Who would've guessed that a document written over 200 years ago would still have a lot to teach us today? A set of folder games incorporates parts of a newspaper to teach about the Constitution and how it still applies to life...

Fourth graders delve into the United States Constitution in a unit designed to boost reading comprehension, grammar, and writing. During each lesson, scholars read through and discuss a new chapter and work with prefixes and verbs....

The language of the Constitution can feel quite ominous to young learners, but there are a variety of strategies you can utilize to help your class grasp the important concepts and ideals in our nation's founding document. This lesson...

Class groups investigate the economic and political implications of a country's policies on genetically modified foods, craft a position paper detailing that policy, and share their findings with the class. Armed with this...

The census has been a part of the American landscape since the Constitution was written; however, it does have a history of controversy. Class members use a guided reading and simulation activity on developing census questions to...

How much power should a president be allowed to exert? Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt exercised their power according to their interpretations of the United States Constitution, and these interpretations affected the...

Third graders identify roles of Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution in establishing new country, create posters with their ideas about each part of Constitution, and explain three branches of government, including their...

Here is a wonderful way to introduce your learners to the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. There are 16 questions designed to generate thinking and discussion questions about the Fifth Amendment. This lesson plan is extremely...

Going green? Scholars investigate the creation of the US National Park program. Through diary entries as well as expert testimony, they synthesize information and analyze the need for conservation and preservation. Finally, they display...

Fourth graders explore the information of the index of the Constitution. In this Constitution and Bill of Rights lesson, 4th graders complete a worksheet by locating keywords in the index. Students understand the importance of using an...

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...

Can a negative perception of a president's foreign policy harm his or her historical legacy? A project that winds the clock back to the date of Theodore Roosevelt's death puts students at the editorial desk of a fictional newspaper....

Could you pass a citizenship test? As part of their study of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and the immigrant experience, class members are presented with a sample citizenship test.

Ben Franklin was the only American to sign The Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the US Constitution. An interesting resource explores his role in the latter by comparing the US...

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,...

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.

Though the movement for Women's Suffrage stretched over several decades and across two centuries, the final few years were the most difficult hurdle in many ways. Use a document-based question writing exercise to make inferences about...

For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...

Students explore U.S. history by participating in a government activity. In this Constitution instructional activity, students identify the role government plays in our society and the differences the British colonies had in the early...

If your school requires a senior research paper or if you are considering one for your class, then this resource is for you. The 43-page packet includes everything from a sample letter to parents to requirements, from topic suggestions...

Feeling stuck? Want to energize the class? Use activities such as quizzes and fill-in-the-blank worksheets to get class members' attention with a year's worth of holiday celebrations. From Mother's Day to Robert Burns's birthday,...

Students in an adult ESL classroom are introduced to the definition of freedom of speech. Using the internet, they discover the differences between the rule of law and rule of men. To end the lesson, they examine how the court system...

In this American government worksheet, students respond to 12 true/false, 11 alphabetical order, 15 fill in the appropriate articles, 15 matching, and 1 cryptogram about the structure of the American government.

Students write a paragraph summarizing the rights and responsibilities of owning a gun, including penalties for owners of guns which injure or kill. This less is designed for students acquiring English.