foridahoteachers.org / instructional ideas / constitution day

Constitution Day is Friday, September 16, 2005

On September 17, 1787, the United States Constitution was signed by the 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

In honor of their work, a new federal law, signed by President George W. Bush on December 8, 2004, has named each September 17 "Constitution Day." All educational institutions that receive federal funding are now being asked to hold educational program focused on the United States Constitution for their students on Constitution Day.

There are many resources and ideas available for honoring Constitution Day in our classrooms, for all grade levels.

Ideas from Teachers:

• Preamble Rewrite Activity (pdf)
  • Learn the meaning of the Constitution's Preamble by rewriting each line using today's language to make it easier to understand. (Bonus: summarization practice

• U.S. Consitution Outline (pdf)

• U.S. Constitution Crossword Puzzle (pdf)

• Branches of the U.S. Government - Summary (pdf)
  • Summary of the three branches of government and the system of checks and balances
  • Lexile: 750

• Branches of the U.S. Government - Chart (pdf)
  • Diagram the flow of checks and balances

Additional Resources:

• Complete Text of the United States Constitution

• Fascinating Facts about the U.S. Constitution

• Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional Timeline
  • Interactive, multi-media timeline activity

• Constitution Day Resources from U.S. Courts
  • One-page fact sheets (with quizzes) and interactive games

• Justice Learning: Civic Education in the Real World
  • Lesson Plans on current events and issues
  • Learners' Guide to the Constitution
  • Search existing lesson plans (Gr. 6-12) or submit your own

• U.S. Constitution .net
  • Links to a wide variety of information and resources
  • Includes information pages for grades K-3, 4-7, and 8-12

• National Archives: Observing Constitution Day
  • Information on each of the 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention
  • Lesson plans and facts
  • Directions for simulation game

• Lesson Plans from EDSITEment (National Endowment for the Humanities)
  • "Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?" (Gr. 3-5)
  • "The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said" (Gr. 6-8)
  • "James Madison: From the Father of the Constitution to the President" (Gr. 9-12)

• Lesson Plans from Congress Link
  • Collection of upper-level, detailed lesson plans

• Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids
  • Organized for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12