Synthesize weeks 1-8 into one connected narrative, correctly sequencing the founding era's major events and explaining at least one real connection between them.
This week pulls together everything from colonial grievances through the branches of government: one connected story about how a nation builds a government, not eight separate topics. Grievances against Britain (week 1) built into the Declaration's argument for independence (week 2); the weak Articles of Confederation (week 3) failed badly enough to justify a whole new Constitution, built on compromises over representation and, dishonestly, over slavery (week 4).
Ratifying that Constitution required its own hard-fought debate (week 5), and the price of ratification was a Bill of Rights (week 6) protecting the exact liberties the colonists had fought for. Finally, the government was built from three separate branches, checking each other so that power could never concentrate the way it had under the king (week 7) -- and last week's quiz bowl (week 8) tested how solidly all of it had stuck. This assessment is the connected-narrative version of that same test.
Mastery looks like: They can place the unit's major events in correct chronological order and explain at least one real connection between two of the weeks studied.
Common stumbles: Remembering facts about each week in isolation without seeing the connections -- cause and effect, recurring compromise, protection of liberty -- that link them.