Close Up Foundation
Rights Auction
In an engaging activity on universal and unalienable rights, learners work in groups to establish a democratic nation and determine what principles they want to protect to ensure a democratic society. They conduct a "rights auction" in...
Curated OER
The Preamble
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...
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Decoding Strategies
Young readers apply decoding strategies to identify unknown words. In this reading activity, they read the Preamble and practice using decoding strategies. Small groups rotate to five charts that have questions regarding the Constitution...
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The Bill of Rights
Students classify the Bill of Rights. In this U.S. Constitution lesson, students complete provided readings and worksheets in order to define, identify and analyze each of the amendments and explain why they were included in the...
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Constitution Lesson Plan
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...
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The Decision to Americanize the War in Vietnam
Students research the major events of the Vietnam War and construct a timeline. They do the same with the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson or the 1960's. They act as an advisor to President Johnson to recommend a course of action...
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Comparing Constitutions
Students compare and contrast plans for government. In this government systems lesson, students compare and contrast the U.S. Constitution to the constitutions of selected countries using the provided checklist as a guide. Students...
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Are We the People?
Students investigate their elected officials and their roles. In this governmental leadership lesson, students discuss the Constitution and research their elected officials. They also organize the information they find regarding the...
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Looking at Constitutions
Students work in groups to research and examine Constitutions from various countries. In this government and public interests lesson, students analyze primary and secondary documents to make a comparison between constitutional documents...
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Two Nations Struggle for Independence
Students compare the struggle for independence of the United States with that of India. They review the idea of "British Rule" as it affected both countries. Explore the idea of taxation as a way to control the resources of a country....
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Understanding the United States Constitution
Students discuss the United States Preamble and Constitution. In this United States government lesson, students discuss the differences between rights and privileges and construct a chart that lists some of our rights as citizens....
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Writing a Classroom Constitution
Middle schoolers work together to write a Constitution for their classroom. As a class, they discuss the need for laws and how the concept of compromise is important. In groups, they compare the process they used for writing the...
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Why We Chose Our Constitution
Students examine the American plan for government. In this American government lesson, students examine selected Internet websites regarding the Magna Carta, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.
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Launching the New U.S. Navy
Students analyze the U.S. Constitution for references to the creation and management of the U.S. Navy. They discuss their research and complete a worksheet and then research how the current Navy is organized.
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Benjamin Franklin, Elder Statesman
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...
Facing History and Ourselves
Socratic Seminar
New to the socratic seminar format? Check out a resource that not only provides the rationale for the procedure and step-by-step directions, but also provides a list of suggested topics, rules and model statements.
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A Ststistical Study on the Letters of the Alphabet
In this Statistics and Probability learning exercise, students create a line plot for the first 100 letters in the Preamble to the constitution and compare their frequency distributions to the actual frequency distribution. The one...
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Government by the People
Middle schoolers explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning lesson, students examine primary documents regarding the founding of the United States. Middle schoolers analyze section of the U.S. Constitution and the...
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What Constitutes a State?
Students examine the differences between various state constitutions in the United States. Then, using their own
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Constitution Week
Students prepare one-minute broadcasts about events leading to the writing of the Constitution and current issues in the next election. Students read their broadcasts on the school P.A. system each morning during Constitution Week.
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We the Second Graders
Students study the history, development and meaning of the Constitution. They participate in a classroom simulation of the Constitutional Convention by writing a Preamble, developing a government, and writing a Bill of Rights for their...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 3, Lesson 1
Scholars examine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and analyze the ideas in the preamble. Readers define new vocabulary words, listen to a Masterful Reading, answer questions in pairs, participate in a jigsaw discussion, and...
Curated OER
Constitutional Crossword Puzzle
In this constitutional worksheet, students review, discuss and answer nine clues regarding the constitution and then place each answer in a crossword puzzle.
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Constitution Day
Students discuss the need for rules in their community and classroom. Using this information, they identify the authority figures at their house, at school and in the community. They are read a book about following the rules and listen...