U.S. Government  Constitution Project

Sample Title Page    Sample Table of Contents Sample Article Pages

Sample Page Layout   Sample Grading Rubric

Objectives:

1. Become familiar with the Constitution as a document and as a body of law. 2. Gain a broader understanding of the applications of the United States Constitution

in our lives today. 3. Recognize and define constitutionality in our legal system today.

Project Requirements:1. You will collect twenty (20) articles from current news periodicals such as:

Newsweek, Time, U.S. News & World Report, St. Joseph News-Press, Kansas City Star, USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or other newsweeklies, newspapers, journals, or foreign press. You will then need to relate all your articles to various locations within the Constitution. (It is important to note that not all newspaper and magazine articles pertain to the Constitution.)

Your collections will be graded on appropriateness of the articles to the section of the   Constitution  to which they are matched, the scope of your coverage of all parts of the  Constitution  (including the Amendments), and the breadth of the periodical sources you found. (It would be expected that you would utilize 5-8 different sources)

Guidelines for the Articles: (see Sample Layout )

Each article may only be used once. Highlight each article where it directly pertains to the portion of the  Constitution 

to which you are referring. Each page must quote the portion of the Constitution which applies to that page’s

article. Each article must also be summarized briefly on the page. The source citation must be clearly labeled and cited in its entirety following

MLA form

Guidelines for each page:  

Use of word-processing is highly recommended for constitutional location, article summary, and constitutional quotation. If you choose to hand letter this portion of the project, you will need to be extremely attentive to neatness.

Each page must be numbered.

2. You will write a 2-3 page (typed) argumentative (persuasive) paper which either supports or opposes the following thesis:

"The United States Constitution is a healthy document which still serves our nation exceptionally well and does not need drastic change or revision."

The evidence and support for your argument will be your collection of twenty articles from current periodicals.(dated January 26th, 2009 or later)  In other words, you should make references in your paper to some of the articles you collected.

The essay must be typed. It must be 2-3 pages in length and with one inch margins and 12 pt. type.

3. Organization of Project (in this order)

Title page (incl. Title of Project, Class, Name, and the date)       See sample Title Page

Table of Contents   (Must include the following components in this order)       See sample Table of Contents

Articles must be organized in ascending order according to their Constitutional "address"

Constitutional "Address" of the article. For example, I,8,3 or VI,2 or Amendment 14.1.

Title of the page Source (ex. name of newspaper or magazine) Page number (in Arabic numerals)

Article Pages  (See sample Article Pages) Paper

At the end of the project Page numbers

Sample Title Page

 

Constitution ProjectU.S. Government 7th Period

John DoeOctober 8, 2007

Table of Contents

Constitutional Address

Title of Page Source                      Page

I, 2, 5 House Votes to Launch Inquiry The Cincinnati Enquirer 1

I, 5, 3 House Votes 258-176 For Impeachment Inquiry

USA Today 2

I, 7, 2 Clinton Won’t Shut Down Government Over Budget

The Cincinnati Enquirer 3

I, 8, 1 The New Tax File Newsweek 4

I, 8, 4 Bankruptcy Reform Unlikely The Wall Street Journal 5

I, 8, 7 Senate Passes Post Office Bill Linn’s Stamp News 6

II, 1, 1 Governor Bush Ready to Play U.S. News & World Report 7

II, 2, 2 Lawless Offices The New York Times 8

II, 4 To Fulfill Our Constitutional Duty Time 9

IV, 2, 1 Harassment, Census Test on Agenda The Kentucky Post 10

Amendment 1 O, Say, Can You Pray Newsweek 11

Amendment 2 The Armed Citizen American Hunter 12

Amendment 4 FBI Defends Encryption Legislation USA Today 13

Amendment 5 Strong Case For Perjury Seen The Washington Post 14

Amendment 6 Shortage in Jury Pool Delays Trial The Cincinnati Enquirer 15

Amendment 7 Man Sues Woman in His Sibling’s Death The Boston Herald 16

Amendment 10 Ohio Ranks Near Top in Funding Libraries The Cleveland Plain Dealer 17

Amendment 14 Intimidation Case Ends USA Today 18

Amendment 16 Marginal Rates Reemerge The Wall Street Journal 19

Amendment 25,1 Gore Assumes Presidency Newsweek 20

Persuasive Paper You Put The Title of Your Paper Here 21

 Sample Article 15

This is the format & order of appearance your article pages should follow.

 

New $20 Bills......Worth about $20

 

Article I Section 8 Clause VI

"To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States."

Summary:

New twenty dollar bills are being issued so they will be more difficult to counterfeit. The old bills were often counterfeited by cutting off the corners and putting them on one dollar bills.

 

Hopkins, John. "Collector's note: Revamped $20 bill likely

________ Title

________ Article

 

 

 

_____ Constitutional          Reference                      & Quotation

 

 ______ Summary

    worth….$20". Cincinnati Enquirer 24 September 1998: 7A.

                                         7

 

 

 

 

 

________ Source               Citation

_______  Page Number