My Lesson Plans for Teaching Jefferson's Expansion of Presidential Power SSUSH6c
I’m excited to share my lesson plans for teaching Jefferson’s expansion of the presidential power (SSUSH6c)! My plans are designed for 3 days of high school class periods lasting around 90 minutes. The flow of the lessons follow the Teach, Model, Practice, Reinforce strategy. Remember, you know your students best! Your students may complete tasks at a different pace from mine.
We’re covering SSUSH6c: Explore Jefferson’s expansion of presidential power including the purchase and exploration of the Louisiana Territory.
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Day One
Bell-Ringers
Post this prompt for students to answer.
“What are examples of situations where leaders may have to make decisions outside clear rules or guidelines? Why might this happen?”
After students answer on their own, discuss this whole-group.
TEACH: Mini-Lesson on the first 2 of 5 presidents to anchor students in the unit. Focus on Jefferson’s constitutional dilemma regarding the Louisiana Territory opportunity.
Keep the other presidents brief, just enough to situate Jefferson in the broader pattern of executive decision-making. This can also include background on the differing beliefs of the interpretation of the Constitution (Democratic-Republicans: strict construction v. Federalist: loose construction)
MODEL - Teacher-Led Case Study: Louisiana Purchase (20 minutes). Use a short excerpt from Jefferson’s letters about constitutional authority and the acquisition of foreign territory.
Teacher Think-Aloud Includes:
Identifying the challenge (constitutional ambiguity, urgent diplomatic opportunity).
Options available (seek amendment, negotiate slower, decline, proceed quickly).
Decision taken.
How this action expanded presidential power.
Immediate and long-term consequences.
Students follow along by filling out a web graphic organizer.
PRACTICE - Nonfiction Reading Packet (30 Minutes). Partner Read a nonfiction text using the PALS strategy. To learn more about PALS reading strategy, read this blog post. Students will Partner-Read and answer multiple choice prompts (pg 4)
Partner Read a nonfiction text about the Land Policies using the PALS strategy. To learn more about PALS reading strategy, read this blog post.
Students will partner read and answer multiple choice prompts.
Summarizer (Reinforce)
Ticket Out the Door (pg. 6 of nonfiction packet).
Day Two
Bell-Ringers
Show a political or satirical cartoon from the era.
Students describe what they see (no interpretation yet).
Prompts: What question or concern about U.S. expansion do you think the artist is raising?
What does this suggest about how Americans viewed Jefferson’s decisions?
Activities
TEACH: Mini-Lesson on The Exploration of the Louisiana Territory (12–15 min)
Brief, mini-lesson on:
Summarize yesterday’s teacher-led case study (The Constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase)
Purpose of the Lewis & Clark Expedition
Scientific goals
Diplomatic goals with Indigenous nations
Mapping and knowledge-gathering outcomes
How the expedition connected to Jefferson’s vision of using expanded presidential authority
PRACTICE - Student-Led Case Study (The Lewis & Clark Expedition Authorization) 45 minutes
Central question: Did Jefferson exceed his authority by directing a military expedition into foreign/uncertain territory?
Students may work in pairs or small groups.
Students will analyze the primary sources and complete the graphic organizer. Then, they will write a short 3-5 sentence answer to the central question. They can write this on the back of their graphic organizer.
Teacher circulates, prompting with questions like:
“Where do you see evidence of Jefferson making a decision without waiting for Congress?”
“Whose perspective is missing from your organizer?”
“What impact might this have had on future presidents?”
Summarizer
(Reinforce) Debrief Discussion 15 minutes
What pattern did you notice across Jefferson’s decisions?
How did these actions set a precedent for later presidents?
Were Jefferson’s decisions practical, constitutional, or both? Explain using evidence.
Teacher captures takeaways on the board:
Precedents set
Sources of controversy
Long-term implications (westward expansion, executive flexibility, etc.)
Day Three
Bell-Ringer
Quickwrite:
“What do you think was the most significant effect of the Louisiana Purchase? Why?”
Activities
PRACTICE: Structured Debate or Discussion Circles (25–30 min)
Students choose one of the following:
Prompt:
“Did the Louisiana Purchase ultimately strengthen or complicate the role of the presidency?”
Students must pull evidence from the nonfiction packet and their notes.
Reminder: The goal is to understand historical arguments, not take a modern political stance.
TEACH/MODEL: Revisiting the Early Presidents (10 min)
Teacher briefly reviews challenges of the other four early presidents (Washington & Adams) and compares their executive decision-making with Jefferson’s.
Mini-lecture emphasizes:
Precedent-setting leadership
Foreign affairs
Domestic pressures
National growth
Purpose: Connect the focus case (Jefferson) back to the overarching standard.
PRACTICE: Individual Written Response (20 min)
Students complete a short constructed response using a scaffold:
Explain how Jefferson’s actions during the Louisiana Purchase and the subsequent exploration demonstrate an expansion of presidential power. Use evidence from the instructional materials and reading packet.
Summarizer
(Reinforce): Final Assessment (15 min)
Exit Ticket or Short Quiz:
Identify one key challenge Jefferson faced regarding the Louisiana Territory.
Describe the decision he made.
Explain how the decision affected presidential power.
Describe one result of the Lewis & Clark expedition.
Differentiation for Assessments
Assessment differentiation ideas:
Instead of a constructed response, you could have multiple choice or matching.
Give a word bank for students to use in their response. Strategically choose these words to help guide a student’s answer.
Give sentence starters to guide students in their constructed response.
Create a fill-in-the-blank paragraph instead of a full-on constructed response.
For more differentiation ideas, check out my blog post.
Differentiation Support for Case Study
Content Supports: Vocabulary Supports: Offer a mini-glossary on the page: “appropriation,” “commerce,” “expedition,” “sovereignty,” “foreign relations,” “tribal nations”. Give definitions in student-friendly language.
Pre-teaching the “Big 5” Vocabulary Words before the case study:
Explore, Commerce, Appropriation, Diplomacy, Territory
Process Supports: Graphic Organizer With Sentence Stems:
“Jefferson is asking Congress to…”
“This source shows presidential power by…”
“The author’s point of view is…”
“This document connects to our central question because…”
Students who don’t need stems can get the blank version.
Product Supports: Evidence “Starter Kit”: Give students 2–3 pre-pulled evidence snippets from the text. They choose one and explain it. This helps students who struggle to identify evidence independently.
Environment Supports: Quiet Work Zone vs. Collaborative Zone. Allow students to choose the environment that works best for them.
Bonus Supports: Use the Teacher-Modeled Case Study as a Reference Anchor. Keep the Day 1 teacher-modeled case study visible (on posters/screenshots) so students can refer back to: how evidence was used, how the organizer was filled out, how to determine a claim
Enrichment Supports: Prep for Debate. Advanced students pick a side:
Jefferson expanded power or Jefferson acted within his authority, and build a mini argument using the documents.
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