Our Constitution...Something to Treasure

     For this assignment I chose to do the same type of treasure box that we were given at the summer institute. I focused my kit on the Constitution which will be used as somewhat of a springboard for the Unit on the Constitution that I am planning on doing with my students. I really took to the idea of the treasure box because I personally enjoyed the task of compiling the materials. I would assume that if it was interesting to search for these items that it would interest the students, as well. Some of the treasures I have included are as follows: Becky and Giulio Maestro's book "A More Perfect Union" a great book that explains the events of 1787 in a way that young children would understand,  many photos from the Library of Congress, such as a scene from the actual signing of the Constitution, a copy of the Bill of Rights, a chart of the votes each state cast in regard to the Constitution, a map of the 13Original Colonies, a sketch and picture of Independence Hall, a list of Objections written towards the Constitution, and a picture of James Madison the acclaimed "Father of the Constitution" and author of the Bill of Rights.
     I think that both left and right brained learners would benefit from the treasure box activity. In my  opinion left-brained learners might find appeal in analyzing each item and determining the impact it had to our constitution. I also found song lyrics and a Constitutional March that focuses on the impact that this document had on our country. I think that having tangible things to hold and manipulate would interest both types of learners, however a left-brained student would much rather hold a replica of the Bill of Rights in their hands than read about in a text book. What I prefer and what I learned through this process of the making the treasure box was how the items connected the events and told their own story. As a right-brained learner, myself, I enjoyed making the items fit together like a puzzle....each item has its own significance yet builds upon the others. For example, the map of the colonies, explains who was involved and why, the picture of James Madison, who has been dubbed as the Father of the Constitution, according to Signing Their Rights Away, gives credit to him as one of the original outhors of the Constitution.
  I was fascinated with the two books, Signing Their Rights Away and Signing Their Lives Away because they reminded me of the first example of People magazine,   Let's be honest, these men were the celebrities of their time. Like the famous people and politicians of today they were not exempt from the public eye or from having a few skeletons in their closets. I focused on the men I was most interested in James Madison being one, known as the smallest president in stature , he did have some big ideas, not to mention  his wife Dolley, completely his opposite, was a brave and outgoing woman. Like a true tabloid these books had a little bit of everything, signers with suicidal tendencies, signers who were crooks,some who had problems with alcohol you name it. Then., too, the positive signers balanced out the seedy ones, with acts of generosity and compromise.
  I don't think I appreciated the profoundness of the Constitution before taking this class and working on my projects. I was proud of myself while watching the vice president  candidate debates a few nights ago...because the words of the Constitution served as a backdrop behind the candidates. It made me smile thinking how important those words remain today and that I had noticed them!