In May of 2005 Congress passed a law stating that "every school and college must teach about the Constitution on September 17th, the day the document was adopted in 1787."

The following sites have excellent resources lesson plans, and book lists to help you and your school site prepare meaningful experiences for your students as they celebrate their citizenship and learn more about the American Constitution.

Be sure to check the outstanding video clips available in United Streaming under the Video Link section and the interactive lessons in Curriculum Pathways if you teach middle school or High School.

To view a larger image of the US Constitution at the National Archives

Constitution Day Portals

The following websites have created specific material and collected links to resources developed for Constitution Day celebrations.

• The California Regional Service Learning Network funded the creation of the following website that is filled with recommended lessons, resources, activities, and booklists for Constitution Day.
   

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Videos and Live Programming

• United Streaming has many outstanding video clips and projects that are perfect for instruction on Constitution Day. Navigate to http://www.unitedstreaming.com and login.  In the box titled "keyword" type in the word Constitution. Sort by age, grade, or standard. They have 38 video clips with blackline masters and teachers' guides. You'll also find excellent articles and digital copies of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Two of the videos also include student role playing projects and research. (Gambling and Judicial Review and You the Jury)
   

• ITV Cable 16, NPR's Justice Talking and the New York Times Learning Network are hosting live programs and debates that will be available for classroom use to celebrate Constitution Day 2005. (September 16th)
   

• Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer will talk about the Constitution with high school students at the Supreme Court. They will discuss why we need a constitution, what federalism is, how rights are defined and how separation of powers ensures that no one branch of government obtains too much power. For these resources and more visit: http://www.justicelearning.org

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Online Quizzes

• The Congress for Kids web site has three short quizzes about general information about how our government works. After students take the quizzes they can take a tour of the federal government. After each section of the tour, there are interactive puzzles for students to test their learning.

• Scholastic News.Com has an online "Do You Know Your Rights" Game for students to test their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution.

• Scholastic also hosts an online "Constitution Quiz."  (There is a link to a print version as well.)

• Visit Scholastic.com in collaboration with the National Constitution Center for an online scavenger hunt that introduces students to portions of the U.S. Constitution.

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Lesson Plans
Elementary  | Secondary

Elementary

• Ben's guide to the US Government for Kids is a great site with a Free activity book for grades K-6.  Choose one or more pages to copy. For lesson plans and a guided "slide show" by grade level, click on the link to the right, or choose by grade level link:
  Grades K-2 
  Grades 3-5.
   

• Scholastic.Com offers three complete lesson plans for Constitution Day that are especially appropriate for grades 3-8.
   

• Concepts to teach about the Constitution for Grades K-3
  Concepts to teach about the Constitution for Grades 4-7
   

• What's Fair in A Free Country? This site provides outstanding lessons that make the study of the US Constitution relevant for students by addressing real world issues such as what students have a right to say, and what they "can't" say on your campus.
   

• I Have, Who Has Vocabulary Terms for US Government Activity
   

• Scholastic News.Com has an online "Do You Know Your Rights" Game for students to test their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution.
   

• Visit Scholastic.Com for a great Time Line of the Constitution with specific links to Civil Rights, Women's Rights, The Framers of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court.
   

• The Center for Civic Education and the American Association of School Administrators have collaborated to present suggested lessons for each grade level. Some lessons at the lower levels may need some adaptation to meet the needs of your students.

Middle School/High School

• America's Freedom Documents: 10 Lessons to use to teach the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights.
   

• CongressLink: 7 Lessons to teach the Amendments, including a creative song to help students remember them.
   

• I Have, Who Has Vocabulary Terms for US Government Activity
   

• What's Fair in A Free Country? This site provides outstanding lessons that make the study of the US Constitution relevant for students by addressing real world issues such as what students have a right to say, and what they "can't" say on your campus.
   

• Should we Ratify the Constitution: This project requires students to study and then represent the positions of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists in a debate to decide if we should ratify the Constitution.
   

•  The US Constitution Power Grab Game: While playing this game students will judge the constitutional powers of each branch of the government.
   

• Conflicting Opinions Among the Framers of the Constitution In this lesson students will analyze conflicting points of view held by leading Framers of the Constitution and will present their opinions of the concerns.
   

• Each middle school and high school teacher has a licenses to access all the standard-based lessons in SASinSchool.  Go to the website and login using the login and password you were given. Click on the Social Studies tab in the Curriculum Pathway area.  You'll notice a link to Civics & Economics that will open on the left sidebar.  They have a wide selection of outstanding materials and interactivities to teach the US Constitution.
   

• Ben's guide to the US Government for Kids is a great site with a Free activity book for grades K-6.  Choose one or more pages to copy. For lesson plans and a guided "slide show" by grade level, choose from the following grade level links:
  Grades 6-8 
  Grades 9-12
   

• Visit Scholastic.Com for a great Time Line of the Constitution with specific links to Civil Rights, Women's Rights, The Framers of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court.
   

• Scholastic.Com offers three complete lesson plans for Constitution Day that are especially appropriate for grades 3-8.
   

• Concepts to teach about the Constitution for Grades 4-7
  Concepts to teach about the Constitution for Grades 8-12
   

• The Center for Civic Education and the American Association of School Administrators have collaborated to present suggested lessons for each grade level. Some lessons at the lower levels may need some adaptation to meet the needs of your students.

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Source Documents and Additional Resources

• The National Archives Experience hosts an online exhibit of the Constitution. You can view or download images of the actual documents at their site or read a number of articles regarding the Constitutional Convention and the ratification process, or questions and answers about the Constitution.

• The American Memory Site at the Library of Congress houses an online collection of the majority of the source documents related to the the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. You can view the early printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as well as hundreds of documents related to the drafting and ratification of the Constitution.

• Visit the Avalon Project at Yale University for a detailed documentary record of the Constitution of the United States.