In
May of 2005 Congress passed a law stating that "every school and college
must teach about the Constitution on September 17th, the day the
document was adopted in 1787."
The following sites have excellent resources lesson plans, and book
lists to help you and your school site prepare meaningful experiences
for your students as they celebrate their citizenship and learn more
about the American Constitution.

Click
on the image to the right to visit the
Interactive Constitution.
The National Constitution Center provides this free online tool to
search the US Constitution. You can search by
KEYWORD, TOPIC, or SUPREME COURT CASES.
Be sure to check the outstanding video clips available in
United
Streaming.
If you teach middle school or high school, be sure to visit the
interactive lessons in
Curriculum Pathways
(Contact the Helpdesk for your
login or password)
Constitution Day Portals
The following websites have
created specific material and collected links to resources developed for
Constitution Day celebrations.
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Videos and Live Programming
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United
Streaming has many outstanding video clips and projects that are
perfect for instruction on Constitution Day. Navigate to
http://www.discoveryeducation.com
and login. In the box titled "keyword" type in the word
Constitution. Sort by age, grade, or standard. They have 38 video clips
with blackline masters and teachers' guides. You'll also find excellent
articles and digital copies of the Constitution and Declaration of
Independence. Two of the videos also include
student role playing projects and
research. (Gambling and Judicial Review and You the Jury)
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There
are
12 video clips from Sunnylands' Constitution Project that you can download from the
Annenberg Classroom site. Three supreme court justices, Sandra
Day-O'Connor, Stephen Breyer, and Anthony Kennedy discuss landmark cases
and the role of judges with students from California and Pennsylvania.
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Online
Quizzes and Lessons
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The
Congress for Kids web site has three short quizzes about general
information about how our government works. After students take the
quizzes they can take a tour of the federal government. After each
section of the tour, there are interactive puzzles for students to test
their learning. (Click here for an excellent
index of the activities on this site.)
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Scholastic News.Com has an
online
"Do You Know Your Rights" Game for students to test their
knowledge of the U.S. Constitution.
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Scholastic also hosts an
online
"Constitution Quiz." (There is a link to a print version
as well.)
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Visit Scholastic.com in
collaboration with the National Constitution Center for an
online scavenger hunt that introduces students to portions of
the U.S. Constitution.
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Lesson
Plans
Elementary |
Secondary
Elementary
Middle School/High School
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Source Documents and Additional Resources
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