Grade 3
Social Studies
Unit: 02
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 2 days
Grade 03 Social Studies Unit 02 Exemplar Lesson 02: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
This lesson is one approach to teaching the State Standards associated with this unit. Districts are encouraged to customize this lesson by supplementing with districtapproved resources, materials, and activities to best meet the needs of learners. The duration for this lesson is only a recommendation, and districts may modify the time
frame to meet students’ needs. To better understand how your district may be implementing CSCOPE lessons, please contact your child’s teacher. (For your convenience,
please find linked the TEA Commissioner’s List of State Board of Education Approved Instructional Resources and Midcycle State Adopted Instructional Materials.)
Lesson Synopsis
Students consider more deeply the Founding Fathers, the concept of consent of the governed, and the terms life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as they study the
Founding Documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
TEKS
The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) listed below are the standards adopted by the State Board of Education, which are required by Texas law. Any standard
that has a strike-through (e.g. sample phrase) indicates that portion of the standard is taught in a previous or subsequent unit. The TEKS are available on the Texas
Education Agency website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148.
3.1
History. The student understands how individuals, events, and ideas have influenced the history of various communities. The student is
expected to:
3.1C
Describe how individuals, including Daniel Boone, Christopher Columbus, the Founding Fathers, and Juan de Oñate, have contributed to the expansion of existing
communities or to the creation of new communities.
3.10
Government. The student understands important ideas in historical documents at various levels of government. The student is
expected to:
3.10A Identify the purposes of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.
Social Studies Skills TEKS
3.17
Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of valid
sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
3.17E Interpret and create visuals, including graphs, charts, tables, timelines, illustrations, and maps.
3.18
Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:
3.18C Use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation.
GETTING READY FOR INSTRUCTION
Performance Indicators
Grade 03 Social Studies Unit 02 PI 02
Create a collage using words and pictures that illustrate what life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness means. Explain in writing the reason the pictures and words were chosen.
Standard(s): 3.10A , 3.17E , 3.18C
ELPS ELPS.c.1E , ELPS.c.4J , ELPS.c.5B
Key Understandings
In a constitutional republic, laws guarantee and protect the rights of the people.
— How have individuals, events, and ideas contributed to the expansion of existing communities or to the creation of new communities?
— What are the purposes of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights?
Vocabulary of Instruction
liberty
freedom
pursuit of happiness
constitutional republic
Materials
Bill of Rights
Constitution of the United States
Declaration of Independence
drawing paper
glue sticks
magazines/newspapers
markers or colored pencils
Mural of the Constitution by Barry Faulkner in the National Archives
scissors
Attachments
All attachments associated with this lesson are referenced in the body of the lesson. Due to considerations for grading or student assessment, attachments that are
Last Updated 04/17/2013
Print Date 06/20/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
page 1 of 6 Grade 3
Social Studies
Unit: 02
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 2 days
connected with Performance Indicators or serve as answer keys are available in the district site and are not accessible on the public website.
Handout: Preamble 2-column Notes (1 per student)
Handout: Bill of Rights (1 per student and 1 to display)
Resources
Internet sources such as Library of Congress and National Archives.
Advance Preparation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Become familiar with content and procedures for the lesson.
Refer to the Instructional Focus Document for specific content to include in the lesson.
Select appropriate sections of the textbook and other classroom materials that support the learning for this lesson.
Preview available resources and websites according to district guidelines.
Prepare materials and handouts as needed.
Background Information
Because we participate in government by choosing our leaders to represent us, the United States of America is a constitutional republic as established by the U.S. Constitution. Participating in the
election process by becoming educated about the issues and the candidates, participating in respectful dialogue with the candidates, and then making an informed vote for the candidate with whom
we most closely agree, we are giving our consent, or participating in consent of the governed. The Constitution is our basic set of rules and laws. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution by
the Founding Fathers to ensure the rights of individual citizens and to make sure the government did not become abusive, like they thought King George’s monarchy was. Until the United States,
most governments in the history of the world were unlimited governments ruled by one individual. (There were exceptions.)
GETTING READY FOR INSTRUCTION
Teachers are encouraged to supplement and substitute resources, materials, and activities to meet the needs of learners. These lessons are one approach to teaching
the TEKS/Specificity as well as addressing the Performance Indicators associated with each unit. District personnel may create original lessons using the Content Creator
in the Tools Tab. All originally authored lessons can be saved in the “My CSCOPE” Tab within the “My Content” area.
INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
ENGAGE – Founding Documents
Suggested Day 1 – 10 minutes
1. Read again the excerpt from the Declaration of Independence:
Materials:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Declaration of Independence
Drawing paper
2. Students recall what they learned about consent of the governed in Lesson 1. If desired, show
the Declaration of Independence.
3. Review the vocabulary in the excerpt (for example, truth, self-evident, equal, unalienable, rights,
life, liberty, pursuit).
4. Review the purpose of the Declaration of Independence, the beliefs at its core, and the reason
the Founding Fathers wrote it. Facilitate a brief discussion using questions such as:
What does self-evident mean?
What do you think the Founders meant when they said that Life is an “unalienable
right”? (discuss)
What does Liberty mean? (discuss)
What do you think the Founding Fathers meant when they said the Pursuit of
Happiness is an “unalienable right endowed by their Creator"? (discuss)
Are all men created equal
5. Distribute drawing paper to students, on which they will create a timeline that will be added to
throughout the lesson.
6. On a piece of butcher paper hung landscape, create a class version of the timeline students are
creating. Write the date July 4, 1776, on the left side. Write Declaration of Independence under it.
(This will become a timeline of the Founding Documents.)
7. Students add the same information to their drawing paper so they will create their own timeline
during the lesson. At the bottom of the paper students write the purpose of the Declaration and
draw a picture meaningful to the student about the Declaration of Independence.
EXPLORE/EXPLAIN – American Revolution
Suggested Day 1 (cont'd) - 10 minutes
1. Fill in the next step of story: Britain and the newly-independent colonies went to war, the American Materials:
Revolution. The Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 (Lexington and Concord) until 1783 (Treaty
Timeline begun during the Engage section
of Paris). (If desired, read part of Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.”)
2. Add the American Revolution to the class timeline while students add the information and the
picture to their own timeline.
EXPLORE – Constitution
Last Updated 04/17/2013
Print Date 06/20/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
Suggested Day 1 (cont’d) – 20 minutes
page 2 of 6 Grade 3
Social Studies
Unit: 02
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 2 days
1. Add to the story using words such as:
When the war was over and the treaty signed, what had been 13 British colonies was
now an independent group of former colonies.
Do you remember why people form communities? (TEKS 3.2A: reasons people have
formed communities, including a need for security, religious freedom, law, and material wellbeing).
Did any of these reasons exist at the time? (yes)
The people needed to form a community. One thing needed when forming a
community is an agreement about rules. The people had several common beliefs to
guide them, and they had strong leaders who worked together.
The people of the former colonies sent these leaders to a Constitutional Convention
in Philadelphia in 1787.
Materials:
Constitution of the United States
Mural of the Constitution by Barry Faulkner in the National
Archives
Attachments
Handout: Preamble 2-column Notes (1 per student)
2. Show the mural Constitution (by Barry Faulkner) in the National Archives and discuss some of the
people shown.
These leaders were to be the representatives of the people of the colonies. There
were to meet and figure out how this new group of former colonies could work
together to form a nation.
Let’s look at something they wrote that conveys these ideas.
3. Distribute the Handout: Preamble 2-column Notes.
4. Show and read the Preamble to the Constitution while students follow along:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
5. Explain where this quote is from (the Preamble to the United States Constitution).
6. Students, in pairs or small groups, read the preamble and discuss, in their groups and with the
class, the meaning of each line/phrase and “translate” the words into words they understand.
7. Facilitate a discussion where students share their ideas and then take what they have learned
about the Constitution and discern what the Founders believed. (justice, peace, security, common
good, liberty)
8. Teacher and students add information about the Constitution to their timelines: Date the
Constitution was signed (September 17, 1787, which we now celebrate as Constitution Day during
this Celebrate Freedom Week); the date the Constitution went into effect (March 4, 1789, after
the people of the colonies voted for it; this is an example of consent of the governed); the
purpose of the Constitution (set up the rules for the new government), and a relevant picture for
each entry.
EXPLAIN – Purpose of Constitution
Suggested Day 1 (cont’d) – 10 minutes
1. At the bottom of their Handout: Preamble 2-column Notes, students write a summary of the
purpose of the Constitution (to write the rules for a government of the United States that: “form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity”)
Materials:
EXPLORE – Bill of Rights
Suggested Day 1 – 15 minutes
1. Distribute the Handout: Bill of Rights and introduce a third important Founding Document, The
Bill of Rights, using words such as:
Materials:
The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Even though the
leaders had been very careful when they wrote the Constitution to make sure they
designed a government that supported their core beliefs, they wanted to be even
more sure that people’s individual rights were protected ­ that the government
could not become too powerful or treat the citizens unfairly. So they wrote down
exactly the things they wanted specifically protected and they became the Bill of
Rights, part of our country’s Constitution.
Timeline begun during the Engage section
Handout: Preamble 2-column Notes begun in the Explore
section
Bill of Rights
Timeline begun during the Engage section
Attachments
Handout: Bill of Rights (1 per student and 1 to display)
2. Read aloud the opening statement of the Bill of Rights, which is on the top of the Handout: Bill of
Rights, while students follow along.
The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the
Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its
powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as
extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the
beneficent ends of its institution.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the
following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as
amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles,
when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and
Last Updated 04/17/2013
Print Date 06/20/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
page 3 of 6 Grade 3
Social Studies
Unit: 02
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 2 days
purposes, as part of the said Constitution;
3. Facilitate a discussion where students recognize that the first sentence says that several of the
states wanted there to be additional restrictive clauses added to prevent abuse of power.
(Students find the statement and underline or highlight it.)
4. Ensure that students recognize that the second part talks about how the people’s representatives
have to approve them (2/3 of both houses) and the people have to approve them (3/4 of the
state legislatures). This is an example of consent of the governed.
5. Lead students through a list of the amendments (at the bottom of the Handout: Bill of Rights).
Students should recognize some of the amendments as response to the grievances listed in the
Declaration of Independence.
6. Students also recognize that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were written to ensure that
people’s unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” were recognized and
protected by specifically addressing them in law – law that is put in place and upheld with the
consent of the governed.
EXPLAIN – Bill of Rights
Suggested Day 2 (cont’d) – 10 minutes
1. Students add information on the Bill of Rights to the timeline from Day 1 as Teacher adds
information to the class timeline.
Materials:
Timeline begun during the Engage section
On December 15, 1791, three-fourths of the states had ratified the amendments of the Bill of
Rights.
The purpose was to spell out and ensure individual rights “in order to prevent misconstruction
or abuse of [government] powers.”
A picture relevant to the student
ELABORATE – Founding Documents
Suggested Day 2 (cont’d) – 10 minutes
1. Facilitate a discussion where students share what they have learned about the founding
documents by using academic language to answer the guiding questions, make connections
between the documents, and support the Key Understanding
In a constitutional republic, laws guarantee and protect the rights of the people.
— How have individuals, events, and ideas contributed to the expansion of existing communities or to
the creation of new communities?
— What are the purposes of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights
EVALUATE – Collage
Grade 03 Social Studies Unit 02 PI 02
Create a collage using words and pictures that illustrate what life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness means. Explain in writing the reason the pictures and
words were chosen.
Standard(s): 3.10A , 3.17E , 3.18C
ELPS ELPS.c.1E , ELPS.c.4J , ELPS.c.5B
1. Students can use words and pictures they write/draw in addition to words and pictures from magazines and newspapers.
Last Updated 04/17/2013
Print Date 06/20/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
Suggested Day 2 (cont’d) – 15
minutes
Materials:
drawing paper
magazines/newspapers
scissors
glue sticks
markers or colored
pencils
page 4 of 6 Grade 03
Social Studies
Unit: 02 Lesson: 02
Preamble 2-Column Notes
Preamble to the Constitution
Meaning
We the People
of the United States,
in Order to
form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish
this Constitution
for the United States of America.
Purpose of the Constitution
©2012, TESCCC
05/30/12
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Grade 03
Social Studies
Unit: 02 Lesson: 02
Bill of Rights
“The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting
the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or
abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be
added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will
best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.”
“Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the
following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as
amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles,
when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents
and purposes, as part of the said Constitution;”
Amendments
1
Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
2
Right to keep and bear arms in order to maintain a well-regulated militia.
3
No quartering of soldiers.
4
Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.
5
Right to due process of law, freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy.
6
Rights of accused persons, e.g., right to a speedy and public trial.
7
Right of trial by jury in civil cases.
8
Freedom from excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishments.
9
Other rights of the people.
10 Powers reserved to the states.
©2012, TESCCC
04/17/13
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