Rediscover the values at the heart of American democracy and what makes it unique with your pupils. Use a reading and discussion questions—in addition to an analytical activity—on the preamble to the Constitution. An additional activity...

Scholars work in pairs to decide whether leaders wrote the Declaration of Independence for the rich and powerful or for every man. To draw their conclusion, pairs read excerpts from two historians and complete a graphic organizer...

Three activities focus on the need to have rules. Young historians are first challenged to suggest rules for their classroom and then to create their own constitution that balances the need for freedoms and protections. The third...

The "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day" law requires schools receiving any federal funding to provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution. The lesson plans, materials, videos, questions, and activities...

Young scholars 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...

Second graders study the Constitution. They examine the meaning and fundamentals of the Preamble of The Constitution of USA. They assess the importance of having a Supreme Law that states the rights and obligations of the citizens. They...

Students explore the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. In this government lesson, students write a preamble to encourage cooperation in their classroom as they study the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution.

Students study the goals set out for the Constitution. They examine the resolutions arrived at to resolve three major conflicts which arose during the writing of the Constitution. They discuss or write down a one-sentence summary of...

Students read and analyze the meaning of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. They read and discuss the Preamble, look up difficult words in a dictionary, rewrite the Preamble in more common words, and create posters displaying the...

"How did the slavery system undermine the United States' democratic principles?" This question launches a study of how the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and Article IV,...

Students begin the lesson 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 write...

Young scholars investigate the document of the Constitution as part of a national day of recognition. The lesson plan uses many different activities to dissect the national document to increase student awareness of how the Constitution...

September 17 is a great day to focus on the US Constitution for on this day in 1787, the Constitution was signed. Through a series of activities, high schoolers get a chance to look closely at this famous document and the rights and...

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. 

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...

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...

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

How do governments differ in how they protect human rights? While the United States prides itself on its Bill of Rights, other countries have their own ways of protecting citizens' liberties. An interactive website, paired with...

Learners examine the Preamble to the Constitution. For this government lesson, students read the Preamble of the Constitution and define the meaning of unknown words. Learners write about examples of how the Constitution protects our...

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

Three activities focus on the First Amendment, especially the freedom of speech. Scholars craft a letter to the President of the United States and express their views about a topic important to them. Another activity has participants...

Tracy K. Smith's erasure poem "Declaration" challenges scholars to use their noticing skills to make connections between an engraving entitled "The Declaration of Independence" and Smith's poem. Class members record observations and...

Students consider the main concepts of the Preamble of the United States Constitution They research different issues explored in the Constitution which have both historic and modern connections.

Fifth graders explain the purpose of the government by examining the Preamble to the Constitution. They identify ways in which the government is preserving those rights today. They discover one of the fundamental principles of...