A Writing Across the Curriculum Lesson from HistoryFix
Historical Topic: The Preamble Students Write: a found poem
Navigating WritingFix &
HistoryFix:
WritingFix Homepage
HistoryFix Homepage
The Preamble: More Than
an Introduction
Writing Across the
Curriculum
Homepage
This writing across the curriculum lesson was created by Nevada
teacher Christy Hodge.
________________
Christy considers this history lesson to be appropriate for students
in grades 5­8.
Navigating this lesson:
Lesson Overview and
Resources
Student Writing
Samples from this
Lesson
Lesson Overview:
Overview: Many teachers begin their study of the Preamble by having their
students memorize all of the words contained therein. I have developed strategies
that when practiced over time will add to the preliminary knowledge gained
through memorization, and which will ultimately make this portion of the
Constitution more meaningful.
Objectives:
The students will learn the meaning of the words within the Preamble to the
Constitution in order to give them a better understanding of its content.
The students will learn the Preamble in order to better understand the
meaning of the Constitution.
The students will write a Found Poem to represent what they have learned
from this lesson.
Time Needed: two or three 60­minute class sessions.
Writing skills (traits) to stress while teaching this lesson:
Idea Development (writing with a clear, central idea or theme in mind; putting researched
ideas into one's own words)
Voice (conveying passion towards the message of the writing or the topic; thinking about and
making decisions to acknowledge the intended audience)
Materials List:
We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States by
David Catrow
Primary source documents for this lesson can be found at this web site.
Example Found Poem
Rubric for Found Poem
Setting the Stage:
The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States introduces the document
authored by our Founding Fathers, and lays out its purposes for our constitution.
We believe that it is important for students to understand the words contained in
the Preamble. We further believe that it is through this literal understanding that
students acquire a refined sense of the meaning of the Constitution and the
commitment, struggles, and beliefs of those who first breathed life into our nation.
(Activate Prior Knowledge) Give each student a half sheet of paper. Ask the
students to answer this question: What is the Preamble to the Constitution?
The class will share their thoughts aloud. The teacher will write student ideas
on the board.
Teacher Instructions:
The teacher will tell the students that the Preamble is an introduction to the
Constitution. Using primary source documents, the teacher will provide each
student with a copy of the Preamble and information about the Constitution.
The teacher will write the preamble out on chart paper and ask the students
to read it to themselves.
The teacher will ask the students to write down any unknown words.
The teacher will go over the following vocabulary words to help give the
students a better understanding for the content: Union, Posterity, Justice,
Ordain, Tranquility, Establish, Defense, Constitution, Liberty, Promote
The teacher will then ask the students what the preamble means to them
after reading it and write new thoughts on the board.
Share the book We the Kids by David Catrow. This is a book illustrating the
preamble. It allows children to make meaning of the text through the
illustrations. The teacher will ask students what the words mean. The
illustrations should help them give the words a new meaning.
The teacher will re­read the book to the students with the instructions, "We
will now read the story. See if you can find a connection to the text
illustrations with the words of the Preamble."
The teacher will have the students pair up into groups of 2­4. Each group will
be assigned one portion of the preamble. (These can be found in the We the
Kids book)
The students will be asked to create a poster to illustrate the meaning of their
portion.
These posters will be hung up in order in the classroom. These posters will
be recited daily. The illustration will allow students to understand the
meaning of the words.
The students should now have a new understanding for the Preamble and
the purpose of the Constitution.
Finally, have the students write a "Found Poem." To do this, the students will
copy the words that they find most meaningful from the preamble onto a
piece of paper, then arrange their best words into a rough draft that can go
below the following sample.The students must space or arrange the words
so that they take the shape of a poem. Students must pay attention to line
breaks, layout, and other elements that will emphasize important words or
significant ideas in the poem. The students will:
Read aloud as they arrange the words! Test the possible line breaks by
pausing slightly. If it sounds good, it’s probably right.
Arrange the words so that they make a rhythm they like. They can
space words out so that they are all alone or all run together.
They can also put key words on lines by themselves.
They can shape the entire poem so that it’s wide or tall or shaped like
an object.
The words can be typed, enlarged, and glued onto construction paper
for display.
WritingFix Homepage HistoryFix Homepage Writing Across the Curriculum Homepage Student Writing Samples for this Lesson © 2015 WritingFix. All rights reserved.