Each of the 27 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution were adopted within specific economic, political, social or cultural, and international contexts. As part of their Constitution Day/Week studies, seniors investigate these factors for...

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. 

Using discussion questions and a poster-creating activity, learners explore how the framework of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights help create safe communities. After listening to a song about the preamble and reading the Bill of...

Explore the structure and content of the US Constitution in the second lesson of this five-part social studies series. A collection of activities, games, and videos complement a class reading of a document summarizing the US...

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...

How much power is too much power for the federal government? Scholars use primary documents and constitutional research in groups to analyze the creation of the Second National Bank under James Madison. This is the second lesson of a...

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

Though often used in shows of patriotism, Bruce Springsteen's 1985 song "Born in the U.S.A." is critical of America's role in the Vietnam war and its treatment of American veterans. High schoolers analyze the song's lyrics in an activity...

Introduce young historians to the US Constitution with this upper-elementary social studies lesson plan. Beginning with a general discussion about the role of government in society, students go on to work in small...

Young historians explore the meaning of the Preamble to the US Constitution in this upper-elementary social studies instructional activity. Working with partners or in small groups, children discuss the purpose of government before...

Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution takes center stage in a lesson that asks class members to assume the role of state senators, debate a resolution to amend the U. S. Constitution to permit naturalized citizens to run for...

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...

The first ten Amendments of the U.S. Constitution are vital for young people to understand. Provide the foundation of the laws that govern our country with this junior high school lesson. Groups use the newspaper to identify rights...

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...

Ninth graders consider the right of freedom of speech as it is outlined in the U.S. Constitution. They receive background information for the US Supreme Court, the Bill of Rights, and free speech. They discuss a series of actual cases...

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...

Who used to have the right to vote in the United States? Who has the right to vote now? Amendments to the US Constitution that have changed the definition of eligible voters are the focus of a one-page worksheet that asks class members...

How did the Emancipation Proclamation lead to the Thirteenth Amendment? Middle schoolers analyze primary source documents including the text of the Emancipation Proclamation, political cartoons, photographs, and prints to understand...

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...

As part of the study of segregation in U.S. schools, scholars research and create a timeline of events that led to the historic Supreme Court case, Brown V. Board of Education. Groups research a topic or event that led to the decision,...

Discover the fascinating history of the Equal Rights Amendment and discuss the major implications and considerations associated with it today. Here you will find background information on the topic, a graphic organizer summarizing...

Creating a Bill of Rights isn't easy! Help your scholars experience what the Founding Fathers did by challenging them to write a Bill of Rights. Groups pretend they are a new democratic country and proceed to create that country's Bill...

What did the Founding Fathers mean by the importance of continually returning to fundamental principles? Your young historians will analyze a series of quotations illustrating the fundamental ideals and principles of the...