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This year National Constitution Day is celebrated in schools on Friday, September 16th. We know the importance of studying history and hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to teach your students about citizenship, our national heritage, and the principles of democracy upon which this nation was founded.
History is best taught by reading and analyzing primary documents. We suggest that you print out, read together and discuss the Constitution and Bill of Rights with older elementary, middle and high school students. The Constitution and its amendments provide the foundation of our democracy. Our nation's founders brilliantly laid out the checks and balances of the three branches of the federal government as well as the important balance among individual, state and federal rights and responsibilities.
Please see below for links to websites with printable and online activities, including lesson plans, resources and ideas for ways to incorporate Constitution Day in your instructional time.
National Constitution Center
www.constitutioncenter.org/ncc_progs_Constitution_Day.aspx
The website includes both general information, a great basic video that presents the reason for and process of writing the Constitution and many resources for students in elementary, middle and high school.
Virtual Field Trip: Signing the Constitution onSeptember 16, 2011 from 9 a.m. Classrooms around the country can join the National Constitution Center via live webcast for a special demonstration. Educators can register to join the event on the Constitution Center’s website: www.constitutioncenter.org/ncc_progs_At_the_Center.aspx#naturalization-ceremony
Interactive Constitution http://ratify.constitutioncenter.org/constitution/
Bill of Rights Game (for elementary students) www.constitutioncenter.org/BillOfRightsGame
Constitutional Timeline www.constitutioncenter.org/timeline/
The National Archives: www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/
The National Archives presents many primary resources to help teachers teach about the U.S. Constitution.
The Founders’ Constitution: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/tocs/toc.html
The site provides many primary source documents that would have influenced the philosophies of the Founding Fathers. The site also has the full text of the Constitution.
Constitution Day:
This website contains lesson plans and resources for all grade levels. www.constitutionday.us/educators.htm
Also available are transcriptions of the original documents and a newsletter to sign up for and ideas for how to celebrate this special day.
3History.com:
This website provides videos and text resources to teach the context and background for the writing of the Constitution.
America Gets a Constitution—video. www.history.com/videos/america-gets-a-constitution#america-gets-a-constitution
General information on the writing of the Constitution and quick links to People & Groups, Themes, Events and Related Topics. www.history.com/topics/constitution
National Center for Civic Education:
The center has free lesson plans posted for all grade levels. www.civiced.org/index.php?page=constitution_day
The center also sponsors “We the People” and “Project Citizen” K-12 civic curriculum on American founders and the Constitution.
PBS: Article and discussion questions. “Why Celebrate Constitution Day?” www.pbs.org/georgewashington/classroom/constitution_day2.html
This lesson plan is best suited for middle or high school students.
