Icivics has amazing resources for U.S. History and Social Studies teachers. Race to Ratify is a great way to teach students about the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the Federalist-Antifederalist Debate, and the Ratification of the Constitution. And all of these resources are FREE!
Simply take a minute to register as a teacher or log in to your account. If you decide to use this activity:
- Create a class
- Have the students register
- Share the class code with the students and have each student join your class.
It really is that simple.
Before sharing the activity with the class, a teacher should download and print the following resources to review BEFORE completing the activity.
Teacher Resources from ICivics The Game
- History Race To Ratify (14 pages) Race to Ratify… the history files Includes, Activity Ideas, Ratification Timeline (page 2, excellent to photocopy and handout), Glossary (page 3, 46 terms can be photocopied and shared with students), Biographical Sketch Sheet (simple fact sheet for the research of historical figures), Character Research (provides the names of the actual historical figures that the characters are based on. Resources are shared to help with research), Additional Resources (List websites for primary sources as well as books and articles.)
- Race to Ratify Extension Pack (7 pages) Race to Ratify Extension Pack This is a teacher’s guide with materials needed, copy instructions, and learning objectives. It also includes step-by-step instructions, including preparation, starter activity, mini-lesson, game, follow-up activities, and assessment. There is a 2-page activity and a 1-page mini-quiz. It also includes answers to the activity and mini-quiz.
- Page 2 and 3 are a great way to assess the learning of the students.
- Guide_Race to Ratify (6 pages) Race to Ratify: A Game Guide for Teachers Includes: Learning Objectives and prerequisites. It also includes How to Play the Game: Select a game mode, pick your pawn, Start a conversation with your friend in Phildelphia, Collect your first tokens, Hear two opposing perspectives, pamphlet composition, publishing the pamphlet, Keep track of your progress, continue canvassing. The Big Ideas handout is EXCELLENT and a teacher should share this with the students before starting the activity. Screen Guide and Tips: This might be useful as a front and back handout to review before starting the activity. This includes all the great resources available to the students order of state conventions, pie charts for each state of of which side of the argument the populations supports, scoreboard of how each state votes, ? icon is a reference guide, and the chat log allows students to access all the conversations they have had. Lastly there is a list of Classroom Conversation Starters: Pre-Game Questions, Post-Game Questions, and Activity Ideas.
There also is a Race to Ratify Extension Pack that has resources too.
- Race to Ratify Google Slides (31 Slides) This is an excellent set of slides that can be used with the activity worksheet and the mini quiz.
- Race to Ratify Teacher Guide (1 page) Teacher Guide’s: Explanation of how to execute the lesson.
- Race to Ratify Stu
- dent Docs (3 pages) Student worksheets.
After the teacher has reviewed the documents, the teacher should complete the game to see how it functions. This is extremely important so you can see what obstacles a student may encounter.
A few recommendations to the students before starting Race to Ratify.
Be engaged in the discussions. Listen to the people’s perspective and to understand the different perspectives in the debate positions. Students will be able to earn many more Argument Tokens by asking as many questions as possible.
Organize the arguments correctly. In the full-screen mode, it is clear how the arguments should be organized. The Federalist arguments are on the left, and the Anti-Federalist arguments are on the right. Placing the argument correctly will increase a student’s score.
Pamphlets and Publication: Be sure to take a few moments to think about the arguments you want to include in the pamphlet. Presenting a clear, logical argument is important. Students also need to think strategically about the best location for the publication so it can reach as many states as possible. The voting order should be a big factor in this choice.
A teacher may want to create a worksheet for the students to complete. It would be very good to check with the students immediately before or immediately after publication of a pamphlet. A teacher should definitely see how many points are earned so the students gain as much from the activity as possible.
Exit Questions. With 5 – 10 minutes left in class. Have the students respond to a prompt about their experience that day. A teacher can change the prompts, but here is a simple set of questions.
- List two things you learned.
- List 1 thing that was confusing.
- Most interesting person you talked to.
A teacher can also base an assessment on points earned for the entire game.