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Lesson Plan

Lesson 4 James Madison: Internal Improvements Balancing Act—Federal/State and Executive/Legislative

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This Lesson 4 James Madison: Internal Improvements Balancing Act—Federal/State and Executive/Legislative lesson plan also includes:

James Madison: Father of the Constitution - Combined Worksheets
James Madison: Father of the Constitution - Worksheet 1
James Madison: Father of the Constitution - Worksheet 2
Celebrating Constitution Day
James Madison Portrait
Primary Source
Informational Text
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Who has the power? The founding fathers asked the same question when the United States was formed. Learners explore issues that arose during Madison’s presidency that raised constitutional questions. Through discovery, discussion, and activities, they learn about Madison’s daunting task of balancing the roles and power of the newly formed federal government of the United States. Critical thinking, analyzing, and use of primary sources enables young historians to gain insight into his dilemma and his beliefs, revealing some of the reasoning behind President Madison's actions. This is the fourth and final lesson in the unit.

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Concepts

the separation of powers, the three branches of government, constitutional law, constitutional rights, the united states constitution, james madison, the executive branch, the legislative branch, the federal government, the articles of confederation

Additional Tags

social studies

Instructional Ideas

Great opportunity to branch into groups and discover the separation of powers and the creation of the Constitution
Divide the classroom into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches and dive into the constitutional meaning and definition of each
Mock a session of Congress where the students go through the motions of a bill becoming a law

Classroom Considerations

Limit group sizes to no more than three
Prior knowledge of the three branches of the federal government (legislative, executive, judicial) is needed prior to the lesson

Pros

Primary documents, Elliots's Debates and Articles of the Constitution, can lead to an extension lesson
Easy-to-follow and printable worksheets are great for classroom use

Cons

View 45,552 other resources for 9th - 12th Grade English Language Arts