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Constitution Day Resources
Constitution Day (or Citizenship Day) is observed on September 17 in recognition of the adoption of the United States Constitution and to those who have become U.S. citizens. It is observed on September 17 because that was the day the Framers at the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787. Universities, schools, and other public institutions observe the holiday on the weekday closest to September 17 with opportunities to learn about and honor the oldest, continuously operating constitution in the world. The following materials were researched, reviewed, and developed to for K-12 educators to use in their school and classroom celebrations.
United States Constitution
US Constitution.pdf
Constitution Day Brochure
2011ConstitutionDay-brochure.pdf
This brief 4-page fold-over document can be distributed to teachers and parents and includes background information, and a basic set of links to primary sources, lessons and other information related to the Constitution. There is also a short list of children’s literature.
Children’s Literature for Constitution Day
This is an 8-page list of nonfiction, biography and fiction for children of all ages. These materials emphasize not only the writing of the constitution, but also how it has been applied to many issues in American history such as the Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Suffrage, and issues of property, publishing, religion, child labor and more.
Constitutional Rights Foundation-Constitution Day Resources
(free registration required for download)
http://www.crf-usa.org/constitution-day/constitution-day.html
Here is a great selection of hands on activities to learn about the Constitution divided into grade range sections.
Constitution Day Activities
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=391
These online games and activities from Scholastic will be great for upper elementary and middle school students.
Constitution Quizzes
http://www.constitutionfacts.com/?page=quiz.cfm
These online quizzes about the Constitution and the Framers could be used as motivating whole class background building activities or at the end of a unit of study.
U.S. Courts – The Federal Judiciary
http://www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources/ConstitutionResources.aspx
Here are resources about the role of the courts in America’s constitutional system.
Plays
Boston Plays
http://www.crfcelebrateamerica.org/index.php/holidays/4th-of-july/75-boston-plays
The Boston Plays are skits about problems the American colonists had with the British government. Explain that America was once ruled by England and then read the Boston Plays with your students. Share the related amendments from the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights, having students guess which amendment addresses the situation presented in each play. Grades 3-5
Constitutional Convention Play
This original Constitutional Convention play by Matt Dixon works best for middle and high school. It focuses on the major compromises involved in resolving the major differences among the states as the Framers struggled to set up a new central government.
Constitution Day Play: The Tinker Case
Teachers may choose to do this play as a reader’s theater, a radio theater, or a regular play with the different scenes. It makes the constitution come alive for students because it looks at the document as it applies to issues in contemporary life. The case under study, Tinker v Des Moines is one related to student protest.
The Constitutional Convention
ConstConvention Play_MS&up.pdf
Written by Brenda Covert, this play focuses on the differences among the Framers and how they dealt with those widely divergent perspectives. Humor and gossip make the play vary approachable for students from upper elementary on.
Primary Grade Lessons and Activities
Primary Grade Lessons and Activities
Bill of Rights Coloring Activity
http://www.illinoisfirstamendmentcenter.com/coloring_books.php
Constitution Day Rap
http://new.civiced.org/resources/curriculum/constitution-day-and-citizenship-day
What Is Authority?
http://new.civiced.org/resources/curriculum/constitution-day-and-citizenship-day
The Constitution: The Country’s Rules
http://new.civiced.org/resources/curriculum/constitution-day-and-citizenship-day
What’s Fair in a Free Country?
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/first-amendment-whats-fair-free-country
Matching Game with the U.S. Constitution
http://new.civiced.org/resources/curriculum/constitution-day-and-citizenship-day
Grades 3-4 Lessons and Activities
Character and Citizenship Education: A Class Citizenship Tree for Elementary Students
Gr2-4Character&Citizenship.pdf
First Amendment: What Fair in a Free Country?
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=339
Constitution Day: Concentrating on the Preamble (scroll to September 2005)
http://www.texaslre.org/lessonplans/lessonplans_archive.php
The Preamble
Preamble Hand Motions
Comparing California’s Constitutional Provisions on Religion to the U.S. Constitution
Gr4-CAProvisionsReligion&1stAmend.pdf
Levels of Government in California
http://www.learncalifornia.org/doc.asp?ID=761
Grade 5 Lessons and Activities
Picture Sort
Mayflower Compact
Hand motions for the Preamble
How Was the Constitution Used to Organize the New government?
Introducing the First Amendment
Visitor from Outer Space (Choosing Our Most Important Rights)
http://www.crf-usa.org/constitution-day/constitution-day.html
Grade 6 and 7 Lessons and Activities
Aristotle – In Search of the First Constitution
Aristotle-In Search of Best Constitution.pdf
Hebrews and Western Law
(Requires free registraion to access)
http://www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria16_4.htm
Lessons from the Roman Republic
http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_roman.htm
Meeting at Runnymede: The Story of King John and Magna Carta
http://www.crf-usa.org/foundations-of-our-constitution/magna-carta.html
Luther Sparks a Protestant Reformation: How It Relates to the First
Amendment
RevLuther SparksReformation-1stAmend.pdf
England’s Glorious Revolution
Will You Sign This Petition?
http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/resources/lesson.aspx?id=13953
Grade 8 Resources and Activities
Freedom of Assembly: The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention
Persecution of the Mormons
http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-17-1-b.html
Freedom of Speech and Press: Frederick Douglass
Warm Up/Review Questions Using First Day Covers: The Thirteenth Amendment
The 14th Amendment and the "Second Bill of Rights"
http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-7-4-b.html
First Amendment and Political Cartoons
(scroll to the middle of the page)
http://www.channelonenetwork.com/teacher/articles/2007/01/02/1_voice/lessons.html
Visitor from Outer Space
http://www.crf-usa.org/constitution-day/constitution-day.html
Grade 10 Lessons and Activities
Hebrews and Western Law
(Requires free registraion to access)
http://www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria16_4.htm
Magna Carta: Cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/magna-carta-cornerstone-us-
Will You Sign This Petition?
http://www.freedomforum.org/packages/first/curricula/educationforfreedom/L07main.htm
England’s Glorious Revolution
http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-25-3-england-glorious-revolution.html
Yellow Journalism: William Randolph Hearst
The Sedition Act of 1918
Grades 11-12 Lessons and Activities
Historical Analysis of Constitutional Amendments
ConstitutionHistoricalAnalysis.pdf
Freedom of Assembly: The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention
Warm Up/Review Questions Using First Day Covers: The Thirteenth
Amendment
The 14th Amendment and the "Second Bill of Rights"
http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-7-4-b.html
1st Amendment Religion and Public Schools
You Are Free to Exercise
http://www.freedomforum.org/packages/first/curricula/educationforfreedom/L06main.htm
First Amendment and Political Cartoons
(scroll to the middle of the page)
http://www.channelonenetwork.com/teacher/articles/2007/01/02/1_voice/lessons.html
Warm Up/Review Lesson Using First Day Covers: Brown v Board of Education
Brown v Board of Education: School Segregation, Equal Protection
http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Case.6.aspx
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969): Student Speech, Symbolic Speech
http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Case.10.aspx
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988): Censorship, Student Press Rights
http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Case.15.aspx
Arizona’s Immigration Law: SB1070 and State Policing of Immigration
http://crfimmigrationed.org/index.php/stuff/arizonas-sb1070-and-state-policing-of-immigration
What is Meant by Returning to Fundamental Principles?
1stPrinciples.pdf