TEKS (8 th
Authors: Ellen Barnhouse, Michele Jackson, Beth Roberts
):
• 8.16 – The student understands the American beliefs and principles reflected in the U.S.
Constitution and other important historic documents. The student is expected to:
• (B) summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
Unit: Constitution
Procedures in Detail:
HOOK:
1. (Left side preview) Have students read the following prompt. Give students 5-10 minutes to respond to the prompt in their Interactive Student Notebook.
Prompt: Your school’s basketball team has a game tonight that will decide the district championship. However, it has been announced that due to budget cuts, there will be NO referees at this game. Describe what you think would happen at the game in regard to: scoring, crowd behavior, player behavior and enforcement of rules.
2. Debrief the students’ responses in the preview with a class discussion. Have students share their responses, focusing on similarities between different students’ answers. Discuss how they would feel if their school lost this game.
LINE:
(From History Alive! Binder: U.S. Constitution; Activity 1.3) Prior to beginning line activity, divide students into mixed-ability groups of three.
3. On the right side of the ISN, students will examine eight placards on the weaknesses of the provisions of the Articles of Confederation. They will determine why each provision was adopted and why each led to a weakness of the central (national) government. Findings are recorded on a chart that lists each provision, why it was adopted and how it contributed to the federal governments’ weakness. (See attached matrix).
4. After groups have completed matrix, hold a wrap-up session to ensure each group understands features of the Articles of Confederation and has a clear understanding of how each weakness would related to the real-life situation of the basketball game.

Student handout
A
C
D
No Chief
Executive
This
Included in the
Articles of
Confederation
Possible Problems with this feature
What would happen at the basketball game? leadership from central govt. No single leader for the govt. needed approval by 9 of
13 states
Wanted to protect individual states’ power.
Fear of a strong central govt.
Congress did not have the power to tax citizens. It could only request tax money from states.
Congress did not have the power to draft an army. It could only request states to send men for military services.
Fear of a central government with a strong army that might take away citizens’ rights.
States often chose not to pay taxes, and the federal govt. didn’t have the funds to operate effectively.

E
G
No national court system.
Fear of a central government with a court system that might be unfair to the rights of states. amendments
(changes) to the
Articles must be impossible to make changes to Articles. Any approved by all
13 states. one state could stop an amendment that all the other states wanted.
Congress did not have the power to collect state debts owed to the federal government.
Fear of a strong central government that could force states to pay for things they didn’t want. did have the power to settle disputes among states often could not be resolved. among states. Created disunity among states.

Teacher answer key
A
C
D
No Chief
Executive
This
Included in the
Articles of
Confederation
Possible Problems with this feature
Did not want to have another powerful executive like King George
III. needed approval by 9 of
13 states
Wanted to protect individual states’ power.
Fear of a strong central govt.
Lack of leadership from central govt. No single leader for the govt.
Difficult to get 9 states to agree on a new law. Central govt. unable to do much.
States often chose Congress did not have the power to tax citizens. It could only request tax money from states.
Congress did not have the power to draft an army. It could only request states to send men for military services.
Fear of being unfairly taxed by the central govt., as they had been under British rule.
Fear of a central government with a strong army that might take away citizens’ rights. not to pay taxes, and the federal govt. didn’t have the funds to operate effectively.
Left country vulnerable without a dependable military force.
What would happen at the basketball game?
No referees to enforce the rules of the game.
75% of players would have to agree on every point or penalty.
Without tax dollars, players would have no equipment, uniforms, or court to play upon.
Coaches could only request that players come to practice instead of being required – players may be vulnerable to loss due to lack of skills.

H
E
G
No national court system. amendments
(changes) to the
Articles must be approved by all
13 states.
Congress did not have the power to collect state debts owed to the federal government.
Fear of a central government with a court system that might be unfair to the rights of states. sure states had a strong say in shaping of the govt.
Fear of a strong central government that could force states to pay for things they didn’t want.
Congress did not have the power to settle disputes among states.
Wanted states to have the ultimate authority in resolving disputes.
Disputes between states often could not be settled fairly.
Disputes over penalties, fouls, and possession would not be fairly settled.
Nearly impossible to make changes to Articles. Any one state could stop an amendment that all the other states wanted.
Federal govt. often didn’t have the funds necessary to operate effectively.
Disputes among states often could not be resolved.
Created disunity among states.
Any changes to basketball rules, roster, schedule, coaching staff would have to be approved by all players.
Schools could not force players to pay for lost uniforms, so there would not be enough uniforms for the next season.
Coaches would have no authority to settle disputes on the court.
Players would make all decisions.

SINKER:
5. (Left side process). Have students choose three of the features of the Articles of
Confederation and create three mini-cartoons illustrating each feature, based upon the problem they identified in the basketball game scenario. Label details in each cartoon appropriately (i.e., referees = chief executive, players = states). Add captions, thought bubbles, and use at least three colors.
Example:
No chief executive
I wish there were a ref to get this guy off of me!
States