National Endowment for the Humanities
Using Historic Digital Newspapers for National History Day
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...
PBS
Constitution Day
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...
Curated OER
Our Classroom Constitution
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...
Curated OER
You Can Say That Again!
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...
Curated OER
A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution
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...
Curated OER
The Bill of Rights in Current Events
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...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.9
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...
Curated OER
After: A Study of Individual Rights
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...
Curated OER
Exploration of the Bill of Rights
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...
Curated OER
You Decide
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.
Curated OER
Citizens Together
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....
Curated OER
The Bill of Rights
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...
Curated OER
Bill of Rights
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,...
Curated OER
School Bill of Rights
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...
Curated OER
Bill of Rights -- Americans with Disabilities Act
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...
Curated OER
The Federalist Papers
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,...
Curated OER
Are We Free Yet?
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.
Curated OER
Human Rights And Civil Rights
While he may not be as well known as civil rights activists such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X, Ralph Bunche's contributions certainly made him a leader in the struggle for civil rights in the United States and...
Curated OER
We the People
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...
Curated OER
Bill of Rights
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.
Curated OER
Documents and Symbols and American Freedom
Learners complete a unit of lessons on the documents, symbols, and famous people involved in the founding of the U.S. government. They create a personal bill of rights, write a found poem, design a flag, conduct research, and role-play...
Curated OER
The American People, “Creating a Nation”
In this early American history instructional activity, students read noted pages in their textbooks and then respond to 7 short answer questions regarding the U.S. Constitution and its formation.
Curated OER
American Government Worksheet 1
In this American government worksheet, students respond to 12 true/false, 11 alphabetical order, 15 fill in the appropriate articles, 15 matching, and 1 cryptogram about the structure of the American government.
Curated OER
The Illustrated Bill of Rights
Students shoot Bill of Rights videos. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students film digital segment that illustrate the meaning of the first 10 amendments. Students integrate the video clips into PowerPoint presentations.