American History 2 Honors – Student Constitution
For this project, students will be working in groups to create a mock student
constitution for Little Miami High School. In this simulation, groups of students
will be assigned a specific task in the creation of the student constitution that
resembles aspects of the U.S. Constitution. Groups will have approx. 3 students
each.
Part I Groups & Responsibilities (25 points):
Group #1: Preamble
Students in this group will create a paragraph that will discuss the following:
1. Rationale for having a student constitution
2. The goals of the student constitution
Reference the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution
Group #2: Structure, Representation, qualifications, election of the Student Legislature
Students in this group will create a framework (using paragraphs/lists) that will discuss the
following:
1. The structure of the Student Legislature (How many chambers?, How many members?
etc.)
2. Representation in the Student Legislature (How many members does each grade get?
or classroom?, etc.)
3. Formal qualifications to be a member of the Student Legislature
4. Election process for admission to the Student Legislature (Who gets to vote? When
are elections held? How often? How long are member terms? Term limits?)
Reference Article I-Sections 1-6 of the U.S. Constitution
Group #3: Powers of the Student Legislature
Students in this group will detail a list of the formal powers of the Student Legislature (consider
responsibilities for what students want, student safety, student freedom, student opportunities,
limits on power, etc.)
Reference Article I-Sections 7-10 of the U.S. Constitution
Group #4: Structure, Qualifications, election of the Student Executive
Students in this group will create a framework (using paragraphs/lists) that will discuss the
following:
1. The structure of the Student Executive (one person or a group?)
2. Formal qualifications to become the Student Executive
3. Election process to become the Student Executive (Who gets to vote? When
are elections held? How often? How long are member terms? Term limits?)
Reference Article II-Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution
Group #5: Powers of the Student Executive
Students in this group will detail a list of the formal powers of the Student Executive (consider
responsibilities for the position, powers that differentiate from the Student Legislature, limits on
power, etc.)
Reference Article II-Sections 2-4 of the U.S. Constitution
Group #6: Structure, Qualifications, choosing, powers of the Student Judiciary
Students in this group will create a framework (using paragraphs/lists) that will discuss the
following:
1. Structure of the Student Judiciary (How many courts? How many judges?)
2. Formal qualifications to be a Student Judge
3. Election process for the Student Judiciary (Popularly elected or appointed? How long
are terms, etc.)
4. Specific powers/responsibilities of the Student Judiciary (make sure that they
differentiate from the Student Legislature and Student Executive)
Reference Article III of the U.S. Constitution
Group #7: Relationship between the Student Legislature and individual classroom rules,
Amending process, Ratification Process
Students in this group will create a framework (using paragraphs/lists) that will discuss the
following:
1. The relationship between the Student Legislature and individual classroom rules (if
there is a conflict, who is superior?, relationship with administration/school board,
etc.)
2. Process to formally amend the Student Constitution (Who plays a role? Is this a
relatively easy or difficult process? How many options are there?)
3. Process to formally ratify the Student Constitution (Who plays a role? Is this a
relatively easy or difficult process? How many options are there?)
Reference Articles IV-VII of the U.S. Constitution
Group #8: Protected list of Student Rights
Students in this group will create a list of those rights that all students will be able to enjoy and
be protected from infringement by the Student Government. Be able to defend the rights that are
created.
Reference the Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution)
Following the completion of each group’s task, they will be responsible for saving
their work on the General Server under the appropriate class folder. Mr. Maupin
will compile the different parts of the Constitution into a complete version of the
rough draft and give a copy to each student.
Part II: Amending the Student Constitution (50 points)
When students receive their copy of the completed rough draft, they will be
responsible to complete either/both of the following:
1. Create a list of 10 edits/changes/amendments/etc. to the document that
you feel would improve the document overall. Each change must be
SPECIFIC IN LOCATION with the document AND include a brief
(one or two sentence) explanation for why the change needed to be
made.
2. Create a list of 10 items in the document that you strongly support
(cannot be found within the portion of the document that you
originally crafted) AND include a brief (one or two sentence)
explanation for why you support that item. Be SPECIFIC IN
LOCATION within the document
Part III: Debate & Voting on the Student Constitution (25 points)
Students will be responsible for proposing, debating and voting on aspects of the
Student Constitution as an entire class.
Students will be expected to verbally participate (and not just vote).
Reasonably proper rules of parliamentary procedure will be used.
Be able to justify your views/rebut differing views/convince others to support your
beliefs.
Part I (Group Grade) ------------------------- 25 points
Part II (Individual Grade) ------------------- 50 points
Part III (Individual Grade) ------------------ 25 points
Total Point Value: 100 points