Making a New
Nation
Unit 4: Open Court
Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution
http://www.opencourtresources.com
Objectives
• You will identify and decode words with the
inflectional –ing ending.
• You will identify and decode words with the
long I sound followed by a consonant and
silent e.
• You will also understand the relationship
between words by identifying word origins.
• Finally, you will learn to drop the final e
before adding endings to words. Let’s begin!
Word Knowledge
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Coming contributing existing
running
Time
arrived
pride
decide
Conform confederation conjoin
decide
United
described
revising
draped
She will be contributing to the existing fund.
He will decide when the time has arrived.
Members agreed to conform with laws set forth by
the confederation.
• When the last delegate arrived, they united to
discuss and write the Constitution.
What do these words have in common?
• Coming contributing existing
running
• The words contain the inflectional –ing ending.
Words with this ending are the participial form of
verbs. These words can function as verbs,
adjectives, and nouns.
• What word is dropped when you add the –ing
ending?
• That’s correct: e.
• With your partner, use the words in a sentence.
What is the same with these
words?
• Time
arrived
pride decide
• These words contain the /i/ sound followed by a
consonant plus silent e.
• With your partner, come up with words that have
the /i/ sound followed by a consonant plus silent
e.
• Here are some examples:
• Lime, dived, ride, wide.
What is the spelling pattern in the next set of words?
• Conform confederation conjoin
concurrent
• The words contain the prefix con-, which
means “with”.
• Let’s use our glossary to find origins of these
words.
• Look in you books. Can you come up with
other examples of words with the prefix con-?
What’s the secret pattern between these words?
• United
described revising
draped
• You drop the e when adding the suffix endings.
• Can you think up any other examples?
Please read the following sentences together:
•
•
•
•
•
•
She will be contributing to the existing fund.
Can someone read the words ending in -ing?
Contributing and existing are right!
Now let’s read sentence two:
He will decide when the time has arrived.
What words contained the /i/ sound, a consonant
and silent e?
• That’s correct: decide, time, arrive
• What were the nouns in the sentence?
• He, time- Excellent!
Now, let’s read the following sentences together:
• Members agreed to conform with laws
set forth by the confederation.
• Which words had the prefix con-?
• Conform, confederation
• What does the prefix con- mean?
• With! Nice job folks…
One last line: Let’s read it,… today!
• When the last delegate arrived, they
united to discuss and write the
Constitution.
• Which words do you drop the final e to
add the word ending?
• When the last delegate arrived, they
united to discuss and write the
Constitution.
• That’s right! Arrived, united
Prior Knowledge
• Boys and Girls, what is a Constitution?
• It is a plan for governing a state,
country, or organization.
Background Information
• George Washington (1732-1799)
served as commander in chief of the
American army during the Revolution.
• He then went on to become the first
American president, serving from
1789-1797.
Background Information
• Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) served as
the U.S. secretary of the treasure from 17891795. He worked to improve industry,
increase trade, and build a strong central
government.
• James Madison (1751-1836) served as
secretary of state and later became the
fourth U.S. president. He was nicknamed
“The Father of the U.S. Constitution.
Background Information
• Edmund Randolph (1753-1813) went
on to become the attorney general and
secretary of state under Washington.
• Not to be confused with Orlando
Jordan.
Shh! We’re writing the
Constitution
• Predict what the story might be about
• Questions that come to mind.
• Images that pop into my mind.
(Visualize)
• Summarize story in own words
•
Listen/Speak 1.1,1.2
Preview and Prepare
(Reading 2.3 pp. 20M-20N)
• Let ‘s read aloud: the title, the author and illustrator.
•
•
•
•
Now let’s browse the first page or two of the story.
Who are the main characters?
Look at the illustrations in the selections.
Make sure you make predictions about the text to
help monitor your comprehension.
• Look for: clues, problems, such as unfamiliar words
(trans. 54)
• Now let’s look at the focus question.
Student Observation
• Clues
Problems
Wonderings
• Nation
• George
Washington
• Nonfiction
-Sovereign
-states
-Central
-government
-Who wrote the
Constitution?
Set Purpose (Focus Question)
• Why did people living in the states not
want a national constitution?
• Why did they come to need one?
• What system of government did they
create?
Selection Vocabulary
Reading 1.3, 1.5 p. 20N
Trans 1
• Nation confederation convention
constitution federal
(Transparency 37)
• What do these words mean?
• Context clues, word structure (root word,
prefix & suffix), apposition, prior knowledge
• Add vocabulary words to your Writers’
Notebook in the Vocabulary Words section
• Vocabulary words and the definitions
Selection Vocabulary
Reading 1.4
p. 20N
Nation
confederation
convention
 constitution
 federal
Trans 37
Selection Vocabulary
Reading 1.4
p. 20N
Trans 1
• Nation: a group of people living in a particular area
under one government (p. 366)
• Confederation: the act of joining states together for a
common purpose (p. 368)
• Convention: a formal meeting for some special
purpose (p.369)
• Constitution: the basic principles used to govern a
state, country, or organization (p. 372)
• Federal: formed by an agreement of states or
provinces to join together as one nation (p. 372)
Investigating Concepts
Beyond the Text
TG 379A
Workshop time
• What do you know already about how
America became a nation? During the
last four weeks, we read stories and
discussed how America formed.
• Does anyone have any further
questions or points to share up to this
point?
Investigating Concepts
Beyond the Text
TG 379A
Workshop time
• Primary sources are first hand accounts of
Historic events.
• Now, let’s learn about Primary sources,
Inquiry Journal, pg. 106.
• Later on, come up with two questions for the
Concept/Question board about competition
and cooperation.
• Let’s share our findings later on.
Language Arts Day 1
Word Analysis
(TE. P. 35F)
• Spelling – This week, we drop the e at the
end of a word before adding an ending.
• United described revised arrived draped
• Pretest p. 40
• Vocabulary Skill Words (word origins)
• Judiciary Congress declaration proceedings
convention
English Language Conventions
Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics
(TG p. 35F Eng. Lang. Conv. 1.0, 1.4)
• Contractions (Read L.A. Handbook, p. 374-375)
• A contraction is formed by combining two words,
omitting one or more letters, and replacing the
letters with an apostrophe
(isn’t {is not}); can’t {cannot})
• The idea of noor not is expressed by using a
negative word. Some negative words include
never, nobody, none, no one, and nothing.
English Language Conventions
Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics
(TG p. 379F Eng. Lang. Conv. 1.0, 1.4)
• A double negative occurs when two negative
words are used to express a single idea when
only one negative word is necessary. I never say
no one there should be I never saw anyone there.
• Complete Comprehension and
Language Arts Skills Book p. 128-129
(Independent Practice)
Writing Process Strategies
TG p. 379F (writing 1.0)
• Decisions Before Writing
• Language Arts Handbook pp. 220-225
• I will imagine that I am a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention in 1787. I hear delegates
from some states pushing for state sovereignty and
others pushing for a strong federal government. I
want to do what is best for the people I represent, so
I will research the pros and cons of each position,
select a viewpoint, and write a report giving reasons
why other delegates should adopt my views.
• Independent Practice –Choose a topic for your
report.
Word Knowledge-Day 2 (TG p. 20L)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Coming
contributing
existing running
Time
arrived
pride
decide
Conform
confederation
conjoin decide
United
described
revising draped
Raise your hand if you can make up a sentence with one of the words
from word line 1.
Now, I need a second volunteer to raise their hand if they can extend
the sentence by answering the questions:
Who? What? Where? When? Why? or How?
Let’s repeat this activity using words from line 2.
Time
arrived
pride
decide
Let’s repeat this activity using words from line 3.
•
Conform confederation
•
conjoin
decide
Selection Vocabulary
(Review)
Reading 1.2, 1.5 p. 377B
Trans 37
• Nation confederation convention
constitution federal
(Transparency 37)
• What do these words mean?
• Context clues, word structure (root word,
prefix & suffix), apposition, prior knowledge
• Review vocabulary words from your
Writers’ Notebook (in the Vocabulary Words section)
• Vocabulary words and the definitions,&
synonyms
Selection Vocabulary
Reading 1.4
p. 366N
Trans 37
•
•
•
•
•
Nation
confederation
convention
constitution
federal
Supporting Vocabulary
Reading 1.4
p. 366N
Trans 37
Use your vocabulary skills to find out
what do these words mean:
Impeach (pg. 375, paragraph 3)
Electors (pg. 376, paragraph 2)
Reading Recommendations
Second Read Day 2
(reading 1.1 p.366-377)
•
•
•
•
•
Making Predictions - causes reader to analyze
information given about story events and characters in
the context of how it may logically connect to the
story’s conclusion.
Making Connections-causes readers to analyzes
information given about story events and characters in
the context of how it may logically connect to the
story’s conclusion.
Summarizing-prompts readers to keep track of what
they are reading and to focus their minds on important
information.
Students read pages 366-377 (Day 2)
Read aloud using fluency with appropriate expression,
pacing, and intonation.
Investigating Concepts
Beyond the Text
TG 379B
Workshop time
• What are new ideas you learned so far
about how the Constitution was made?
• Come up with two questions for the
Concept/Question board about the U.S.
Constitution.
• Let’s share our findings later on.
Language Arts Day 2
Word Analysis
(TE. P.379G) ELC 1.5, Reading 1.0
• Spelling –Word Sort: Write the base word for each spelling
word.
• Vocabulary: Greek and Latin roots were discussed in unit 2.
Knowing the common roots can help us define unfamiliar
words.
• Liberty: The root of this word is liber.
• What do you think liber means?
• It means free. Liberty means freedom.
• Guided Practice: Spelling Book, pg. 98: Homework, pg. 99.
100
English Language Conventions Grammar,
Usage, and Mechanics
(TG p. 379G E.L.C., 1.0,1.5)
• Review: Contractions
• Always avoid double negatives ( I don’t never did it.)
• Use isn’t , wasn’t and doesn’t when talking about a
singular person (he,she) and with the word it.
• Use aren’t, weren’t and don’t when talking about
more than one person (they) and with the word you.
• In partners, list as many contractions as you know.
• Assignment: Look for contractions in Shh! We’re
writing the Constitution.
Writing Process Strategies
TG p. 379F (Writing 1.0, 1.2a; Soc. St. 5.7)
• Prewriting
• The purpose of a persuasive report is to
persuade readers; therefore, the facts,
examples and expert opinions should
be selected with this goal in mind.
• Define your purpose by determining
whether you want to simply change the
way your audience thinks about a
certain topic, persuade your audience to
take action, or point out a problem and
persuade readers to agree with a
solution.
Writing Process Strategies
TG p. 379F (Writing 1.0, 1.2a; Soc. St. 5.7)
• The opposing viewpoint!
• Including defeating or opposing viewpoints in
persuasive writing adds to persuasiveness.
• Include the opposing viewpoint along with
reasons that show the weakness of the opposing
viewpoint.
• Don’t forget to put the opposing viewpoint in
your outline and report!
• Complete Writer’s Workbook, pg. 74
Investigating Concepts Beyond the
Text
TG 377B Workshop time
• Concept/Question Board
• Post questions you have about the story.
• Post questions you may have about the
story before reading it, if they were
unanswered.
• Bring in items, newspaper articles and
stories about competition, and cooperation.
• You can sign out and read books from the
concept/question board (for in class only).
Vocabulary Review Day 3
•
•
•
•
''Shh! We're Writing the Constitution'‘
Syllables
Word
SPANISH
na-tion
Nation
nacion
con-fed-er-a-tion confederation
confederacion
con-ven-tion
convention
convencion,
conveniocon-sti-tu-tion constitution constitucion
• fed-er-al
federal
federal, federativo
Selection Vocabulary
Reading 1.4
p. 366N
Trans 37
• Nation: a group of people living in a particular area
under one government (p. 366)
• Confederation: the act of joining states together for
a common purpose (p. 368)
• Convention: a formal meeting for some special
purpose (p.369)
• Constitution: the basic principles used to govern a
state, country, or organization (p. 372)
• Federal: formed by an agreement of states or
provinces to join together as one nation (p. 372)
Discussing Strategy Use
TE.p. 32
• Which confusing passages did you
clarify by reading on or by rereading?
• How often did you summarize as you
read?
• What kinds of questions did you ask as
you read?
• How did the strategies help you better
understand the selection?
Discussing the Selection
TE. P 379A
Reading 2.3 Listen/Speak 1.1
• Handing-Off - Whole group discussion
Routine Card 1 (5. Handing-Off)
• Let’s go over rules for handing off.
• How does it connect to what you learned?
• What have you learned that is new?
• What did you find interesting?
• What is important here?
• What was difficult to understand?
• What information surprised you?
• Whey would someone want to read this?
• Record your personal responses to the
selection in your Writers Notebook.
Student Observation
• Clues
Problems
Wonderings
• Nation
-Sovereign
• George
• Washington
• Nonfiction
-states
-Central
-government
-Who wrote
the
Constitution?
Selection Vocabulary
Reading 1.4
p. 366N
Trans 37
• Nation: a group of people living in a particular area
under one government (p. 366)
• Confederation: the act of joining states together for a
common purpose (p. 368)
• Convention: a formal meeting for some special
purpose (p.369)
• Constitution: the basic principles used to govern a
state, country, or organization (p. 372)
• Federal: formed by an agreement of states or
provinces to join together as one nation (p. 372)
Day 3
p.378-379 Reading 2.1
• Comprehension Skills – Fact and Opinion
• Checking Comprehension, p. 377
• What is the main topic of this story?
• Why were people hesitant to create a
national government?
• How has this story connected with your
knowledge of the unit theme?
Inquiry, TE. 3C
Let’s discuss ideas about stories read so far.
What have you learned?
Of the ideas discussed in class about America,
describe which ones you found most interesting.
-Complete Inquiry Journal, pg. 88.
Reading and Responding
(day 4)
–Using technology in presentations.
–Inquiry Journal p.108
–On the lines provided, write ideas
about how each of the items below
might be used to help you present
a class project or get information.
Day 3 Language Arts
(p. 379H )
• Spelling – If a word ends in e and the ending begins with
a vowel, drop the e before adding the ending.
• Guided Practice: Spelling Book- pg. 100
• Vocabulary:
• Voluntary, contribute, nation
• What are the roots to the above words?
• Vol: means “to be willing”
• Trib: means “to assign, allot, or pay”
• Nat: means “to be born”
• Give examples of other words with the same roots!
• Volunteer, tribute, distribute, attribute, tributary, national,
native, nativity, and nature.
• Let’s discuss what these words mean…
Day 3 English Language Conventions
(TG. p. 379H Eng. Lang. Conv. 1.0, 1.5)
Contractions, Negatives and Double negatives
Read L.A. Handbook, pgs. 374-375 to learn about
the use of contractions and negatives and the
need to avoid double negatives.
Formal writing should not include contractions.
Guided Practice:
Reread you persuasive reports and change any
contractions you may have used.
This is an important part of editing.
Writing Process Strategies
Day 3 (TG 379H)
• Writing (outlining)
• Outlines are formatted plans used by
writers to organize notes and ideas
before beginning a first draft. Outlines
arrange information into main topics and
subtopics.
• Use your most persuasive reason last
and list it as the last main topic or
subtopic in an outline.
Writing Process Strategies
Day 3 (TG 379H)
• Let’s complete Comprehension Book,
pgs. 130-131 to practice outlines.
• Guided Practice:
• Complete the outline on page 75 of
your writer’s workbook.
Selection Vocabulary
Reading 1.4
p. 366N
Trans 37
•
•
•
•
•
Nation
confederation
convention
constitution
federal
Selection Vocabulary
Reading 1.4
p. 20N
Trans 1
• Nation confederation convention
constitution federal (Transparency 37)
• What do these words mean?
Reading and Responding
(day 4)
• Meet the Author/Illustrator (Read Pg. 378)
• Why was Jean Fritz curious about
American Heroes?
• What would she have had to do in order to
learn the things she did about these
American Heroes?
• Where does Mr. dePaola get ideas for
the books that he writes and illustrates?
•
Literary Elements Day 4
TG p. 377E
• Author’s Perspective
• Perspective means opinion. Authors
usually write about topics they think are
important.
• In order to communicate their ideas
about a topic, authors may include facts
that support their opinions or describe
ideas using words that will make them
seem appealing or unappealing to the
reader.
Literary Elements Day 4
TG p. 377E
• Discuss with your partners what you think the
author feels about the issues and people she
writes about.
• Get examples from your text to support your
answers.
• For example, I think the author finds history
entertaining. In the story, she uses funny
word choices in her description of events.
Literary Elements Day 4
TG p. 377E
• Independent Practice:
• Look through your Writing folders for a
story that is important to you.
• Think about facts and descriptions you
could use to persuade readers to agree
to your point of view.
Day 4 Spelling
p.223I
• Snow, wind, flakes
• Give the spelling word that is in the
same contexts as these words:
• Flurries is correct!
• Complete Spelling Book, pg. 105
• Vocabulary:
• Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find the
meaning of:
• Confounded, infallibility,
• infirm, conciliatory
English Language Convention Day 4 TG 387I
listen/Speak 1.3
Understanding what we hear
- One reason for listening well is to make informed judgments
based on what we’ve heard.
- To be a good listener, we need to:
- Make eye contact, and face the speaker in order to give him/her
your attention.
- We should also pay attention, concentrate on what is being said
and try not to be distracted.
- We learn information from many different sources: songs,
poetry, newspaper articles,…
- If we listen carefully, we can learn a lot of different information.
- The information we learn allows us to form our own ideas or
judgments. Listening well allows us to make informed
judgments.
English Language Convention Day 4 TG 387I
listen/Speak 1.3
• What information did you learn from
“Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution”?
• Based on the information you learned, make
informed judgments about the characters
and the decisions they made.
• For example, was George Washington the
best person for the job as President?
Writing Process Strategies:
Day 4 TG 387I Writing 1.0
• Transparency 25 (editing).
• Let’s correct the errors in this piece.
• Poor spelling and punctuation will
disrupt the flow of writing and cause
confusing for the reader.
• Use the checklist on page 77 of the
Writer’s Workbook to edit your
persuasive report.
• Share your work with a classmate, so
they can edit your work when you are
finished.
Day Five…
• General Review –
• Word Knowledge
• Lesson Assessment
(Reading 2.1, 2.2 & 3..3 )
– “Shh! We’re writing the Constitution” pp.23 (TG p. 35I)
• Spelling – Dropping the e and
Adding the Ending (E.L.C. 1.7)
– Unit 4 Assessment 1 p. 30-31
• Vocabulary Assessment Unit 4,lesson 5
p.4
(Reading 1.2, 1.3 & 1.4)
English Language Conventions (Penmanship)
• Let’s practice using cursive I and t:
• D DD dddddddddd
• T TTt t t t t t t t t t t
• Politicians from Denmark visit the United Nations.
• Write a paragraph about a role model you
admire.
• Write two paragraphs in cursive from
“Shh! We’re writing the Constitution.”
Writing Process Strategies (Day 5)
Writing 1.0, 1.1a
• Parallelism: means combining words
or parts of sentences that are the same
part of speech. Nouns go with nouns,
adjectives go with adjectives, and verbs
go with verbs. Words may be listed in a
series or combined with conjunctions.
• What is the purpose of Parallelism?
Writing Process Strategies (Day 5)
Writing 1.0, 1.1a
• Parallelism saves writers from having
to write one short sentence after
another, and it adds variety, clarity, and
smoothness to writing.
• Let’s practice parallelism by completing
Comprehension Skills Book, pgs. 132133 together.
Social Studies Connection
p. 377F
• In the story, the author describes one of the
major problems of the Articles of
Confederation-Congress could make rules, but
there was no government in place to enforce
the rules.
• Why would this be an important issue?
Discuss.
California Theme Connection,
Social Studies, TE 377F
• In September of 1849, 48 delegates of the United
States territory of California met at a constitutional
convention organized by then Governor Riley.
These delegates created a constitution for California
that was used until 1879 when it was reworked. The
members of this convention defined state boundaries
and created the state flag and seal, in addition to
establishing the laws for the state.
• Compare and Contrast: What are the similarities
and differences between state constitutions and our
national constitution?