How much power is too much power for the federal government? Scholars use primary documents and constitutional research in groups to analyze the creation of the Second National Bank under James Madison. This is the second lesson of a...

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, learners 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 plan series on the US Constitution. After learning about the structure of the Constitution and the government it established, young...

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...

Young scholars investigate reasons why James Madison is called the "Father of the Constitution." They discuss three events during his presidency that raised constitutional questions and look at Madison's opinions of those questions. They...

Your young historians will read excerpts from three parts of the United States Constitution—Article One, the Thirteenth Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment—and discuss how they each address the issue of slavery. 

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...

"We, the People of the State of Alabama. . ." Did you know that the Alabama State Constitution has 357,157 words while the US Constitution has only 4,400? And that it has 798 amendments while the US Constitution has...

Who should be able to vote? As part of a study of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, class members examine primary source document that reveal the reasons the authors gave to support their positions on this question and their assumptions in...

Kids who take the Regents Exam really need to know a lot of information. This is a wonderful exam review tool that includes 26 pages of questions, charts, and suggested readings to help upper graders pass the test. It focuses on all...

Upper graders read several passages to gain an understanding of the nations that have adopted a constitution similar to the United States Constitution. This is a scripted lesson that is intended to build content-specific vocabulary and...

Considering the expressed and implied powers of Congress, was it constitutional for the United States to establish the Second National Bank in the early nineteenth century? What is the constitutionality of the Federal Reserve...

To war! To war! Every nation in the history of the world has had to deal with warfare on some level. Scholars go through a series of activities and discussions surrounding the development of the Constitution to help them better...

Young historians climb through the three branches of the US government in the third lesson of this five-part series. While reading the first three Articles of the Constitution in small groups, children write facts on paper leaves...

Students critique the Creation of the U.S. Constitution. They list some ideas proposed and debated during the Constitutional Convention. Discussion of the important issues requiring compromise are examined.

The class analyzes a series of documents intended to show the events that lead to women gaining the right to vote. They play a Tic-Tac-Toe style game, make a time line with sequencing cards, and review the 4 steps of social change....

Who has the power? The founding fathers asked the same question when the United States was formed. Learners explore issues that arose during Madison’s presidency that raised constitutional questions. Through discovery, discussion, and...

Fifth graders research, examine and study about the three branches of the government and the contents of the Constitution including both the Articles and the Amendments. They create their own classroom constitution at the end of the unit.

Students examine the concept that the constitutional government guarantees that our government is not all-powerful and analyze the purposes of our government that are listed in the Preamble. They assess that equality under the law and...

Students examine the differences between various state constitutions in the United States. Then, using their own

Students 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 read biographies of their assigned Founding Father. They present an oral argument that their assignee deserves to be better known by making connections between regional politics and postions defined by character.

Pupils 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.

Learners study the powers and limitations of the three branches of the American government. They explain how the system of "checks and balances" protects the individual citizens. They explain how the amendments to the Constitution...