United States Constitution
Session 6: George Washington and James Madison

Materials

• Class textbook

Instructional Activities

1. Display the following prompt on the board or overhead:
   
   What do you think of when you think of George Washington? Of James Madison?
   
   After students have had a few minutes to write about this, let them share their responses with each other in pairs and then share with the whole class. Most of the students will have a number of responses to George Washington; most will have very little response to James Madison. This can be a part of the discussion — i.e., why one of these men is so much better known than the other.
   
   
2. Instruct the students to use their textbooks to research information about these two men. If time and resources permit, have the students use Internet resources or the school library to do additional research.
   
   
3. Divide the students into groups and have each group use the information they have gathered to make a poster that illustrates key events in each man’s life. The poster will be graded on the basis of accuracy, completeness, neatness, and creativity.