National Constitution Center
American Treasures
Just how long did it take the framers to write the Constitution? What role did the drafting process play? Scholars examine various drafts from the Constitutional Convention to gain a better understanding of its formation. Interactive...
Curated OER
United States Constitution Framers
Young scholars view a PowerPoint presentation based on the framers of the Constitution. Students create notes on each of the delegates featured. Using their notes, they write a paragraph on the Constitutional Convention delegate they...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
If Men Were Angels: Teaching the Constitution With the Federalist Papers
Much like the methods of group work, the writers of the Federalist Papers worked together to advocate for their viewpoints against the anti-federalists. The resource enables learners to break into small groups and conduct research before...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 2 James Madison: The Second National Bank—Powers Not Specified in the Constitution
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...
Judicial Branch of California
Constitution Hall of Fame
Using a tableau activity, class members consider who they want to include in a Hall of Fame to honor the framer of the Constitution. Other activities include using a tableau to act out the various sections of the Constitution and related...
Curated OER
James Madison: From Father of the Constitution to President
Students investigate reasons why James Madison is called the "Father of the Constitution." They discuss three events during his presidency that raised constitutional questions and look at Madison's opinions of those questions. They...
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
Those "Other Rights:" The Constitution and Slavery
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...
National Endowment for the Humanities
James Madison: Raising an Army—Balancing the States and the Federal Government
To war! To war! Every nation in the history of the world has had to deal with warfare on some level. Scholars go through a series of activities and discussions surrounding the development of the Constitution to help them better...
Curated OER
The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said
Students critique the Creation of the U.S. Constitution. They list some ideas proposed and debated during the Constitutional Convention. Discussion of the important issues requiring compromise are examined.
Curated OER
Creating a Classroom Constitution
Youngsters identify and interpret the importance of having rules in order to maintain order at home, at school, in their community, and in the United States. They create a working Classroom Constitution that governs the classroom and...
Digital History
The New Nation
George Washington and the new nation of the United States of America faced many problems in their inaugural years. Use this activity as a straightforward approach to learning about the reasons the country was experiencing a lack of...
PBS
Constitution Day
September 17, Constitution Day so named because that was the day in 1787, that 39 men signed the Constitution, is the focus of a series of activities designed to simulate a Constitutional convention and open a study of the US Constitution.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Creating the Office of the Presidency
The United States needed an executive power, but it wanted to avoid a monarchy. Using James Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention, young historians look at the juggling act the Founding Fathers did to create a role for the...
Curated OER
The Constitutional Convention: Four Founding Fathers You May Never Have Met
Students read biographies of their assigned Founding Father. They present an oral argument that their assignee deserves to be better known by making connections between regional politics and postions defined by character.
Curated OER
Constitutional Convention
Students engage in a role-playing situation to illustrate the kinds of compromised that were made a teh Constitutional Convention. They write three short 1-2 paragraph arguments and then present their arguments to the class at the...
Oakwood Publishing
Workshop 4: Constitutional Convention
How do new amendments become part of the US Constitution? AP government students explore, analyze, and use the US Constitution to develop a deep understanding of the interworkings of law and government while practicing synthesis and...
Curated OER
Constitution Test Review
Your class needs to prepare for a test on the US Constitution, but how? Pull out a handy slide show that contains nothing but perfect test preparation questions. Everything from Shay's Rebellion and the Articles of the Confederation to...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Creation of the Bill of Rights: “Retouching the Canvas”
While the Constitutional Convention lay the foundation of the new government for the United States, the protections given under the Bill of Rights were controversial. Using documents, such as James Madison's and Thomas Jefferson's...
Curated OER
Major Compromises at the Constitutional Convention
In this Constitutional Convention compromises worksheet, students fill in the 20 blanks in 4 paragraphs regarding the details of 4 compromises made at the convention.
Curated OER
Why was the Constitutional Convention Necessary?
Eleventh graders explore the steps leading up to the Constitution. In this American Government lesson, 11th graders practice document based questions. Students create a letter that describes how a person felt during this...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Classroom Constitutional Convention
Students investigate the eight phrases that comprise the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to determine its principles and purpose. Their own Constitutional Convention is convened to craft a preamble for their school's governance.
Curated OER
The Constitutional Convention
Students simulate the Constitutional Convention. They describe how the members of the Constitutional Convention might have felt as they gathered and began the arduous and memorable task of writing the United States Constitution .
Curated OER
Constitutional Convention
Eighth graders gain a greater understanding of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and the issues surrounding the development of our Constitution. They participate in an activity and listen to lecture on the Convention, then search...
Curated OER
Formally Amending the Constitution
How easy is it to amend the U.S. Constitution? As your students will learn in this government worksheet, not very. Five true/false questions and five multiple choice questions quiz students on the process of amending the Constitution, as...