Students explore the framework of government and examine the Constitution to see its impact on their lives.

Using the Constitutional Convention as a model, learners create their own governments. Other activities to explore the American Constitution include creating posters to help explain the Bill of Rights. 

Students act as newspaper reporters from 1787 and interview some of the signers of the Constitution. They study the contributions of these Founding Fathers: Washington, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton and discuss the purpose of the U.S....

Why did the Founders make it so challenging to amend the US Constitution? To gain an understanding of why the process is so difficult, class members engage in a Constitutional Convention simulation. Groups draft, propose, and debate...

How do new amendments become part of the US Constitution? AP government students explore, analyze, and use the US Constitution to develop a deep understanding of the interworkings of law and government while practicing synthesis and...

Learners analyze procedural justice by identifying unfair decisions by ruler in play, stating procedural guarantees that a Bill of Rights should include, and comparing their list of guarantees to those provided by the U.S. Constitution...

Students study the powers and limitations of the three branches of the American government. They explain how the system of "checks and balances" protects the individual citizens. They explain how the amendments to the Constitution...

Students consider the presidential requirements. In this U.S. Constitution lesson, students participate in a role play that requires them to act as senators and debate an amendment to allow naturalized citizens to run for the presidency.

Students explore the meaning of freedom.  In this U.S. History lesson, students research the Declaration of Independence and how it relates to American freedom by completing activities and a mock trial.

High school student love discussing controversial issues like those brought up in this fourth amendment case study. They examine the 1928 Olmstead vs. U.S. prohibition court case, applying the fourth amendment to determine whether...

What is the difference between a right and a responsibility? Scholars consider the question while sorting characteristics of citizenship into buckets using a video game. After playing, class members see how effectively they sorted the...

Learners analyze the concept of procedural justice. In this judges in the classroom instructional activity, students role play the ways the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights established certain procedures to protect people from...

Learners explore what the United States would be like today if the Bill of Rights had never been written.  In this exploring the constitution instructional activity, students research Supreme Court cases that were heard in the early...

High schoolers learn about citizens who were actively involved in the civil rights movement, and the strategies they used to overcome the Jim Crow laws that were so prevalent in the 1960s. They investigate the voting amendments of the US...

Students research and stage a debate on the question: RESOLVED that the Constitution should be amended to provide for a parliamentary system of government. They debate if a parliamentary system of government might be better.

Students analyze the adaptive nature of the U.S. Constiution. In this Amendments lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the amendment process. Students respond to question regarding...

Ninth graders simulate a U.S. Supreme Court hearing concerning a First Amendment case about school prayer by participating in a hearing.

Students defend the Constitution against a group of Senators who decide that all media must be approved by the government, all Americans must take a loyalty oath, join an official U.S. religion and subscribe to approved clubs.

Students analyze and discuss the 19th Amendment, and read the document, Why Women Want to Vote. Students illustrate statements from the handbill, then conduct a play about women's suffrage.

Students explore the details and impact of the Plessy vs. Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court case.  In this U.S. History lesson plan, students participate in several group discussions and group activities that examine both sides of the...

Students investigate fair housing issues in the United States. In this government instructional activity, students watch "No Place Like Home," and then prepare to participate in a classroom simulation that requires them to act as state...

Students study the individual rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. They determine where these rights come from, and why we value them as we do. They consider that our individual rights are not absolute, and may be limited by other...

Eleventh graders explore the process of perfecting the Union through changes made to the Constitution, and through the powers delegated to each branch of government.  In this American Government instructional activity, 11th graders...

Students discuss two computerized options to change the current U.S. government. In this Constitutional Convention lesson, students write a statement advocating for one of the choices and participate in a mock modern Constitutional...