1. Government Ch. 3: The Constitution Sec. 2: Formal Amendments Change the Constitution Amendment Articles Project

2. Directions Create your own Amendment that you would like to see added to our Constitution You can use the wording from an existing amendment found on pp. 128 – 138 of our text and simply change a few words around to fit your new amendment Choose a proposal/ratification route that will give your proposed amendment the best chance to succeed Rewrite the route (A  C; A  D; B  C; B  D) Pretend you are a newspaper reporter assigned to cover both the proposal and ratification process for this amendment You will write 2 articles. One will be written after you have covered the proposal process and the other will be written after you have covered the ratification process Each process will take about 4 months

3. Directions (continued) Proposed Amendment Proposed Amendment (5pts.) Write down your proposed amendment on notebook paper Proposal/Ratification Method Proposal/Ratification Method (5pts.) Write down the method chosen Proposal Article Proposal Article (15pts.) Make it look like a real newspaper article (title, 2 columns, etc.) Start with the actual wording of your proposed amendment Include a quote for and a quote against this proposed amendment from 2 fictitious sources Include statistics/data illustrating the proposal process chosen Conclude your article with a preview of the ratification process Write a rough draft and then a final revised draft

4. Directions (continued) Ratification Article Ratification Article (15pts.) Make it look like a real newspaper article (title, 2 columns, etc.) Start with the actual wording of your proposed amendment Include a quote for and a quote against this proposed amendment from 2 fictitious sources Include statistics/data illustrating the ratification process chosen Write a rough draft and then a final revised draft

5. Agenda (40pts.) Day 1 Day 1 Write proposed amendment (5pts.) Write proposed amendment (5pts.) Write proposal/ratification method (5pts.) Write proposal/ratification method (5pts.) Day 2 Day 2 Start writing rough draft proposal article & rough draft ratification article (10pts.) Start writing rough draft proposal article & rough draft ratification article (10pts.) Day 3 Day 3 Complete writing rough drafts Complete writing rough drafts Day 4 Day 4 In library writing our final drafts (20pts.) In library writing our final drafts (20pts.) Day 5 Day 5 We will be in the library writing our final drafts We will be in the library writing our final drafts

6. Proposal/Ratification A.) Proposed by a 2/3 vote in both Houses of Congress (290/435 in the House & 67/100 in the Senate) B.) Proposed at a Constitutional Convention called at the request of 2/3 of the 50 states (34) C.) Ratified by 3/4 of the 50 state legislatures (38) D.) Ratified by 3/4 of the 50 state ratifying conventions (38)

7. THE PLAIN DEALER Jan. 4 th, 2011 Thursday 50cents Sample Ratification Article THE PLAIN DEALER Jan. 4 th, 2011 Thursday 50cents VOTING AGE SET AT 16 CLEVELAND – A new Amendment has finally passed the ratification stage and will go into effect in March of this year. It calls for lowering the voting age to 16. Introduced into the Senate in September by Senator Patrick Starr (D) – Bikini Bottom, it reads “The right of citizens of the U.S. who are sixteen years of age or older to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or any state on account of age.” Now that it has been ratified, it will subsequently repeal the 26 th Amendment which had set the voting age at eighteen. Senator Velotta (I) – Ohio supported this new Constitutional addition stating, “I think it’s wonderful to see our government give sixteen year olds the right to vote and express their views on politics. With so much emphasis on state standards in citizenship, you can’t ask for a better environment for teen participation in the civic arena. As a former Government teacher, I am absolutely thrilled about this concept and I support it 100%!” Late last night, the Virginia state legislature became the 38 th and final state needed to ratify this proposed amendment. Interestingly, Virginia Governor Ben Dover harshly criticized the newly ratified 28 th Amendment declaring, “This is absolutely ridiculous! I am appalled that our elected officials at the state and national levels have proposed and ratified this new amendment. Do you people realize how this will drastically alter our election results in future elections? We might very well see pot heads and losers elected into public office!”