"How did the slavery system undermine the United States' democratic principles?" This question launches a study of how the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and Article IV,...

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...

Using Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, guide your class in the process of identifying unknown terms using context clues and formulating text-based answers. The lesson plan includes a useful worksheet incorporating scaffolding questions on an...

Students study the United States Constitution and create a year-long cumulative activity for social studies. In this social studies lesson, students complete activities throughout the year to learn the 5Ws for the United States...

Bring history to life for your young scholars with a Fourth of July lesson series. After a class reading of the Declaration of Independence, students translate this pivotal document into layman's terms before working in small...

Students examine and discuss the philosophical differences that arose during the Constitutional Convention and how these differences played a role in the formation of the first political parties.

Students are introduced to the lives and contributions of the first seven presidents of the United States. They, in groups, conduct further research on one of these president and his political platform and design a presentation for the...

Students explore the life and the contributions of five people from U.S. history in the five lessons of this unit. james Madison, Dolly Madison, Sequoyah, Harriet Tubman, and Clara Barton are presented to students for exploration and...

Pupils investigate American slavery from colonial times through the Civil War. They incorporate primary sources, video clips, and firsthand accounts to understand how the slavery issue gripped the nation. Essays, presentations, and...

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 utilize knowledge and understandings of the Civil War to look at the reconstructive era that followed. In this reconstructive era lesson, Students gain understanding of the definition of reconstruction by building, taking apart...

Students investigate early presidents of the United States. Students complete a series of lessons in which they research the contributions and political climate during the terms of U.S. presidents from George Washington to Andrew Jackson.

A comprehensive unit of the colonies gaining their independence from and trying to create an effective constitution establishing a new government. Find lessons, videos, and primary sources.

Over 100 choices of project-based learning activities are provided to enhance teaching U.S. Constitution and civics topics in the classroom.

National Archives and Records Administration home page on the U.S. Electoral College. Contains details on historic voting patterns as well as technical details on procedures.

Georgia Virtual Learning module on the U.S. Constitution explores the concepts of Federalism, Republic and a well informed citizenry.

Six activities teach students about the U.S. Constitution. Learn about checks and balances, the Bill of Rights, some of the history of the document, and how each of the states became a state. The site also provides teacher resources,...

This unit details how the role of the President of the United States has evolved to the position it is today since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Offers video, readings, web resources and activities.

This unit explores the timeless qualities of The U.S. Constitution, the opportunities to amend it, and how it is a pillar of the American identity, through these activities, videos, and outside resources.

Each letter of this alphabet is linked to an important aspect of the U.S. Government, e.g. "A is for Armed Forces" has a link to the Air Force. Links are made to the Bill of Rights, symbols, branches of government and The Constitution....

Inquiry based resource on the U.S. Constitution allows students to investigate the structure of the Constitution and form a critical, in-depth and informed perspective of the U.S. Government and its ability to serve as a just and...

Explore why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution and its enduring impact on defining our rights. In this interactive lesson from WGBH, students develop a written argument in response to the question "How does the Bill of...

The US Constitution and the Constitution of Florida are compared in this tutorial and how each incorporates the system of federalism. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.

A set of lessons that can be used to commemorate the anniversaries of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787. They help students to reflect on the...