Getting Started

1. Take out your Social Studies notebooks and fill

in your Table of Contents with the following
information:
3/14

The Constitution

78

Getting Started

On p 78 list ten reasons why national

governments exist. Consider the activities,
services or functions of national government.
Relax! There is no right or wrong answer here.
Simply list your reasons why there are national
(rather than just state or local) governments.

Students will list the purposes of American

government as set forth in the Preamble to the
Constitution by closely reading the Preamble.

Success Criteria

I can list the purpose of a national government.

I can closely read the Preamble.
I can rank the importance of the purposes listed
in the Preamble.

The Preamble
1. Divide students into groups.
2. As students move from poster to poster, each
student should write the following on a Post-It:
What does the phrase mean?
Write an example the idea in action in America
today.
Write a non-example (the opposite) of the idea.

The Preamble

Have students return to their seats to discuss

their definitions and examples. Have students
rank the personal importance of each of the
purposes listed in the Preamble.

Success Criteria

I can list the purpose of a national government.

I can closely read the Preamble.
I can rank the importance of the purposes listed
in the Preamble.