Words We Live By
Building Knowledge about the Constitution
6-8 Grade Band Set
Line of Inquiry: This text set focuses on the inception, specific language, and effects of the United States
Constitution. The anchor text, an excerpt from Linda A. Monk’s Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide
to the Constitution, guides students through a close reading of the Constitution’s first three words, “We
the people.” Although a relatively short document, Monk makes very clear the complicated nature of
the Constitution’s language. The accompanying texts in this set provide an opportunity for students to
build subsequent knowledge about the Constitution. Some of the texts lay a foundation for a close
reading of the anchor text by providing background knowledge on the Constitution and how it was
created. Other texts look at specific individuals who have been closely tied to the Constitution. And still
other texts look at what happened after the Constitution was ratified.
Anchor Text
1110L Excerpt from The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution
By: Linda A. Monk
Genre: Informational
Monk, Linda A. The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution. New
York: Hachette Books, 2004. Print.
Available from Amazon in paperback for $17.00.
830L
5 Things to Know About the Constitution
By: Scholastic News
Source: SIRS Discoverer
Text Type: Nonfiction
"5 Things to Know About the Constitution." Scholastic News 5/6. 17 Sep 2012: 4+. SIRS
Discoverer. Web. 07 Jan 2013.
Introductory in nature - provides 5 important ideas you should know about the constitution
before you “go any further” (1. Creating it was a long, difficult process, 2. Many of our nation’s
founding fathers helped craft it, 3. Split power among 3 branches, 4. Important Parts were added
later, 5. It’s alive!); introduces the vocabulary words “delegates” and “ratified.”
900L
Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court
By: Deborah Kent
Text Type: Nonfiction
Kent, Deborah. Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court. New York: Children’s Press, 1996.
Print.
“...provides a chronological narrative history of the legal struggle, led by Thurgood Marshall and
the NAACP Defense Fund, that preceded the political battles for civil rights...tells the dramatic
story of how the NAACP Defense Fund let the Court to use the Constitution as an instrument of
liberty and justice for all African-Americans.” (Amazon)
Available from Amazon in paperback for $4.95.
1030L The Great Little Madison
By: Jean Fritz
Text Type: Nonfiction
“Fritz creates a vivid picture of the man and the problems that our forefathers faced while
America was a new and vulnerable nation. This historically accurate, sometimes humorous
biography illuminates Madison’s passion for keeping a young country intact through the turmoil
of two wars, and Fritz is able to squeeze in a great deal of governmental history within a
fascinating context.” (Scholastic)
Available from Amazon in paperback for $6.29.
1080L Hamilton and the Constitution
Text Type: Nonfiction
Source: PBS.org
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/sfeature/hamiltonusconstituion.html
Outlines Hamilton’s involvement in the Constitution--including the notion that he thought the
new government should be modeled after the British system, which he deemed, the “best in the
world”; talks about his series of essays, written in conjunction with John Jay and James Madison,
known as “The Federalist”.
1140L The Making of the Constitution
By: David White
Text Type: Nonfiction
White, David. "The Making of the Constitution." Social Studies for Kids. Aug. 4 2004: n.p. SIRS
Discoverer. Web. 03 Jan 2013.
Introductory in nature - but more specific and academic than the article, “5 Things to Know
About the Constitution”- gives an account of the general events leading up to the Constitutional
Convention and describes the different “plans” that certain delegates came up with.
1150L Building a New Nation: The Federalist Era 1789-1803
By: Christopher Collier
Text Type: Nonfiction
“...chronicles the development of the new government following the signing of the Constitution.
It explores the political views of the young nation’s leaders as they struggled to form a strong
nation, despite the foreign and domestic dilemmas...” (Scholastic)
Available from Amazon in library bindings for $4.00.
1220L Amending the Constitution
By: Timothy K. Dyhouse
Text Type: Nonfiction
Dyhouse, Timothy K. "Amending the Constitution." VFW Magazine. April 1996: 19+. SIRS
Discoverer. Web. 07 Jan 2013.
This provides a more in-depth look at the amendment process. It describes the two processes for
amending the constitution, as well as the vague wording of Article V (which allows for
amendments); lists the 27 amendments including the time it took to ratify and the year it was
ratified. I would pair this one with Deborah Kent’s Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court.
Graphic
1130L Road to the Constitution (Timeline of events 1774 - 1800)
By: Mark Clemens
Text Type: Nonfiction
Clemens, Mark. "Road to a Constitution." Cobblestone (Vol. 28, No. 9). Dec. 2007: 7. SIRS
Discoverer. Web. 07 Jan 2013.