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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 / Anti-federalsts Debate, and the Ratification of the Constitution. And all of these resources are FREE! 

Simply take minute to register as a teacher or login to your account. If you decide to use this activity:

  1. Create a class
  2. Have the students register
  3. 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 for Race to Ratify The Game

  1. History_RaceToRatify.pdf (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.)
  2. Race to Ratify Extension Pack.pdf (7 pages) Race to Ratify Extension Pack This is a teacher’s guide with materials needed, copy instructions, 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. There also includes answers to the activity and mini-quiz. 
  3. Guide_Race to Ratify.pdf (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. 

  1. https://www.icivics.org/sites/default/files/Race%20to%20Ratify_Slides.pptx (31 Slides) This is an excellent set of slides that can be used with the activity worksheet and the mini quiz. 
  2. https://www.icivics.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/Race%20to%20Ratify%20Ext%20Pack_lesson%20Plan.pdf (1 page) Teacher Guide’s: Explanation of how to execute the lesson. 
  3. https://www.icivics.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/Race%20to%20Ratify%20Ext%20Pack_student%20docs.pdf (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 try to have full understanding to the debate positions of both groups. 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-federalists arguments are on the right. I am not sure how the placements of arguments impacts the points. 

Pamphlets and Publication: Be sure to take a few moments to think about the arguments you want to include in the pamphlet. This is very important to earning points. Also be sure to strategically place the publication to reach as many states as possible, as well as the states who will be voting in the near future. 

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.

A teacher can also base assessment on points earned

600 – 4,000 points.