Government+Picture+Book+Directions

 ** Performance Assessment for United States Government Picture Book **  ** 2nd Marking Period **  ** 2010-2011 **

In their study of how the structure of a system is dependent on its function, students will use what they have learned about ideas, events, and/or people that contributed to the formation of the United States Government. Students will share their learning in a picture book that, in part, tells the story of how the U.S. becomes a nation. Provided below is a list of topics that students could choose as they begin planning for their picture books. The students will have a number of accessible resources to collect and organize information from. **//Old history book, History Alive textbook, We The People workbook, library books, and the internet.//** I will have the students share their picture books and their knowledge on their picture books to a second grade homeroom class.


 * // The Articles of Confederation (our first government) //
 * // The Great Compromise (for the legislative branch) //
 * // The important ideas in the Declaration of Independence //
 * // Checks and Balances of the 3 Branches of Government //
 * // Basic Ideas in the Preamble of the Constitution //
 * // The addition of the “Bill of Rights” to our constitution //
 * // What the Framers had in mind when creating our new Government //
 * // What is the Legislative Branch? ( complete summary of this branch) //
 * // What is the Executive Branch? ( complete summary of this branch) //
 * // What is the Judicial Branch? (complete summary of this branch) //
 * //Our country is a federal constitutional republic. Describe the basic ideas of each of these components as they relate to the kind of government our founders formed.//

** Directions **


 * 1) Students must hand draw all pictures that will be in their picture books.
 * 2) Students will need to think of the setting to their stories
 * 3) Students will need to think of characters that may be in their story
 * 4) Students could have a narrating character throughout the story
 * 5) Before the students begin their picture books, they will need to organize the information to their story by creating a basic sequential outline.
 * 6) Students must be sure their sentence structure is grammatically sound and has proper sentence fluency and conventions.
 * 7) Be sure to use dates names and important vocabulary in your books
 * 8) Please provide an introduction and a summary to your picture book

Here are 6 different ways to publish students work. If interested, click the link below

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Suggested Reading Connections for different picture book topics

= Creation of the Declaration of Independence Significant Person = __History Alive!__ p. 125-128 __America’s Story__ p. 236 = Important Ideas in the Declaration of Independence Significant Person = __History Alive!__ p. 125-129 __America’s Story__ p. 237-239 = Articles of Confederation Significant Person = __History Alive!__ p. 142 __America’s Story__ p. 267-271

= Creation of the U.S. Constitution Significant Person = __History Alive!__ p. 143-144 __America’s Story__ p. 273-278 p. 278-282 p. 297-301 p. 302

= Important Ideas in the U.S. Constitution = __History Alive!__ p. 144-147 __America’s Story__ p. 284-286 = Bill of Rights = __History Alive!__ p. 152-159 __America’s Story__ p. 302

= Checks and Balances = = __History Alive!__ p. 144-148 = = __America’s Story__ p. 287 = = = **How a Bill Becomes a Law** __History Alive!__ p. 144 __America’s Story__ p. 285

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A first draft example of creating a sequential outline for your picture book. This outline would need to be both edited and revised numerious times. The idea for this is that you first think of an idea to share information about our government in the form of a story. In addition to the story, you would want to be sure you are able to share the main points of your topic to help the reader know more about that topic.

This example is for the Judicial Branch

= = = = =**Judicial Branch: Puss in Boots**=


 * Introduction:** Tell me what your book will be about. Share the story you are about to tell.

“you are going to tell how the adventure of Puss and Boots would have been very different had he lived in a country that had a constitution and 3 branch system of government such as ours.


 * Page 1:** Describe the case against Puss in Boots and what happens to him in the land: Far Far Away.

“Humpty dumpty tricked Puss into stealing gold….. Puss was framed by Humpty and Puss was accused by the guard of stealing and was to be arrested and thrown in jail for life.”


 * Page 2:** (talk about our judicial system)

Our Constitution has a 3 branch system where each branch has its own unique powers that are set up to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. This book will talk about the Judicial Branch and how this branch would have helped Puss when he was framed by Humpty Dumpty. This is because the judicial branch helps prevent the government from taking away peoples rights and allows people an opportunity to state their case in a court of law. ( pg. 95 we the people)


 * Page 3**: Puss and Boots was accused of……………..(you tell me) and because of this, he felt it was safer for him to run away than to be wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit and be sent to jail for life.


 * Page 4** If Puss had lived in a country such as ours, he could have used the judicial system to listen to his case and get a fair court hearing to determine whether he was guilty of the accused crime. His case would have started in the lower courts but could even have made its way to the Supreme Court were the **__9 Justices__** could have heard his case. The judges would have needed to vote amongs themselves If it came down to a tie, the **__Chief Justice__** would have settled the case for good with his/her vote.


 * Page 5**: In the land where Puss lived, the government system was a monarchal system of governing. One person made all the rules and that person thought Puss was guilty and had sentenced him to jail for life.


 * Page 6:** If Puss lived in Constitutional Republic like ours, the government would have had to follow the laws and rules established in the Constitution to determine his innocence or guilt.


 * Page 7**: Where Puss lived, he was immediately declared guilty. He was able to run away and became a fugitive, was later caught and put in jail, he eventually escapes at the risk of his own life and was lucky enough to clear his name. If it were anyone but Puss....they would have been doomed from the start.


 * Page 8**: If Puss had lived in a country similar to ours, he wouldn’t had had to rely on luck. He would have had rights and laws that would have allowed him due process to a fair trial. He would have submitted his evidence and had his case heard in a court of law and would not have been subjected to cruel and unreasonable punishment.


 * Pg. 9:** In our country, we are lucky to have a judicial branch who is able to make sure the government doesn’t abuse its powers. The judicial branch’s most important power is conducting **__judicial review__**. Under Judicial Review, the court would look at the laws that could have someone thrown into jail and decide if these were constitutional or not. If a governing body was creating laws that were unconstitutional, the judicial system would have the power to over rule that law on the basis that it isn’t in accordance with our constitution. In this ca se, the courts would have seen that he wasn't given a fair trial to address the accusations against his name......

Page 10

BUT….. , if Puss had lived in our country, we would not have had the exciting story of how Puss was able to defeat the odds in clearing his name and become the hero of his land!!!!!