How to run Philadelphia, 1787 as Problem-Based Learning: your role, the pre-planning maps, pacing, delegate role cards, sources, and debrief prompts. The golden rule — guide, don't tell. In PBL the students should feel they, not you, planned the investigation.
| Phase | What you do | What you resist |
|---|---|---|
| ① Surface | Teach vocabulary and facts efficiently; run the jigsaw; check acquisition. | Rushing to the problem before facts are secure. |
| ② Deep | Facilitate the competing-interests map and source routine; model claim + evidence and steelmanning. | Giving your own interpretation of the sources. |
| ③ Transfer | Read the problem well; hold the KWHL chart; answer questions with questions; point to sources. | Answering the “Need to know” questions yourself. |
The Surface phase uses a four-topic jigsaw (Why a convention?) — a high-leverage move (d ≈ 0.92) because every student must teach. The flow: expert groups each study one topic and take notes → students re-mix into home groups with one expert per topic → each expert teaches → an individual check for understanding holds everyone accountable.
The per-expert-group source links (documents + articles) live on the Surface page, one set per topic. Confirm access through your district before class.
Before teaching, brainstorm every direction the Convention problem could branch — so you can steer discussion and decide, in advance, which threads are productive and which need care because they are sensitive. Slavery must be handled honestly, factually, and with gravity — it is central, not optional.
| If students investigate… | They are working toward… |
|---|---|
| foundations of representative government; the failure of the Articles | §113.20(c)(3), (c)(5) |
| political & economic issues of the constitutional era | §113.20(c)(4) |
| principles in the Declaration & Constitution (federalism, checks & balances, etc.) | §113.20(c)(15)(A–B) |
| the purpose of amending the Constitution (Bill of Rights) | §113.20(c)(16) |
| consensus and the importance of different points of view | §113.20(c)(21) |
| using and questioning sources; points of view; claim + evidence | §113.20(c)(29)(A–H) |
| defining the problem, weighing options, choosing & evaluating a solution | §113.20(c)(31)(B) |
Confirm access through your district's approved catalog before class. Vetted, free starting points:
Aligned to (not reproduced from) 19 TAC Ch.113 §113.20.