This week was Constitution week and we spent time learning about the Constitution of North Carolina and the Constitution of the United States of America.
I began the week by asking the students to respond to a question that had appeared in the Morganton News Herald on Sunday, September 15th. The question, "What does the constitution mean to you?" generated some interesting responses. I would like to quote some of them here for you; "The constitution has something to do with the government." " The constitution is the people in the US that run the country and have the right to make new laws/change laws and it is the government." "Constitution means an agreement or settlement of the government toward something." and my all time favorite "I don't know what the constitution is." Needless to say, after the week was over these statement changed immensely. My students studied the amendments, they looked at primary source documents that have challenged the very fiber of this nation and they participated in a Cafe' Conversation where they had to try and decide which of the 10 Bill of Rights that are guaranteed in the constitution were the most important and which they could live without. The task they were given was to pick five and eliminate five, once they had decided independently they were given the task of coming to a consensus as a group. As it appeared the groups were nearing an agreement I would approach their table and throw a "monkey wrench" into their plan by presenting them with new evidence that challenged their thinking and send them back to their discussions again. It was remarkable to see their young minds tangle with the tough issues and grapple with the challenges that I threw before them. The ultimate win was when they finally reached the conclusion that there was no way that they could give up any of their rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America because "they are all connected in one way or another; they all go together, we have to have them all!" Now to present you with my true favorite quote of the week, "The constitution is the backbone of our country. If you break your spine (your backbone) you can become paralyzed. You can have complete paralysis or you could have partial paralysis from like the waste down and not be able to use your legs or something. If the constitution is broken our country could become paralyzed." I believe that is a pretty intense statement coming from a 7th grader.
I began the week by asking the students to respond to a question that had appeared in the Morganton News Herald on Sunday, September 15th. The question, "What does the constitution mean to you?" generated some interesting responses. I would like to quote some of them here for you; "The constitution has something to do with the government." " The constitution is the people in the US that run the country and have the right to make new laws/change laws and it is the government." "Constitution means an agreement or settlement of the government toward something." and my all time favorite "I don't know what the constitution is." Needless to say, after the week was over these statement changed immensely. My students studied the amendments, they looked at primary source documents that have challenged the very fiber of this nation and they participated in a Cafe' Conversation where they had to try and decide which of the 10 Bill of Rights that are guaranteed in the constitution were the most important and which they could live without. The task they were given was to pick five and eliminate five, once they had decided independently they were given the task of coming to a consensus as a group. As it appeared the groups were nearing an agreement I would approach their table and throw a "monkey wrench" into their plan by presenting them with new evidence that challenged their thinking and send them back to their discussions again. It was remarkable to see their young minds tangle with the tough issues and grapple with the challenges that I threw before them. The ultimate win was when they finally reached the conclusion that there was no way that they could give up any of their rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America because "they are all connected in one way or another; they all go together, we have to have them all!" Now to present you with my true favorite quote of the week, "The constitution is the backbone of our country. If you break your spine (your backbone) you can become paralyzed. You can have complete paralysis or you could have partial paralysis from like the waste down and not be able to use your legs or something. If the constitution is broken our country could become paralyzed." I believe that is a pretty intense statement coming from a 7th grader.