NCDPI – AIG Instructional Resource: Background Information
Resource Title: The Founding Fathers and Mothers: How’d They Get That Way?
Subject Area/Grade Level (s): Social Studies/5
Time Frame: 3-4 class periods
Common Core/Essential Standard Addressed:
5.H.2 Understand the role of prominent figures in shaping the United States.
5.H.2.1 Summarize the contributions of the “Founding Fathers” to the development of our country.
5.H.2.2 Explain how key historical figures have exemplified values and principles of American democracy.
Additional Standards Addressed:
RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve
a problem efficiently.
RI.5.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the
high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase
information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to
support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
Brief Description of Lesson/Task/Activity: This lesson gives learners the chance to delve deeply in to the lives of the Founding Fathers and
Mothers to discover the personal characteristics that enabled them to become leaders and revolutionaries. This would be a good assignment for
students who compact out of a portion of a unit on early American history.
Type of Differentiation for AIGs (include all that apply):
x Enrichment
Adaptations for AIGs:
Product
x Content
Process
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
Extension
Acceleration
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project
Explanation of How Resource is Appropriate for AIGsGifted learners benefit from studying people who have made differences in particular
fields. This lesson gives these learners a chance to study individuals deeply with an eye toward discovering the personal traits that prepared
them for leadership as well as how they might have developed those traits.
Needed Resources/Materials: Print and online resources related to the lives of particular Founding Fathers and Mothers: See the list of and
information about the Founding Fathers at http://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-founding-fathers/about-the-founding-fathers/
Sources: NA
TEACHER NOTES: It’s important to note that historians do not agree as to whom the term “Founding Fathers” includes. This lesson takes one
particular view (see the website sited above) but can be expanded to be more inclusive depending on the needs and interests of the students.
NCDPI AIG Curriculum Resource Outline
STAGE ONE: ENGAGE
Pose the following question: Who are the Founding Fathers and Mothers? Accept and discuss student responses, and note specific names on the
board.
Explain that historians do not agree as to who should be included in the Founding Fathers. Some say that the group encompasses the framers of
the US Constitution. Others say that it also includes the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Still others say that the group is comprised
of individuals who had a significant impact on the philosophy behind and the development of the Constitution. One researcher even provided a
list of only 7 Founding Fathers. Other lists are much longer, including all people who fought for independence. Point out that the term “founding
father” did not come into existence as we understand it today until 1916 when Warren G. Harding used it in a speech at the Republican National
Convention.
Ask: What does the term “founding father” or “founding mother” imply? Which individuals do you think should definitely be included in the
group? Why?
Assign the students to small groups (no more than 4 students per group). Each group should brainstorm the personal qualities that they think
would enable someone to become a leader and a revolutionary. To get them started, it may help to pose these questions:
 Who do you know who is a strong leader? What characteristics does he or she exhibit?
 What does it take to enact societal/cultural/political change? What personal qualities are needed?
Bring the students together as a whole group to share their thinking, and ask: Where do these personal qualities come from? How do they
develop? Be sure to post the personal qualities that they come up with so that everyone can see them for the remainder of the lesson.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project
STAGE TWO: ELABORATE
Tell the students that they will each be conducting research about a particular Founding Father or Mother with the goal of learning as much as
possible about that person (If students will benefit from working in pairs, they may do so.). Point out their research should not focus on their
individual’s whole life. Rather, the students will focus their research on the following questions (post for all to see):
 Which of the personal qualities of a leader/revolutionary did this Founding Father or Mother possess?
 How do we know that he/she possessed these qualities?
 What early life experiences enabled him/her to develop these qualities?
 Who in his life helped him develop these qualities?
 How did this person’s leadership qualities impact his or her actions as a Founding Father or Mother?
Provide the students with a list of Founding Fathers and Mothers, and let each student choose one to research. Students should take notes as
they conduct their research, and they will create the following products:
 A short True/False activity (5-7 items) about their Founding Father/Mother for their peers to complete later in the lesson
 A short written vignette that answers one or more of the research questions
 A diagram or chart that answers one of more of the research questions
When students have completed their research and products, provide time for them to share their learning with one another. This can be done
whole group but would likely be more engaging in smaller groups (for example, “poster presentation style” with only 2-3 students sharing at a
time.). Students should be given a simple graphic organizer on which they can take notes as they learn about each Founding Father and Mother.
This organizer can encompass the research questions (for example, a column for each question).
STAGE THREE: EVALUATE
With the whole group, review the personal qualities of the Founding Fathers/Mothers. Ask the students to rank order the top five. Give them
time to discuss and debate until they come to a consensus. It may help to give them a time limit and to ask them consider which qualities were
demonstrated most fully by many or most of the Founding Fathers/Mothers. Listen for the students’ abilities to state their opinions clearly and
justify them with accurate facts and details. Encourage all students to participate in the discussion.
Pose the following types of questions:
 Are the qualities that the Founding Fathers/Mothers possessed desirable ones? Should we want people to demonstrate them? Why or why not?
 If these are desirable qualities, how can we ensure that people have the opportunity to develop them?
 Based on the lives of the Founding Fathers/Mothers, what can we do today to ensure that all children can develop leadership qualities?
 What types of support and people do we need in our lives in order to develop these qualities?
 How can the development of these qualities impact our society as a whole?
TEACHER NOTES:As an optional activity, students may write about how they themselves embody the personal qualities of the Founding
Fathers/Mothers and how they themselves have been able to develop them.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA State Board of Education | Department of Public Instruction
AIG ~ IRP Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project