Over the winter five of our oldest students looked at American History and specifically the Declaration of Independence and the forming of the Constitution. After Visual Thinking Strategies to interpret the Join or Die cartoon, students read sections of the Declaration, putting the text into their own words. Then they recited their sections.
We then turned our attention to the forming of the Constitution and the Great Compromise. How the thirteen states created a system that shared power, and had checks and balances to keep each branch of government in check. As we studied the legislative, executive and judicial branches students brought to school current examples of what bills are currently being considered, what cases are being read by the Supreme Court, and what the Executive branch is doing.