I am a special education teacher in a fifth-grade TAM (Team Approach to Mastery) classroom at Milford Middle School, located on the eastern shore of Delaware.  I have designed this web page as a unit for teaching fifth-grade students key components of the U.S. Constitution.  This curriculum project was developed to fulfill the requirements of EDST 667: Using the Internet for Curriculum Application, taught June 22 to July 2, 1998, through the University of Delaware.  It is also hoped that other teachers will incorporate this unit into their lesson plans.

 Table of Contents

• Statement of Purpose
• Curriculum Objectives
• Network Resources
• Management Plan

   

 Statement of Purpose

    This unit is intended for a fifth-grade social studies class.  The objectives  mirror the  State of Delaware Content Standards' performance indicators listed under civics for fifth graders for Social Studies.  

 Curriculum Objectives:
Students will be able to:
• Explain the main function of each of the three branches of government as defined by the United State Constitution.
• Explain the system of checks and balances as outlined by the United State Constitution.
• Explain the connection between rights and responsibilities under the United States Constitution.
• Explain "due process" and its impact on the citizenry.
• List and explain seven of the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
• Give examples of ways the Bill of Rights directly affects everyday life.
• Propose current issues that a candidate should address.
• Advocate a position on a current issue and describe possible action(s) taken to advance the cause.


Network Resources

    Internet resources are designed to supplement this unit on the U.S. Constitution.  The Internet resources cited in this project are, for the most part, from reliable and/or established sites. Since the majority of the sites used in this project contain documents under public domain, the teacher will maintain a web page with links to required public documents and relevant web sites.  The web page links to a student page, which consists of links to help students complete their unit project.  In addition, the web page has a link to a teacher page, which outlines the lesson plan and provides links to useful web sites.

Management Plan
        Two 25-seat, state-of-the-art computer labs are available for use in our school building.  I am able to sign my classes up for computer use time in the labs.  During lab time, I would direct students to the URL of my web page to explore web sites related to the U.S. Constitution.  The lab in the library has a program which even allows the instructor to control student computers from one computer.  
    Unfortunately, there is only one computer with Internet access in my classroom. If the labs are unavailable, however, the special education department has access to projection equipment that would allow instruction using the computer in my classroom.  This would permit the class to collaboratively visit web sites related to the U.S. Constitution.

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