Students analyze the Preamble of the Constitution and identify the historical context that led to its wording. They, in groups, interpret phrases from the Preamble, examine relevant court cases and create illustrations for their portion...

Students identify what a good government should provide for its citizens, and link their ideas to those of the founding founders by analyzing the Preamble to the Constitution. They create a mural depicting their understanding of the...

Students examine both the Preamble of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They work in small groups to connect the two documents and analyze how the documents are important to their lives today. They create a poster that visually...

A group of citizens in North Canada has decided to leave their country, and they are asking for help in setting up an American-style democracy. Using a carefully structured activity, pupils lay out the principles in the American...

Students make a poster. In this values lesson plan, students read the Preamble to the Constitution and discuss the core democratic values that are found there and in the Declaration of Independence. Students are each assigned a core...

Ben Franklin was the only American to sign The Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the US Constitution. An interesting resource explores his role in the latter by comparing the US...

Students discuss the United States Preamble and Constitution. In this United States government lesson, students discuss the differences between rights and privileges and construct a chart that lists some of our rights as citizens....

Third graders learn the responsibility of citizenship and learn facts about a state they choose to research.

Fourth graders discuss the Stamp Act and the preamble. In this social science lesson, 4th graders examine protests and show that the colonists reacted to the Stamp Act by protesting.  Students study various cartoons and state...

Learners explore controversial current events. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students research selected issues and examine the issues from different perspectives. Learners script and record news stories that feature their findings.

Fifth graders read a rewritten version of the Declaration of Independence, create a set of pictures illustrating the Preamble of the Constitution and create a version of the Declaration of Independence in the form of a song, a poem,...

Students show how the meaning of the Preamble is reflected in current American culture. They collect images and/or sounds from media sources that represent, symbolize, or explain each phrase in the Preamble and create a media...

Students examine the lives of people who contributed to the common good, and democracy. They investigate grievances that lead to the call for American independence and look at the costs that are incurred as a result of personal acts of...

Eleventh graders as a class create and write a constitution for an anti-slavery society. They investigate demographics of slavery, treatment of slaves, the colonization movement, and women in the abolition movement, and present their...

Eighth graders explore the processes, purpose and components of a good and just constitution. They focus on the Constitution of the United States of America. Students discuss the purpose of a constitution and reasons why the Constitution...

Students examine human rights abuses in thirty countries, specifically explore abuses in Dominican Republic's Trujillo regime, research one country with significant human rights abuses, use Preamble to U.S. Constitution as measure of...

"Ballad for Americans" was a song written for performers participating in the Federal Arts Project, during The Depression. Learners will analyze the lyrics of the song and then create informational posters about other Federal Works...

High schoolers appreciate the contributions of every Province of Canada. They develop information links with fellow Canadians across the country. They focus on the dynamic interplay between the regions and the federal government.

Students learn the role of Canada's MPs compared to that of the Netherlands using a partnered school program.

Students read excerpts of the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution. Using the documents, they identify the ideas of how the government should be run. In groups, they develop a skit that encourages people to be...

Use this U.S. History unit plan as a template for creating your own! Simply download the resource and edit the text fields with your own customized unit plan. This is a great jumping-off step, especially for newer teachers. 

Students define and discuss human rights, make lists of human rights they think everyone deserves, and create class list of ten most important rights. Students then translate formal language of Universal Declaration of Human Rights into...

Students in an ESL classroom brainstorm on activities already being done around the country to raise the awareness of HIV and AIDS. In groups, they develop and create a leaflet or brochure to target young children on how to prevent...