Mar. 15, 2006: Signing the Constitution

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. Write the words "Working Together" at the top of a large piece of paper. Then find newspaper comic strips that show people working together to do a job or solve a problem. Paste them on your paper.

2. Get together with several friends. Together, write down some rules about how you will play together. Now, have everyone sign the agreement.

3. Find a newspaper story about a local government body, such as a city council or a school board, passing a law or setting a policy. What different points of view are represented by the people who must vote on the law or policy? Write a paragraph describing the arguments presented by each side.

4. Collect several letters to the editor in which citizens are urging legislators to take action on a problem. Paste each letter on a piece of paper. Then write several sentences expressing your opinion on the topic.

5. Pretend you are a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Make a list of three reasons why the delegates should vote for the Constitution. Now write a speech trying to persuade the other delegates to sign the Constitution.

This week's standards:

• Students understand the purpose of government. (Social Studies: Power, Authority and Governance)
• Students identify key ideals of the United States' democratic republican form of government. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals and Practice)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)