One possible way to use these materials could be:

• Students write response to: “In your opinion what is the purpose of Government? What experiences with Governments have you had? in which countries?”
  • students share their answers in pairs or in small groups
• Students complete the “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” Chart regarding State, Federal, and Shared Powers
• Encourage students to establish connections between their answers to the purpose of Government question and the ways in which powers are distributed/or shared between the Federal and State Governments.
• Class completes the Federal, State, and Shared Powers Chart
• Students read NEWSELA article, “Federalists and Anti-Federalists Fight Over the Constitution.”
  • Students complete Annotating a Text Exercise
• Class discussion on Annotated Passages of Text/Vocabulary from NEWSELA Article.
• Students write responses to following questions
  • 1. What true statements can you make about the way in which power is distributed in the American Government? Where is most of the power? Why?
    2. What were the central ideas or arguments over which the Federalists and Anti-Federalists were in conflict?
    3. In your own words, what are the advantages and disadvantages of Federalism?
    4. In your own words, what were the Federalists fighting for? What were they fighting against?
    5. What were the Anti-Federalists fighting for? What were they fighting against?

    What problems/challenges can you imagine a government set up in this way might face?

• Class discussion based around student responses.

Possible Sequencing for early American History High Emphasis Content Areas:

1. Government/Federalism (establish Federal and State Powers)–>
2. Three Branches of Government (emphasis on separation of Powers within Branches of Federal Government, connection to State and Federal Powers)–>
3. Western Expansion (Native Americans ; as country expands as do debates and tensions surrounding Slavery)–>
4. Slavery and Pre-US Civil War Tensions and Causes (Slavery as “State Right”, Slave Trade and complications of Western Expansion, Free States and Slave States, and State Powers/Rights)–>
5. Civil War and Ramifications