Eleventh graders analyze primary sources for evidence of intent and purpose. In this American government lesson plan, 11th graders compose a one-page response explaining their understanding of "justice." Students read and examine quotes...

Students examine the Preamble to the Constitution. In this government lesson plan, students read the Preamble of the Constitution and define the meaning of unknown words. Students write about examples of how the Constitution protects our...

Eighth graders examine the United States Constitution and identify the beliefs and values Americans follow today. In groups, they compare and contrast state's rights and federal rights and the issues affecting them. They debate the...

Learners begin the lesson by comparing and contrasting two state constitution's preambles. After identifying the themes in the state preambles, they compare the U.S. Constitution's preamble to the states. They work together to write...

Students investigate the concept of human rights by focusing on the Vietnamese people. They conduct research about the South Vietnamese prisoners and how they have been treated during the conflict and in modern times. A research report...

Students identify Articles of Confederation and explain why it failed, explain argument over need for Bill of Rights in Constitution and James Madison's role in securing it's adoption, and compare and contrast ideas of Federalists and...

Students identify the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation and explain how these shortcomings lead to the creation of the Constitution. They explain why the Bill of Rights was added to the constitution and identify six freedoms...

High schoolers describe the ideas found in the core democratic values. In groups, they design and create a brochure explaining how the values relate to other ideas that Americans accept as a nation. They share what they know with with...

Learners define federalism, Federalist, and Anti-Federalist, debate issue of ratification in classroom convention, and take vote on whether to add bill of rights. Three lessons on one page.

Learners analyze United States Constitution, locate general references to common defense, and specific references in document to U.S. Navy. Students then respond to questions on Document Analysis Worksheet, and discuss relationship...

Students examine Constitution and what it says about war-making power, contrast roles and responsibilities of executive and legislative branches of government when it comes to making war, become familiar with important 20th and 21st...

Young scholars participate in a constitutional convention to debate whether Australia should become a republic. They form small groups to represent various sides of the debate such as parliamentary republicanism, popular republicanism...

Students explain the differences between the three branches of government. Using the structure of a democracy, they listen to text about the United States Constitution. They discover how their government affects their lives in negative...

Students design a booklet that explores the Bill of Rights. They summarize each of the rights, write a personal response to each entry and create an illustration to interpret each of the rights. Students then make a cover and title page...

Students examine and discuss the philosophical differences that arose during the Constitutional Convention and how these differences played a role in the formation of the first political parties.

Students examine the structure and function of the United States government established by the Constitution. They also explore the problems the country faced under the Articles of Confederation.

Young scholars describe demographic, economic, political and geographic features of the U.S., summarize events leading to the creation of the Constitution and describe the process of amending the Constitution.

Students receive an overview of the role and purpose of taxes in American history. They identify different types of taxes implemented by the US government and explain the origin of the federal income tax.

High schoolers explain in what ways the American experience in self-government can be called an adventure in ideas. They evaluate positions on a number of issues related to the fundamental principles and values of government and...

Students consider modern applications to the Bill Of Rights (how does Ammendment 4 apply to locker searches?) students prepare and role play a mock trial to explore the finer points of the relevance ot the Bill of Rights in the 21st...

For this classroom rules worksheet, students come up with class rules and write them in the form of the constitution. Students can come up with as many rules as the teacher assigns.

In this social studies worksheet, middle schoolers look for the words that are related to the theme of the worksheet. They also work on the skills of spelling and word recognition.

Students experience famous historical documents that were initiated and propelled by signatures such as Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution. They create a school amendment using the information gathered.

Students discuss the often conflicting viewpoints of the framers of the Constitution. One Framer in particular, George Mason, strongly objected to the creation of the Constitution. His objections are explored and the Constitutional...