Students consider the importance and influence of congressional committees. They research congressional committee assignments, jurisdictions and responsibilities as illustrations of the basic principles of American federalism.

Reinforce U.S. Constitution facts with a crossword puzzle. Scholars show what they know by completing the 53 prompts. 

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...

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...

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...

Long revered as the "upper chamber," the US Senate was created to give the new nation a balance between large and small states. However, has the time for this institution passed? Using a reading on how the amendment process works,...

Does the Westboro Baptist Church have the protection of the Constitution when protesting military funerals? High schoolers examine the 2011 Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps before comparing the situation to a fictional...

Three branches of government help create a system of checks and balances. A helpful resource provides a series of articles regarding the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches of government. Historians answer...

Who became US Chief Justice in 1801? Which delegate from New York advocated a strict constructionist interpretation of the US Constitution? What is the term given to the chief or one of several import crops regularly grown and sold in a...

While the United States is now one of the strongest countries in the world, at its founding, it was plagued by controversies over the ratification of the Constitution, the Louisiana Purchase, and the expansion of slavery. Using a...

Examine the results of recent opinion polls on where people stand on the issue of the death penalty. In groups, middle schoolers examine various cases dealing with this issue and discuss the judgments. They write their own argument for...

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...

The transition between rebellion to reunification was not smooth after the Civil War. Young historians compare primary and secondary source documents in a study of the Reconstruction era in Virginia, noting the rights that were not...

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...

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...

Your vote matters! An informative activity focuses on the Nineteenth Amendment and explains how it paved the way for universal voting rights. Young historians analyze several documents and a complete a worksheet, describing the impact of...

Students identify the basic freedoms of citizens in the United States.  In this Bill of Rights lesson, students act out scenarios about the Bill of Rights.  Students create a picture book describing the rights they've acted out.

Which countries implemented women's suffrage before the 19th amendment went into effect in the United States? Which countries still do not allow women to vote? Watch the global spread of women's rights in an interactive timeline...

Test your government students' knowledge of the National Government with this review worksheet. Posing five true/false questions and five multiple choice questions about elements of the National Government, this activity could serve as a...

Prompted by a viewing of Emiko and Chizu Omori’s Rabbit in the Moon, a documentary about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, high schoolers examine a series of documents, including the Bill of Rights and the UN’s...

Fifty prompts make up a crossword puzzle that challenges scholars to show what they know about the U.S. Constitution. 

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...

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

Explore the importance of rules in a community with the engaging first instructional activity of this series on the US government. To begin, children play a paper clip game that requires them to make up their own rules as they go,...