Here are resources to help you in learning more about the
United States Constitution, especially as we celebrate the second
official federal celebration on September 17, 2006.
Start off by watching this film
on Constitution Day
Students sign their
name to the Declaration of Independence
Kindergarten
/ First
Paint
an
online picture of Betsy Ross.
Then match patriotic
symbols to clear the board
A printable poster
of the Pledge
US
Symbols Matching Game
A First Grade
Webquest: Symbols
of the United States
Second
/
Third
A
Primary Webquest: Symbols
ot the United States
My America, Field Trip
Read
together the lady bug story or Read the online
story about how a Bill Becomes a Law
The
Constitution Game
Save
the Bill of Rights
Fourth
/ Fifth
Uncle Sam's Guided
Tour of Congress
A
New Nation Scavenger Hunt
An
Interactive Worksheet onf the Constitution
Other
ideas include:
- Write
a Classroom Bill of Rights
- Have
students write a speech arguing for the change of something they feel
is unfair
- Use
Timeliner, EdHelper, or Paint to create a timeline of events leading up
to the ratification of the United States Constitution
- Pretend
you are one of the Founding Fathers: Using 21st century
technology, prepare a presentation to demonstrate which rights you
believe are important in include in the Constitution and why.
- Using
Power Point or other computerized scrapbooking software,
create a scrapbook page of incidents which may have contributed to the
signing of the Constitution
- Create
a board game using events from the Revolutionary Period. The game
is finished when all have reached the space on the board where the
Constitution is ratified.
- Write
and act out a play depicting the ratification of the
Constitution. Use a digital camcorder to record your production.
- Write
a song, poem or rap about an American Citizen's rights and
responsibitlities. With a microphone, record and burn your song
onto a CD to share with your classmates.
- Use
the draw tools of Microsoft Word to create a sort of rights vs.
responsibilities. To do this, insert a table with one row and two
columns. One column would be labeled rights and the other
responsibilities. Undr the Insert menu choose Text Box. In the text box
type a right or a responsibility. Drag this box under the correct
heading. Continue adding text boxes until you have three rights and
three responsibilities. Save your document to share with classmates.
- If George Washington and Patrick Henry were
having an online discussion concerning the Constitution, what would
they be saying? Using a word processing program, you and a
classmate could type out such a discussion pretending that you were
IMing each other.
| More
Useful links |
- This site comes directly from the National Constitution
Center. It has resources for teachers, students, and federal employees.
http://www.constitutionday.us/
- These lessons come from the National Archives. There is an
interesting section called "Questions and Answers Pertaining to the
Constitution". http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution/c...
- Many resources from the Federal Government. http://www.ed.gov/free/constitution/index.html
- Constitution Day Resources for Educators, compiled by
Gwynedd-Mercy College http://www.gmc.edu/library/Constitution_Day.htm
- The Bill of Rights Institute is a non-profit organization
with a mission to develop programs and curriculum that teach students
about the founding of our nation and what it means to be an American
citizen. It includes lessons for high school and middle school, a
Founders Gallery, audio and video components. http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/Instructional/Resources/ConstitutionDay...
- These resources have been compiled by the Indiana
Department of Education. http://www.doe.state.in.us/opd/social_studies/Const_day/welcome.htm
- These lessons from the Library of Congress include a
webquest for students. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/broad/intro.html
- CQ Press soon will be posting a lesson that includes a
ready-to-teach, downloadable lesson plan. http://cqpress.com/incontext/constitution/default.htm
- You may sign up for a free membership to access materials
from the University of Virginia Center for Politics. http://www.youthleadership.net/newsroom/2005_08_17.jsp
- The Dirksen Congressional Center offers this lesson that
includes different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_teachingamends.htm
- This site includes many features for younger students,
although the site has several ads. http://www.proteacher.com/090037.shtml
- These lessons from the National Endowment for the
Humanities deal specifically with the preamble. http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=233
- This site from Evansville collects many valuable websites,
include some listed above. http://www.evsc.k12.in.us/curriculum/socstud/constitution/constday.html
- You can always count on Education World to collect valuable
resources; naturally they have materials for Constitution Day. This
page includes an interesting interview with the founder of Constitution
Day, Louise Leigh. http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat151.shtml
- Here is a direct link to Education World's lesson plans for
the day. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson347.shtml
- This has details about a video clip of Tommy Franks reading
the preamble, with plans for a simultaneous recitation of it across the
country on September 16. http://www.constitutionday.com/
- New York Times lesson plan for learning about the
Constitution from Sept. 12, 2005 http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20050912monday.html
- This page has a phenomenal number of resources, including
many primary documents. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/community/cc_wethepeople.php
- You can actually listen to the School House Rock version of
the Preamble here. http://www.school-house-rock.com/Prea.html
- There are many great resources at this site, including this
timeline, and a link to an Interactive Constitution. http://www.constitutioncenter.org/timeline/index.html
- Here are more lesson ideas from Edsitement/Marco Polo,
including "What the Founders Said". http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=402
- Short, online quiz about the Constitution http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz%20center/constit.htm
- Cyberbee has lesson ideas, mini treasure hunts, primary
sources, and interviews with Ben Franklin (AKA Bill Robling from
Philadelphia, PA). He portrays Benjamin Franklin In Philadelphia and
other places. You can also view the National Park Service tour at
Independence Hall. http://www.cyberbee.com/constitution
- Here's a nice collection of resources and weblinks geared
to younger students. http://libraries.risd.org/skylib/constitution/united_states_constitution.htm
- Those with subscriptions to EdHelper will have access to
several links. http://edhelper.com
- Marco Polo's September newsletter contains many lesson
ideas. http://www.marcopolo-education.org/MarcoGrams/Sep2005.html
- This is a direct link to a simulation where students can be
delegates to the Constitutional Convention. http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/game.html
- This is a collection of links from the Law Library Resource
Exchange. http://www.llrx.com/columns/govdomain8.htm
- Kathy Schrock's collection of sites for Constitution Day.
She has many other themed pages that you will probably find worthwhile.
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/newtheme0905.html
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We The People
