Middle schoolers study the biographies of Ellsworth, Hamilton, Paterson, and Randolph. They study roles of these men during the Constitutional Convention.

Fifth graders get critical and political while they begin thinking about human and animal rights in relation to the US Constitution. This hand out includes answers to several questions regarding Cesar Chavez and his work to secure rights...

How can one court acquit someone of a crime, while another convicts the person of the same one? It's all because of the differences between civil and criminal trials. An informative resource provides scholars in the field of criminology...

Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.

Students create their own classroom constitution. In this leadership skills lesson, students work together to solve problems. Students discuss why rules are important and brainstorm ways to solve classroom problems. Students vote on the...

What better day to celebrate the US Constitution than on Constitution Day! After reading a short passage about the different understandings of habeas corpus and ex post facto, sixth graders respond to 10 multiple choice and short...

Establishing classroom rules within the first two weeks of school is important. But what do you do with the rules after they've been created, and how can you establish them so that they have a lasting effect all year long? Use an...

Seven steps are required for a bill to become a United States law. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201) is used as a model for the process of how a bill becomes a law.  Class members work independently through a...

Students study the Constitution and then in an interactive group activity create a "Second Constitutional Convention" specifically designed to evaluate and trim down the number of amendments.

Students investigate the eight phrases that comprise the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to determine its principles and purpose. Their own Constitutional Convention is convened to craft a preamble for their school's governance.

It's 1943, and Jewish people in Denmark are in hiding from the Nazis. What protection can the United States offer them? By examining the Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights, scholars consider the protections afforded to those...

September 17, Constitution Day so named because that was the day in 1787, that 39 men signed the Constitution, is the focus of a series of activities designed to simulate a Constitutional convention and open a study of the US Constitution.

Every state uses a set of rights to establish laws and regulations. Explore the Wyandotte Constitution as it was written in 1859 and compare it with how rights in Kansas have changed, especially those that pertain to gender and race. A...

Simplify the teaching of the US Constitution with this primary grade social studies instructional activity. While reading a fun story about an imaginary place called Bubble Land, children learn about the concept of authority and the...

Young historians climb through the three branches of the US government in the third lesson of this five-part series. While reading the first three Articles of the Constitution in small groups, children write facts on paper leaves...

Students examine the need for rules to keep order at home, in school, in communities, and in the country using trade books and teamwork activities. They work in cooperative groups to define a positive learning community by writing a...

Madison was there! Scholars go on a journey to discover the person behind the founding father label as they explore James Madison's role in the formation of the United States government. The culmination is a writing assignment and...

The First and Second Amendments remain some of the most famous, even to this day. Learners read about several clauses from the US Constitution through a variety of captivating activities including before and after reading, group work,...

So many US Constitution clauses, so little time. The 17th installment in a 20-part series teaches pupils about the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments. Learning through activities such as group work, connecting to current events, and...

Teach young historians about the historical legacy of Rosa Parks with a multi-faceted lesson plan. Pupils follow stations and use journals to explore prominent events, analyze primary resource documents, and engage in interesting...

How are tribal governments similar to local or state governments? After reading a short article on tribal governments, individuals draw evidence from the provided article to respond to this reading comprehension question.

Ever wondered why there is a West Virginia but not an East Virginia? The resource answers questions like this one and more as it takes an in-depth and detailed look at the history of West Virginia and how it became a state. Several...

What do slaves fighting for their freedom on board a ship and a slave fighting for his freedom in a courtroom have in common? Budding historians investigate the two different cases of the Amistad slave revolt and the Dred Scott argument....