Does a Christmas display on government property violate the Constitution? Learners study the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and learn about the landmark Supreme Court case Lynch v. Donnelly through watching a...

1983 Supreme Court case Marsh v. Chambers, which centers on whether opening a legislative session with a prayer violates the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the US Constitution, is the focus of a series of discussions and...

What do hula hoops and the American system of government have in common? Using hands-on station activities, pupils consider the roles of the three branches of government. A script for teachers and writing prompts help round out a...

Ever wish your class could travel back in time and witness the making of the Constitution firsthand? This plan makes the classroom come pretty close. Eighth graders simulate the process of creating a constitution and design their own...

Your learners will take a trip through history as they peruse through historic digitalized newspapers, reading real articles from such historical periods in the United States as the Temperance movement...

Travel back to 1787 as young scholars investigate the creation of the US Constitution. After first working in small groups to create sets of classroom rules, students go on to read a summary of the Constitution and watch a short video...

Develop a system of classroom rules created by the kids, for the kids with this three-part lesson series on the US Constitution. After learning about the structure of the Constitution and the government it established, young...

A discussion of the Supreme Court’s Opinion of Tinker v. Des Moines generates a discussion of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment. Although the key elements of this activity are based on a video that is not included, the...

Provide your class with an opportunity to investigate an important historical document. Without identifying the document, distribute copies of the original Bill of Rights, as transcribed by John Beckley, Clerk of the House of...

Sit back, relax, and transport to 1787! This lesson on the Constitution begins with guided imagery of the Constitutional Convention. The class reads A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution in an...

Divided the class into pairs, each group is assigned one of the amendments. They use the internet to research current cases and issues involving their amendment. They are then lead into the introduction to some of the basic concepts of...

Guided by close-reading questions, groups examine the similarities and differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they look at how the principles are presented in these two foundational US...

Use the dystopian novel After by Francine Prose to spark discussion about individual and student rights. Learners read the novel, evaluating how far a school can go to control its attendees. As they read, scholars...

Research the Bill of Rights and the necessity for each of the protections that it provides. They choose one of the rights and, pretending to be a framer of the Constitution, give a speech as to why that should be included in the...

What a cool worksheet! The full set of our Constitutional Amendments are included in this resource which helps learners know how to answer 10 questions intended to build an understanding of constitutional and unconstitutional actions.

Students examine the bill of rights as it relates to founding documents and their significance today. In this bill of rights lesson plan, students use newspapers as sources to answer critical questions regarding democratic citizenship....

Young scholars explore the Bill of Rights. In this philanthropy and citizenship lesson, students identify and explain how each of the first ten amendments protects the rights of citizens. Young scholars select one amendment to...

Twelfth graders list, describe, and illustrate the specific rights guaranteed to individuals and how they are secured. Then they examine landmark Supreme Court cases, such as, Airport Commissioner vs. Jews for Jesus, New Jersey vs. TLO,...

Students study the Bill of Rights. As a class, they create a "School Bill of Rights," with amendments. Students discuss the difference between rights and responsibilities and examine Supreme Court decisions dealing with the first ten...

Middle schoolers focus on the First and Ninth Amendments of the Bill of Rights. Before visiting a museum, they examine the Americans with Disabilities Act. During the visit, they work together with a museum member to watch a video and...

Students identify the Articles of Confederation and explain why it failed. They explain the argument over the need for a bill of rights in the Constitution and James Madison's role in securing its adoption by first Congress. Finally,...

Students read excerpts from several Freedom Documents, evaluate amount of freedom guaranteed by each document, and rank documents on scale to determine which grant greatest and least amount of personal freedom.

Students examine both the Preamble of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They work in small groups to connect the two documents and analyze how the documents are important to their lives today. They create a poster that visually...

Students analyze the U.S. Bill of Rights. They conduct research on an amendment of the Bill of Rights, complete a worksheet that matches scenarios to amendments of the Bill of Rights, and write a letter to their Congressperson.