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5th grade · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 13

Building a Government

Articles, Constitution and Bill of Rights

What your child practices

Why the Articles of Confederation were replaced, the compromises of 1787, the three branches, checks and balances, federalism and the Bill of Rights (1791).

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 5.3; 5.14(B); 5.14(C); 5.15(A) · the framers of the Constitution, its purposes, the Bill of Rights and the three branches

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Delegates met in Philadelphia in 1787. Congress has two parts: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
  2. Legislative makes laws, executive (the president) carries them out, judicial (courts) interprets them.
  3. Some wanted a Bill of Rights to protect freedoms. Amendments let it change, so it is a “living document”.

Example: Which branch carries out the laws? Congress makes laws; courts interpret them. The president leads the branch that carries them out. Answer: the executive

Building a Government in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 5 of 13 in 5th grade Social Studies, after The American Revolution and before States & Capitals.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which group was not allowed to vote in most states in 1789?

    • Wealthy white men who owned land
    • Members of Congress
    • George Washington
    • Women

  2. Question 2

    Some historians think the Haudenosaunee Confederacy influenced the founders' ideas about…

    • Taxing tea
    • Building castles
    • Uniting separate nations under one shared government
    • Crowning a king

  3. Question 3

    How many senators does each state have?

    • Depends on population
    • 10
    • 2
    • 1

  4. Question 4

    How many of the 13 states had to approve the Constitution for it to take effect?

    • 1
    • 9
    • 13
    • 50

  5. Question 5

    What was the first plan of government for the United States, used from 1781?

    • The Constitution
    • The Articles of Confederation
    • The Mayflower Compact
    • The Magna Carta

  6. Question 6

    Who leads the executive branch?

    • The Chief Justice
    • The Speaker of the House
    • A governor
    • The president

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