Formal Amendment Pair Project
Step 1 – Knowledge: State the requirements for proposing an amendment listed in Article V of the US Constitution. State the requirements for ratifying an amendment listed in Article V of the Constitution. List at least five amendments that have been ratified since 1791. List at least five amendments that have failed.
Use (www.usconstitution.net/constam.html) to research the answers for the above.
Step 2 – Understanding: For the amendments listed below, briefly describe why you think people would support or oppose the amendment.
· To specifically allow Congress to regulate the amount of personal funds a candidate to public office can expend in a campaign
· To ensure that apportionment of Representatives be set by counting only citizens
· To allow Congress to pass laws for emergency replenishment of its membership should more than a quarter of either house be killed
· To allow non-natural born citizens to become President if they have been a citizen for 20 years
Step 3 – Application: Research the current school prayer amendment, a historic amendment that was ratified, and a historic amendment that failed. Compare and contrast all three. Use knowledge from earlier in the lesson and research at the following websites: (http://www.aclu.org/religion/schools/16042res20030510.html) (www.religioustolerance.org/istook97.htm)
(http://www.usconstitution.net/constam.html),
and other appropriates sources to create a graphic organizer.
Step 4 – Analysis: Based on the arguments used in the amendments you researched, develop a set of criteria for determining whether an amendment should be ratified or not.
Step 5 – Synthesis: Develop a Congress persona for yourselves. Include background and constituency (e.g. a 50 year-old woman from an urban area on the East Coast or a 40 year-old man from rural Texas). Using the list of criteria created earlier and your personas, develop a proposal for an amendment you think should be added to the Constitution and make a presentation on why you think it should be passed.
Step 6 – Evaluation: In your personas, justify why you agree or disagree with one of the amendment proposals from the class debate. After the debate, stay in character and write a brief (150 word) letter to your constituency explaining why you did or did not support the amendment.
Thursday – Computer Lab (Step 1-3)
Friday – Computer Lab (Step 3-5)
Monday – Classroom (Finish 5)
Tuesday & Wednesday – Classroom / Present Proposals
Thursday – Evaluation Presentations
Friday – Vote to Ratify?