Name:___________________________
Date: January___, 2014
Homeroom:______________________
By the end of the lesson you will be able to summarize how your
delegate feels about state representation by drawing conclusions and
selecting important information.
How do I summarize?
Do Now Directions: Examine the image and complete the chart below.
I see…
I think…
I wonder…
In my own words it is important to summarize because …
Good readers are able to read a text, paragraph, or about an issue and then pull out the most important
parts to create a summary. Today we will practice summarizing an issue in preparation for summarizing
text. Each of us will be assigned a delegate that would be attending the Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia. We will read the pertinent, important, information for our state and draw conclusions about
what we would feel about the representation issues at the time. Before we jump into meeting our “roles”
we will read about the New Jersey and the Virginia Plan.
What is the Virginia Plan?
James Madison, a delegate from Virginia, drafted a plan for a new
national government, which was presented at the convention as "The
Virginia Plan". Essentially, the Virginia Plan proposed a strong national
government that could make and enforce laws, and collect taxes. The
people would be governed by two governments - the state and national.
A system such as this is known as a Federal system of government.
Additionally, both houses of the legislature would feature proportional
representation; basically, this means that the more people a state has,
the more representatives it gets in the legislature. Clearly, larger states
favored this plan.
Summary
What is the New Jersey Plan?
Summary
The New Jersey Plan was introduced to the Constitutional Convention by
William Paterson, a New Jersey delegate on June 15, 1787. One of the
major debates that emerged during the Convention is how many votes
each state would have in Congress. The New Jersey Plan was meant to be
the alternative to the Virginia Plan in regards to how the federal
government would be structured. Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Delaware, and Mr. Luther Martin from Maryland created the New Jersey
Plan. The New Jersey Plan was meant to protect the interests of the
smaller states from being trampled by the larger states. The plan called for
one vote per state in Congress rather than having votes based on
representation since that would benefit the larger states.
Partner Practice
Directions: In whisper voices, read your delegate’s information card with your partner and complete the
following questions.
1. Name:___________________________ What state do you represent? _______________________
3. Total Population: ________________________________________
4. Slave Population: ________________________________________
5. Is your state considered a large or small state? Explain how you came to this determination. (Hint:
States with populations over 250,000 were considered large states.)
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6. As a delegate from your state, do you prefer the Virginia Plan or the New Jersey Plan?
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7. Why do you prefer this plan?
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8. How should the US Constitution address the issue of slavery? Should slaves be counted for
representation? Why would you feel this way?
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Independent Practice
Directions: Silently and independently summarize your delegate’s feelings about representation into 1-2
sentences on the lines below.
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Name _________________________________
Date:__________________________________
Humanities
No Excuses!
If you need help:
Call -781-956-6209
Email- Kathryn.alwon@dc.gov
Advanced English Homework
Directions: Read and chunk the following article about Siberian Foxes and determine the main idea and supporting
details.
Langston Hughes Biography
James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin,
Missouri. His parents divorced when he was a small child, and his
father moved to Mexico. He was raised by his grandmother until he was
thirteen, when he moved to Lincoln, Illinois, to live with his mother and
her husband, before the family eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio. It
was in Lincoln, Illinois, that Hughes began writing poetry.
Following graduation, he spent a year in Mexico and a year at
Columbia University. During these years, he held odd jobs as an
assistant cook, launderer, and a busboy, and travelled to Africa and
Europe working as a seaman. In November 1924, he moved to
Washington, D.C. Hughes's first book of poetry, The Weary Blues,
was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926. He finished his college
education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania three years later. In
1930 his first novel, Not Without Laughter, won the Harmon gold
medal for literature.
Hughes, who claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg,
and Walt Whitman as his primary influences, is particularly known for
his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the
twenties through the sixties. He wrote novels, short stories and plays, as
well as poetry, and is also known for his engagement with the world of
jazz and the influence it had on his writing, as in "Montage of a Dream
Deferred." His life and work were enormously important in shaping the
artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Unlike
other notable black poets of the period—Claude McKay, Jean Toomer,
and Countee Cullen—Hughes refused to differentiate between his
personal experience and the common experience of black America. He
wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual
culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter,
and language itself.
Langston Hughes died of complications from prostate cancer in
May 22, 1967, in New York. In his memory, his residence at 20 East
127th Street in Harlem, New York City, has been given landmark
status by the New York City Preservation Commission, and East 127th
CHUNK
Street has been renamed Langston Hughes Place."
In addition to leaving us a large body of poetic work, Hughes
wrote eleven plays and countless works of prose, including the wellknown “Simple” books: Simple Speaks His Mind, Simple Stakes a
Claim,Simple Takes a Wife, and Simple's Uncle Sam. He edited the
anthologies The Poetry of the Negro and The Book of Negro Folklore,
rote an acclaimed autobiography (The Big Sea) and co-wrote the play
Mule Bone with Zora Neale Hurston.
Central Idea:
1. In your opinion, why is Langston Hughes famous? Explain with evidence from the passage in at
least 4 sentences.
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