Of all the amendments found in The Bill of Rights, the First Amendment contains some of the most important freedoms for American citizens. A unit plan on the First Amendment features interactive lesson plans designed to teach about those...

Bessie Coleman. William Powell. Willa Brown. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. While these names may not be familiar to many Americans, they are African American pioneers in aviation history. Class members have an opportunity to research the...

Students explore the concept of individual rights. In this McCarthyism lesson, students determine how government may affect the rights of individuals as they examine the Constitution, participate in class discussions, and research the...

The conclusion of the American Revolution brought about a new conflict—choosing the stye of government for the newly formed United States. Using the views of both Federalists and Anti-Federalists, learners work in pairs and groups to...

Students study the history, development and meaning of the Constitution. They participate in a classroom simulation of the Constitutional Convention by writing a Preamble, developing a government, and writing a Bill of Rights for their...

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...

Explore why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution and its enduring impact on defining our rights. In this interactive lesson from WGBH, students develop a written argument in response to the question "How does the Bill of...

Many Americans take for granted the freedoms contained in the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. As students play this game, they will discover surprising facts about the story behind the Bill of Rights and gain a clearer...

Six activities teach students about the U.S. Constitution. Learn about checks and balances, the Bill of Rights, some of the history of the document, and how each of the states became a state. The site also provides teacher resources,...

In this lesson, students examine primary source materials including the Book of Laws, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta in order to understand their meaning and to compare them. They then prepare an argument on...

Each letter of this alphabet is linked to an important aspect of the U.S. Government, e.g. "A is for Armed Forces" has a link to the Air Force. Links are made to the Bill of Rights, symbols, branches of government and The Constitution....

This module examines America's efforts to form a new government after the War for Independence and to draft the Constitution. Includes an interactive activity comparing Thomas Jefferson's and Alexander Hamilton's visions for America, a...

This unit explores the timeless qualities of The U.S. Constitution, the opportunities to amend it, and how it is a pillar of the American identity, through these activities, videos, and outside resources.

Newberry Library digital collections presents a lesson using primary sources from which students explore the concept of "anti-state" sentiment and examine the reasons writers and politicians protest the authority of the federal...

This tutorial looks at the British political traditions that influenced the American colonists as they gained their independence from Britain and created their own form of government. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.