Constitution Day ... AWESOME Interactive Show & Anticipation Guide! NO PREP!

Happy Constitution Day! Here comes September 17th... are YOU ready to teach about the Constitution? Grab this file and save the day! NO prep, NO stress, way cool. 

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ALL THE INTERESTING DETAILS:

This is an interactive story book told from the perspective of James Madison (the "Father of the Constitution!"). It's packed with awesome vocabulary (all explained in a kid-friendly way), sweet pictures, meaningful questions, and fun details that you can project on your screen and simply read to the kids.

I love it cause I feel like this sort of thing ends up being a great lesson and it's SO easy- as easy as reading a book! I'd estimate it'll be about a 20-30 min lesson and you could follow up with creating a class constitution or making a hat or whatever you want (fyi those additional activities aren't included, but if you google, you'll find them everywhere...)

AAAAND- even better- I'm including 3 different versions of the story: Short (because I teach Kindergarten), Medium, and Long (because there are so many awesome details to share and older students and teachers LOVE that!). You can flip through them all and choose what's best for your class! Wooo-hoooo! I love options.

I added an anticipation guide to engage kids and get them excited about learning. An anticipation guide is a comprehension strategy used to activate prior knowledge and build curiosity about a new subject. It’s FUN, simple, and it really works! You’ll love it and so will your class!I’ve selected a handful of key statements you will read aloud and ask your class to respond to. I usually have my kids just give a thumbs up or down to indicate that they agree or disagree with the statement (I teach Kindergarten). DON’T tell them right away what the answers are. Just let them guess and don’t give anything away. If you’d rather have your students guess with paper and pencil (or marker so they can’t change their guesses later), I’m including that option on the next page. The emphasis is not so much on being right or wrong, but instead just getting kids thinking about what they already know and building an excitement to learn more! Once everyone has thought about the statements and guessed if each one was true or not, (still don’t give the answers) you flip through the informational show that follows and have them be listening and paying attention to hear the answers to the things they’ve been thinking about. 

Btw, this document is a PDF … to choose how you view it with your class, click on “view” (one of the menu options at the top) and I like the single page view option. As you read about something that was covered in one of the statements you might hear some whispers of “YESSSS!” because they get excited if they find out they guessed well. After going through the show, be sure to re-visit the anticipation guide statements at the end and see if anyone learned something new! The anticipation guide strategy is an awesome, easy way for teachers to engage and excite learners and bring their thinking to a higher level. I’m sure you and your class will love this resource! Enjoy!