• Context
• Lesson-Specific Standards
• Teaching the Lesson
• Assessment
• Lesson Materials
• Resources

Activity 4: Constitutional Convention

Matt Johnson spent the entire third class period having students debate and offer provisions for the legislative and executive branches. (Note: The portion of the convention dealing with the judicial branch is not seen in the workshop program.) Matt Johnson recommends starting with something that is relatively straightforward, like suffrage, so that students can see the process at work. Each group reports on its decision on the matter at hand; dissenters are free to add alternatives to the list and these are given equal weight. When all responses on a particular item have been listed (e.g., on voting age, various groups and/or students in Matt Johnson’s class suggested requiring citizens of Permistan to be either 16, 17, 18, or 20 years of age to vote; some also required proof of political literacy or wanted ex-felons to have suffrage), students discuss them, move to either table the provision or bring it to a vote, and then vote according to the previously determined procedures. A summary of Robert’s Rules of Order for use in facilitating this discussion can be found in the Resources section.

Overview, Goals, and Planning     |     Introduction     |     Activity 1
Activity 2     |     Activity 3     |     Activity 4     |     Scheduling and Adaptations