Engage your class while learning about the US Constitution with this fun primary grade social studies lesson. After viewing a picture of the US Constitution, young learners piece together a US flag using stars and...

High school seniors investigate what national, state and local rules say about voting. After examining the Constitution's articles, clauses, and amendments, researchers look at videos, listen to podcasts, and read articles to gather...

Explore what the home front during WWII was like for Japanese-Americans. Learners use a worksheet and the Internet to guide their research as they consider the constitutionality of Japanese Internment. They work in pairs to create an...

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union..." These familiar lines begin the Preamble to the Constitution, but do learners know what they mean? A close reading exercise takes a look at the language of the...

Ratifying the Constitution was no simple task. Using primary sources, such as classic writings from the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, young scholars examine the arguments for and against the Constitution. They then decide: Would they...

How difficult was it for everyone to get voting rights? Understanding voting rights and the fight to get them for everyone in the United States can be tricky for some learners. However, they are clarified after engaging in the...

Did you know that the United States Constitution was adopted after many state constitutions were already in place? Young scholars examine facts about the influence of states through an informative and interesting resource. Groups then...

The divide between federal and state government is responsible for much of tension that continues to this day, partly because of the US Constitution. The activities in the 14th lesson in a series of 20 are designed to help learners...

It's hard to believe the abolition movement was once seen as scandalous. Help learners understand how the US Constitution changed everything. A variety of activities such as corresponding reading activities, group work ideas, and...

In September we celebrate Constitution Day. Begin the celebration with a grand conversation about the US Constitution. Follow up the in-depth discussion with a learning game in which scholars match terms to images such as...

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...

Who should be able to vote? As part of a study of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, class members examine primary source document that reveal the reasons the authors gave to support their positions on this question and their assumptions in...

Did the United States Constitution uphold the institution of slavery, or did it help to destroy it? Young historians study Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution and evaluate the rights of slaveowners as they compared to...

"We, the People of the State of Alabama. . ." Did you know that the Alabama State Constitution has 357,157 words while the US Constitution has only 4,400? And that it has 798 amendments while the US Constitution has...

Who gets to vote? Learn more about struggles for suffrage throughout United States history with a lesson based on primary source documents. Middle schoolers debate the importance of women's suffrage and African American...

Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...

Pupils investigate American slavery from colonial times through the Civil War. They incorporate primary sources, video clips, and firsthand accounts to understand how the slavery issue gripped the nation. Essays, presentations, and...

What obstacles did India face during their post-colonial formation after gaining independence? Topics discussed in the lesson include Pakistan's conflict over Kashmir, the Indian Constitution, economic development, and the...

Have your class learn through exploration. They use their texts and go on a US Constitutional scavenger hunt. Included are 45 questions they must hunt to find answers to. This plan uses the text as the main resource, why not give clues...

As part of a study of voting rights in the US, class members examine Constitutional amendments connected with voting and the role of the Electoral College in the election process.

The class analyzes a series of documents intended to show the events that lead to women gaining the right to vote. They play a Tic-Tac-Toe style game, make a time line with sequencing cards, and review the 4 steps of social change....

The Statue of Liberty may embrace the huddled masses of the world, but has American society always joined in? After young historians read a passage about the history of American immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on...

While often not recognized, the ideas of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers still echo today. Using a series of videos and graphic organizers, individuals explore how ancient Greeks and Romans have influenced current Western political...

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...