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...

“We the people . . .” Thus begins the Preamble to the Constitution. Using a close reading approach, class members examine an excerpt from Linda Monk’s article that traces how the interpretation of these words has evolved. Some of your...

Students begin the lesson plan by comparing and contrasting two state constitution's preambles. After identifying the themes in the state preambles, they compare the U.S. Constitution's preamble to the states. They work together to...

Did you know there are seven Articles and 27 Amendments to the US Constitution? Explore each and every one of them, including the Bill of Rights and other rights around the world, in a super neat US Constitution interactive. 

Think about the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence with your budding historians. They analyze the importance of historical documents by examining several famous documents, and then they complete activities that check...

Young scholars read primary documents to find the motivations of the founding fathers of the United States. In this primary documents lesson, students discuss the meaning of the Preamble to the Constitution, read parts of the...

Students examine the concept that the constitutional government guarantees that our government is not all-powerful and analyze the purposes of our government that are listed in the Preamble. They assess that equality under the law and...

Young scholars research the major events of the Vietnam War and construct a timeline. They do the same with the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson or the 1960's. They act as an advisor to President Johnson to recommend a course of action...

Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this American Revolution activity, students examine international involvement in the war as well as major events of the war.

Twelfth graders summarize sections of the Declaration of Independence and share their interpretations with classmates. They write essays on the Declaration or an essay tracing the rights of minorities from the Revolution to the present.

Students create a timeline of the important events of John F. Kennedy's presidency. They construct a timeline of the major events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. They compare the Missile Crisis events with their presentation in the movie...

Students prepare one-minute broadcasts about events leading to the writing of the Constitution and current issues in the next election. Students read their broadcasts on the school P.A. system each morning during Constitution Week.

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.