndoff Grade: 10th and 11th
Unit: The Constitution Time Allotted: 50 mins.
Lesson Topic: Federalist 51: Understanding the System of Checks and Balances
Type of Lesson: Introductory
Context for Learning: The school at which I conducted my observation is a small, Catholic school
(K-12) in Cumberland, Maryland. Students come from throughout the tri-state area and the
socioeconomic status of the student body includes a wide-range. The students are mostly
white, but there is a small African-American population and a growing number of Chinese
exchange students who share common housing on campus. The class I observed was a high
school section of American Government. The class was made up of 16 students , most on the
honors (advanced) track. Five students were on the college prep (grade level) track. The class
was majority white, with one African-American student whose father was born in Ghana.
During my observation the topic was the rights of the accused as protected in the Bill of Rights.
Rather than presenting an alternate version of this lesson, I have created a lesson about the
Constitution. Specifically, this lesson explores one of the Constitution’s most important and
lasting ideas, the system of Checks and Balances, as outlined by Federalist No. 51 written by
James Madison. Not only does this lesson give students the chance to better understand the
American Constitution, it also introduces a primary document while providing students with the
support necessary to ensure that they understand and can learn from the document. This is an
introductory lesson, giving students an opportunity to understand the constitution by reading
the words of the men who helped craft the document. This lesson calls for the use of
technology in the form of a SmartBoard and a number of different websites. The lesson will
include pairs of students working together, but the room arrangement will be standard until
students are asked to move into their pairs.
Curriculum Standard Addressed:
All standards from the Maryland Common Core State Literacy for History/Social Studies
Frameworks.
CCR Anchor Standard #1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from
specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
CCR Anchor Standard #2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their
development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

2. RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source;
provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and
ideas.
CCR Anchor Standard #4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCR Anchor Standard #9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis,
reflection and research.
Objectives
The Student will…
- Demonstrate an understanding of the principles behind the American Constitution
- Decode and interpret a primary source
- Connect the ideals behind the Constitution to contemporary American political culture
Materials:
- American Government Textbook
- Notebook
- Knowledge Chart Handout (Allen, 2008)
- Think, Rethink, Reread, and Reexamine Thinking Handout (Allen, 2008)
- SmartBoard
- Web 2.0 application www.wordle.net
- Crash Course US History --- The Constitution (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bO7FQsCcbD8 )
- Audio file of Federalist 51 housed at http://librivox.org/the-federalist-papers-by-alexander-
hamilton-john-jay-and-james-madison/
Proactive Behavior Management/Provisions for Student Grouping:
A list of behavior expectations will be posted in the back of the classroom. This list will be
generated by the students themselves at the onset of the academic year. The lesson also calls
for students to work in pairs. These pairs will be created by the teacher before the class to
reduce time waste and to ensure that students who may be disruptive are spread out and that
students who may require additional help are paired with students who will be able to offer
such help.
Procedures
Warm-Up/Opening (may be Motivator):
The Warm-Up activity will consist of two parts. First, as part of an ongoing process, a student
will present Current Events to the class, which all students will write down in the Current Events

3. section of his or her notebook. The responsibility for presenting Current Events will rotate on a
daily basis, with each student being responsible for presenting the events several times a year.
Not only does this practice help students stay abreast of the goings-on throughout the world,
but it also gives both teacher and students the opportunity to make connections between world
events and the material being covered as part of the prescribed curriculum.
The second part of the Warm-Up activity will be a short, five-point quiz about the previous
night’s reading. Before this lesson is taught, students will be asked to read a section of the
textbook that explains the ideals behind the American Constitution, including Separation of
Powers and Checks and Balances. The quiz will help me monitor student understanding of the
material before this lesson is taught. Before moving on to the motivator, the class will discuss
the answers to the quiz after all papers have been turned in to signal that the focus of the class
is shifting to that day’s lesson.
Motivator/Bridge:
The discussion of the answers to the daily quiz will include a general discussion of the reading
from the previous night, including the concept of Checks and Balances. Before the day’s lesson
is taught, the previous day’s class will include students completing the “Prior Knowledge about
the Constitution” part of the “Knowledge Chart” handout and a brief discussion of what
students already know about the Constitution and some things student should look for while
conducting that night’s reading. Students will also view a 13 min YouTube video about the
Constitution from the Crash Course series by noted young adult author John Green. The
discussion, along with the video, will help provide some context for students before they
complete the assigned reading.
Finally, the teacher will set the stage for the day’s lesson. A word cloud of Federalist 51 will be
projected on the SmartBoard along with the following four questions:
“What is the system of Checks & Balances?”
“Why did the Founders find it necessary to include such a system in the written Constitution?”
“According to Federalist 51, how does the Constitution ensure that no one individual (or branch
of government) gains too much power?”
“Provide an example of Checks and Balances as it relates to the functioning of the American
government today.”
These questions will be discussed briefly before the lesson is started and will be revisited later as
a way to summarize the lesson.

4. Procedural Activities:
This lesson is built around the Cooperative/Collaborative Learning model. This model offers a
number of advantages including helping students move toward independence. “In cooperative-learning
groups, students come to rely less on the teacher and more on one another”
(Alvermann, et. al., 2013, p. 72). Although traditional cooperative learning involves four to five
students working together, this lesson calls for pairs. Even this more informal form of
cooperative/collaborative learning, “when used in conjunction with content literacy instruction,
has been found to be a highly effective means for improving students’ understanding of
academic subject matter” (Alvermann, et. al., 2013, p. 72).
The lesson will begin with students being placed in pairs by the teacher. At this point, students
will read (on his or her own) Federalist No. 51 found in the back of the textbook. Students will
be encouraged to use their notebooks to jot down any unfamiliar words or phrases, any
questions they have while reading and any thoughts they have related to the discussion
questions written on the SmartBoard. After this initial reading, each student will fill out the
“Think” section of the “Think, Rethink, Reread, and Reexamine Thinking” handout. Next, the
student pairs will discuss what they read, the notes they have taken and their initial thoughts as
recorded on the handout. After this discussion, students will continue with the "Rethink”
section of the handout which will be followed by an additional reading of the document. Finally,
after this second reading, the student pairs will complete the “Reexamine” section of the
handout together.
Adaptations:
As previously stated, student pairs will be created in such a way that allows high-achieving
students the opportunity to further their understanding by becoming a peer-tutor for students
who struggle. Further, for students who struggle to read at grade level, an audio file of
Federalist 51 will be available through the website LibriVox.org. Students who choose can use
the class laptops to listen to the document being read as they read it to help them penetrate the
difficult language of the original text.
Assessment:
Formative assessments
- Teacher observations of the pairs completing the assignment
- Questions posed to the groups as they work to determine what information they have a
firm grasp on and what information will need to be gone over again.
- Students will also complete a brief “What’s Easy/What’s Hard” questionnaire about the
assignment (Alvermann, et. al., 2013, p. 148).
Summative Assessments
- Objective quiz on the principles of the Constitution and Federalist 51
- Written responses to the discussion questions posed at the start of the lesson.

5. - Long-term assessment: Putting Federalist 51 in your own words. Student pairs will
create a high or low tech product (web video, PowerPoint, comic strip etc.) which
demonstrates their understanding of Federalist 51.
Summary/Closure:
After each group has completed the “Think, Rethink, Reread, and Reexamine Thinking” handout,
the teacher will lead the class in a discussion about the Constitution, focusing specifically on
what students learned from the document and the importance of Checks and Balances. The
discussion questions that were written on the SmartBoard at the beginning of the lesson will be
discussed, with students taking the lead. The teacher’s role here will be to facilitate discussion,
not to provide answers. At this time, student pairs will complete the “New Knowledge About
the Constitution” part of the “Knowledge Chart” handout.
Generalization/Extension Activity:
I do not anticipate any students finishing this lesson early. In fact, if anything this lesson may
take more than one class period. However, if students finish early they may use the classroom
laptops to create a word cloud of a significant American historical document by using the
internet and www.wordle.net. These can be printed and placed around the room as they serve
as good jumping off points for discussions about the main idea of a document.
Review/Reinforcement (Homework):
After the completion of this lesson, the homework will be for students to complete written
responses to the discussion questions posted at the beginning of the lesson. Each response will
be 1 paragraph in length and will be graded by the teacher as part of the summative
assessments.
Reflection:
I believe I have created a challenging, but engaging lesson about the ideals behind the
Constitution. Although the language of the primary source may be difficult at first, pairing
students together will help ensure that students gain the full meaning of the document.
Further, the document is not being read on its own or without context. The guided discussions,
readings and videos will help students understand the text. Finally, the handouts from Allen
(2008) will help students organize and analyze their thoughts as they read the document and
participate in class discussion. The discussions themselves, I believe, will be quite beneficial to
the students in helping them understand the text. By discussing the material before writing
about it, unique insights can be gained. “The old notion that thinking must originate within the
individual before it is ready to be shared with others has given way to the belief that some of
the best thinking may result from a discussion group’s collective efforts” (Alvermann, et. al.,
2013, p. 75).

6. References
Allen, J. (2008). More tools for teaching content literacy. Stenhouse. Portland, ME.
Alvermann, D., Gillis, V., Phelps, S. (2013). Content area reading and literacy: Succeeding in
today’s diverse classrooms. (7th ed.). Pearson. Boston.
Maryland Common Core State Literacy for History/Social Studies Frameworks. (2010). Retrieved
at http://mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/social_studies/index.html
Additional Resources:
Text of Federalist 51 at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_51.html
Word Cloud of Federalist 51 created at www.wordle.net :

7. References
Allen, J. (2008). More tools for teaching content literacy. Stenhouse. Portland, ME.
Alvermann, D., Gillis, V., Phelps, S. (2013). Content area reading and literacy: Succeeding in
today’s diverse classrooms. (7th ed.). Pearson. Boston.
Maryland Common Core State Literacy for History/Social Studies Frameworks. (2010). Retrieved
at http://mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/social_studies/index.html
Additional Resources:
Text of Federalist 51 at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_51.html
Word Cloud of Federalist 51 created at www.wordle.net :