To see the blog from during the Constitutional Convention, click here

Vocabulary and Links


Videos used in or related to Stratton's Constitutional Convention

The Muppet Movie we showed on the first day to welcome representatives to the Stratton Constitutional Convention
Schoolhouse Rock: I'm Just a Bill on Vimeo
Charlie Brown has an even better one!
A short video on The Great Compromise
A video version of Shh! We're Writing the Constitution. Get the book,, watch the video! (Video is person reading the text, video of book's illustrations.)Links that I thought were interestingA Timeline of US History
Constitution for kids
Resources that also use Shh! We're Writing the Constitution, a book endorsed by the American History Teacher's Collaborative
     Webquest Project
     Edhelper
The US Archives has a virtual exhibit on the Founding Documents.
Not to be outdone, the Library of Congress also has good info - this is focused on teaching the Constitution.
Really cool kid reporters interview President Obama about the Constitution.


Vocabulary Words
  • Metaphor – a figure of speech used to describe something, our example was calling a friend a rock. No one actually thinks s/he is a rock. Instead we understand that he is LIKE a rock in some way.
  • Turmoil – (see Muppet CC movie in links) - When everything is upset, conflict, a polite word for a fight.
  • Agenda – The list of work that needs to be done. A plan for a meeting.
  • Sovereign – The ability to do what you want. In the era of the Articles of Confederation, the states were sovereign.
  • Basic Forms of Government
  • Federation - a voluntary league of states
  • Majority - more than half of a group. In an election, more than half of the votes cast.
  • Plurality - In an election, more than any other option or candidate.     For example, Jaguars won 200 votes, Swagger won 150 votes, Microbucks won 70 votes, others won small amounts. Jaguars did NOT win a majority, but they had the most votes, therefore they won a plurality. [note, these numbers are fictional, not the real count).
  • Hierarchy - A system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.