Web Lesson Sites & Web Quests
U. S. Constitution
Site
Focused Grade
Bands
National Archives
Experience
Elementary/Middle/High
National Archives
Constitution Day
Elementary/Middle/High
National Constitution
Center
Elementary/Middle/High
Library of Congress
Elementary/Middle/High
Bill of Rights Institute
Elementary/Middle/High
The White House
Elementary/Middle/High
Center for Civic
Education
Elementary/Middle/High
National Endowment
for the Humanities
Elementary/Middle/High
Vicki Blackwell’s Best
Elementary/Middle/High
The Constitution for
Kids
Elementary/Middle/High
Created by James Bryan
September 1, 2008 (updated)
Description
Lessons and activities on the
Constitution. Question section.
This is another site maintained by
National Archives on the US
Constitution.
The National Constitution Center
created this section to help teachers
teach the Constitution and other
civic-related topics to students of all
ages.
The National Library of Congress
also maintains a web site for
materials on Constitution Day.
There is a special section for
teachers.
Lessons and teacher resources are
provided at this site.
This site contains links to
Constitution facts, quizzes, and
other resources.
The Center will post lessons at their
web site in August for celebrating
this day.
This site contains lessons for
teachers as well as materials for
families and students.
A teacher has reviewed some
lessons from the web and other
sources, and she provides what she
considers the best ones for you at
her web page.
The site provides facts about the
Constitution for students at
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Web Address
http://www.archives.gov/national-archivesexperience/charters/constitution_q_and_a.html
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constituti
on-day/
http://www.constitutionday.us/
http://thomas.loc.gov/teachers/constitution.html
http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/constitution/
http://www.civiced.org/index.php
http://edsitement.neh.gov/ConstitutionDay/constitut
ion_index2.html
http://www.vickiblackwell.com/constitutionday/inde
x.htm
http://www.usconstitution.net/constkidsK.html
Web Lesson Sites & Web Quests
U. S. Constitution
Site
Focused Grade
Bands
Description
different age ranges.
This is a web quest that allows
students to explore the
We Were There…*
Middle/High
Constitution.
This is a web quest that allows
students to explore the Constitution
The US Constitution* Middle
designed by a middle school teacher.
This is a web quest that allows
The Five Freedoms of
students to explore the First
Elementary/Middle
the First Amendment*
Amendment of the Constitution…
This is a web site that provides
Constituional Rights
lessons for teachers to use. There
Elementary/Middle/High
are also PowerPoints that you can
Foundation
purchase.
* The web quests were provided by Don Simmons, Lexington 2 School District. He reminds
then adapt/change as they see fit.
Created by James Bryan
September 1, 2008 (updated)
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Web Address
http://babylon.k12.ny.us/usconstitution
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/marston/constitution
/
http://www.milforded.org/schools/harborside/edoyle/f
reedom/webquest.html#Resources
http://www.crfusa.org/constitution_day/constitution_day_home.ht
m
teachers that they should examine the web quests first, and
Title
Books on the U. S. Constitution
Author
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution
If You Were There When They Signed the
Constitution
The Constitution
Declaring Freedom: A Look at the Declaration of
Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the
Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Jean Fritz
Behind the scenes at the Constitutional Convention. Ages
7-11.
Elizabeth Levy, Joan Holub
Discussion of the Constitution. Ages 9-12.
Marilyn Prolman
From the Cornerstones of Freedom Series. Ages 9-12.
Gwenyth Swain
This book discusses how government works. Ages 9-12.
R. Conrad Stein
From the Cornerstones of Freedom Series. Ages 9-12.
We the Kids follows three youngsters and one dog as they
get ready for a camping adventure, and their story is told
through the Preamble. Ages 5-10.
Describes how the Constitution was drafted and ratified.
Age 7.
This books tells boys and girls about the Constitution,
explaining exactly what it does, as well as how it affects
and protects people today. Ages 8-10.
Drafting the Constitution: Weighing Evidence to Draw
Sound Conclusions. Age 5-8.
This is the stories of the men behind the Constitution are
as powerful as the nation it created. Ages 12 and Up.
The book is from the beginning of the Constitution to the
present age and explains the how's, why's, and who's of
everything involved in the development of our Constitution.
Age 5-8.
We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of
the United States
David Catrow
More Perfect Union
Betsy Maestro
The U. S. Constitution and You
Syl Sobel
Drafting the Constitution: Weighing Evidence to
Draw Sound Conclusions
Founders: The 39 Stories Behind the U.S.
Constitution
Our Constitution (I Know America)
Created by James Bryan
September 1, 2008 (updated)
Discussion
Kristin Eck
Dennis Brindell Fradin
Linda Carlson Johnson
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Suggested Activities
Suggested by James Bryan
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Write an essay on one of our rights that stated in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.
Have students draw a political cartoon/editorial cartoon that illustrates one of our rights in the Bill of Rights.
Have students go to Daryl Cagle’s Professional Cartoonists Index site, http://www.cagle.com/, and search for a political cartoon that
illustrates one of our rights. Have them copy and paste it to a MS Word Document, and then explain the cartoon and its relation to
our Bill of Rights. (There is a teacher guide at his site.)
Create a wall or bulletin board of pictures and articles of people exercising the rights guaranteed to them in the Constitution. Using
magazines and newspapers, you can do this activity.
Hold a discussion on how the Constitution is present in each of our lives on a daily basis. What rights do students use on a daily
basis?
Have students search the Constitution for sections that they feel apply to their lives, and then students will write a paragraph on
how the section chosen does apply.
Divide the class into groups and hand each group one of the amendments in the Bill of Rights. Have them prepare and present what
the amendment means to citizens of the United States.
Use the PowerPoint available from James Bryan to review the Constitution. It is a large one, but can be emailed.
Suggested by Schools
Activities
School
Pine Ridge Middle School
E P Todd Elementary
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North Central Middle School Media
Center
Created by James Bryan
September 1, 2008 (updated)
Watched a video on the Constitution and discussed.
The plan is to have our students go outside, little ones waving flags. The principal (or
designated reader) will read the Preamble, then we will recite the pledge and sing a patriotic
song.
I usually invite any and all to come in before or after school or a recess for a couple days that
week and conduct their own research (book not Internet) and if they find out the right answer
to the question I've posed then they get a prize. One year they were to find a picture of George
Washington's false teeth. I knew I had a great picture of it in one of the books. They were
sworn to secrecy so they wouldn't share the information with their friends. Each one who
completed the process to the end not only got a little prize but also their name went into the
pot for a bigger door prize drawing. I explained that if they went out and told everyone they
would just have less of a chance of winning the door prize since there would be more and more
names in the pot than would have ordinarily been. They cooperated and it was a big hit.
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