Substitute Guide: Federalism — How the Constitution Divides Power
Learning goal (plain language)
Students investigate federalism — how the U.S. Constitution divides government power among a national level (delegated powers), the state level (reserved powers), and powers shared by both (concurrent powers). They read two short summaries, study a three-column diagram, do source analysis on short public-domain constitutional text (the Tenth Amendment and Article I, Section 8), classify example powers, explain why the framers divided power, sort fact from interpretation and opinion, and finish by writing a short source-based argument about how a scenario reflects federalism. You do not need a government background to run this. Everything students need is printed in their packet, and the separate answer key gives you every answer.
Standards alignment
Framework: 19 TAC Chapter 113 (United States Government).
- Primary — federalism / division of powers: a provisional standard on explaining how the Constitution divides and shares power among national, state, and concurrent levels, including delegated (enumerated) and reserved powers.
- Skills — social studies skills (source analysis): a provisional standard on analyzing primary and secondary sources — identifying the creator, date, type, and purpose — and using evidence to support a conclusion.
Provisional — pending educator verification against the current official TAC source. No section number is asserted here.
(Standards are paraphrased here, not quoted, and this is not a claim of TEKS alignment. Please confirm the chapter, section, and wording against your official source. Prompts are kept non-partisan and focused on how power is structured, not on any party or current dispute.)
Setup Before class (5 min)
- Count and hand out one student packet per student.
- Confirm each student has a pencil. No calculators, computers, or textbooks are needed.
- Decide up front whether this is a standard (~50 min) or block (~90 min) class and tell students which items to do (see Timing).
- Write the date on the board and remind students to fill in the name line.
- Keep the answer key with you — it is a separate file and is not in the student packet.
Materials What's needed
- Printed student packet (5–7 pages) per student.
- Pencil per student.
- This guide and the separate answer key (teacher only).
- No technology, no calculator, no textbooks, no safety hazards.
Timing Suggested pacing — standard vs. block
| Segment | Standard ~50 min | Block ~90 min | What students do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start — Observe a source | 5 min | 5 min | Q1–Q2 warm-up on the Tenth Amendment |
| Build — Read the sources | 10 min | 15 min | Sources A–B (+ Source C in block), word bank, power diagram; Q3 |
| Apply — Analyze the sources | 20 min | 25 min | Q4–Q9 (+ Q10 conflict scenario in block) |
| Explain — CER argument | 10 min | 25 min | Q11 claim/evidence/reasoning (block adds the national-vs-state conflict) |
| Close — ACE | 5 min | 10 min | Articulate / Connect / Extend |
| Continue — early finishers | optional | ~10 min | "Sort three more powers" |
Standard version: students skip every item marked [BLOCK] (Source C, Q10, and the extended-writing add-on in Q11). Block version: students do those items and write a longer argument.
Script Read aloud to start
"Today's assignment is a paper civics investigation called Federalism: How the Constitution Divides Power. It is about how the United States splits government power between a national government, the state governments, and powers they share. You will work by yourself with just a pencil — no computers or textbooks. First read the short summaries and study the three-column diagram. Then answer the questions in order; if one is tricky, skip it and come back. Write in complete sentences where it asks you to explain. Everything you need is printed in the packet — you do not need any outside facts. Keep your answers grounded in the text and examples and non-partisan: describe how power is structured, not which side you favor. [If block: Also read Source C and do the items marked BLOCK.] Put your name, class period, and date at the top now. You have about [50 / 90] minutes; raise your hand if you need help understanding a word."
Support When students ask for help
- You may read any part aloud to a student or the class.
- If they are stuck classifying powers (Q3–Q4), point them to the three-column diagram and to Source A, where each group of powers is listed in bold-led sentences.
- For "why the framers divided power" (Q6–Q7), point to Source A's last paragraph, which names the worry (one all-powerful government) and the goals of dividing power.
- For "fact / interpretation / opinion" (Q8), point to the Word Bank; an "opinion" ranks or judges, an "interpretation" says "probably" or "because."
- Encourage the printed sentence stems for the CER (Q11) and ACE sections.
- Do not give answers; prompt with "Which level does Source A say handles that?" or "Is that a national, state, or shared power?"
- It is fine if a student cannot finish the optional early-finisher task or the block add-ons.
Access Accommodations & language support
- Read-aloud of any passage or question is allowed for all students.
- Point students to the sentence stems and the Word Bank. A quick glossary for reference: federalism = dividing power between a national government and state governments; delegated power = a power the Constitution gives the national government; reserved power = a power kept by the states (Tenth Amendment); concurrent power = a power both levels share (like taxing); national government = the central/federal government; state government = an individual state's government; Supremacy Clause = Article VI text making valid national law supreme where it conflicts with state law; ratify = to formally approve; cause = a reason something happens; effect = a result.
- Extended time is fine; the standard core can stop after Q11 if time runs short.
- Students may answer in phrases if writing full sentences is a barrier, as long as the idea is clear.
- The packet is grayscale-safe — the power diagram and table print and read clearly in black and white.
Tools Allowed & not allowed
Allowed: pencil, the printed packet, quiet self-read-aloud. Not needed / not allowed: calculator (no math required), phones, computers, textbooks or outside sources (everything needed is in the packet).
Teacher follow-up (for the returning teacher)
Watch for the common mix-up between federalism (dividing power between national and state levels) and separation of powers (dividing power among the three branches within one government) — Q11 and the ACE Connect target this. Also watch for two frequent errors: thinking states have no real power (the Tenth Amendment reserves many powers to them — Q1, Q3, Q4, Q9), and thinking only the national government taxes (taxing is a concurrent power — Q9). The CER (Q11) responses show who can correctly sort a scenario's examples into delegated, reserved, and concurrent categories; block responses additionally show who can handle a national-vs-state conflict and the Supremacy Clause. A quick next-day "levels vs. branches" sort and a review of the three power categories would reinforce this well.