20 Resources To Help You Celebrate Constitution Day

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” is a motto that rings true for the writers of the Constitution. 

After realizing that the Articles of Confederation would not work, they decided to start from scratch and create a new system of government under the Constitution. Luckily, this one proved successful (with a few amendments of course) and has been in existence ever since. On September 17, 2016, we will celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the final draft of our Constitution. Although it falls on a Saturday this year, you can still celebrate one our country's most important events throughout the week with these 20 awesome lessons and resources!

1. Discovery Education Constitution Day Content Collection

Discovery Education has curated a variety of resources to assist students with exploring the history, purpose, and legacy of the United States Constitution. Activities range from videos, images, and lesson starters, to creative research-based strategies that incorporate digital media in meaningful and effective ways. Georgia educators, make sure you contact us at education@gpb.org for information about your free Discovery Education accounts. 

2. DocsTeach

DocsTeach is a special page devoted to teaching the U.S. Constitution and is filled with primary sources and learning activities related to the historic document. Students can analyze a search warrant and decide whether it fulfills the necessary requirements of the Fourth Amendment, learn about Article I of the Constitution and how it details the six powers of Congress, or go into depth about the 15th Amendment and women’s suffrage. The possibilities are endless!

3. Teaching the Constitution with PBS LearningMedia

PBS LearningMedia has a collection of assets that support teaching the fundamentals of the Constitution. The selected materials will help students understand the issues involved in the creation and ratification of the document and its continuing significance. Get started with PBS LearningMedia, by signing up for your free account on their home page.

4. Lesson Plans from the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress has listed lesson plans and activities that are available here. View the Constitution with marginal notes by George Washington, or have your class analyze and vote on which amendments they would select for ratification. 

5. Technology and the Fourth Amendment

Make the rights protected in this amendment relevant to your technologically savvy students by presenting them with these ten case studies related to technology and searches. They will explore historic and current cases raising technological challenges to the Fourth Amendment and can evaluate how the Fourth Amendment and these Supreme Court decisions will impact them in the future.

6. The Electoral College

The election is only a few months away. Use this time to share information about the Constitution’s provision for a system of electors to elect the president and the vice president with this lesson from C-Span. Once the activity is complete, they should be able to define the Electoral College and determine the number of electors appointed to each state. 

7. Current Events and the Constitution

Every day offers new opportunities to teach about different current events related to the Constitution. The New York Times has a vast amount of resources that help with making it a living, breathing document that is relevant in today’s society. The newspaper has also published a detailed article about how to teach using current events. Read it here.

8. Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!

Apply landmark Supreme Court cases to contemporary scenarios related to the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments with assets from United States Courts. Once students read a modified version of particular Supreme Court cases, they are assigned roles and engage in a remodeled Oxford style debate. It is sure to spark engaging arguments that will enlighten everyone in the room. 

Credit: GPB / File

9. Room for Improvement

Compare and contrast the similarities and differences of the three branches of government and discover how the Constitution solved the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation using this simple but informative lesson plan from Ohio State University. 

10. Go Artistic with Political Cartoons

Scour the Internet or newspapers looking for political cartoons related to the Constitution and analyze the cartoons together. Next, challenge your students to illustrate their own constitutional cartoons related to current events. 

11. Constitution Day Scavenger Hunt 

Develop an Internet scavenger hunt to familiarize learners with important provisions of the Constitution and ask them to cite where in the Constitution they found the information. Working in groups is likely the most effective way to complete this activity. There are plenty of sample scavenger hunts online for inspiration. 

12. Create a Classroom Constitution

Teach students about fairness by collaborating and creating their very own classroom constitution with this great activity from Scholastic. 

13. To Sign Or Not To Sign

This exercise by the National Constitution Center gives students insight into differing arguments from the Anti-Federalists and Federalists regarding ratification of the Constitution. Elementary and middle school students have a conversational play between John Jay and Elbridge Gerry, while high school students will participate in an engaging debate. 

14. Simple but Complex

From learning the steps of how a bill becomes a law to the ins and outs of the checks and balances system, icivics.org has created a series of activities that teach the intricate details of how our government works. Check them out here! 

15. A Living Document

Scholastic explains the different ways the Constitution can be changed in this great lesson. It also enlightens students about why our Constitution is considered to be a living document that changes to fit the needs of the people in our society. 

16. What’s the Main Idea?

Take a deep dive into the text of the Constitution and analyze its six main ideas with the National Archives.  

17. Great Activities for All

Education World has a variety of lesson plans and resources for a wide range of age groups. Activities include interviewing the signers of the Constitution, creating a new amendment and learning about James Madison.

18. Rap about the Constitution

Teach your first and second grade students this fun rap about the Constitution. Then, place them into groups and inspire them to create their own!

19. Get Up Close and Personal with the Preamble

The preamble may be short in length, but it provides the purposes and principles of our government. Get your students to analyze the Preamble using this fun activity from civiced.org. 

20. An Interview with the President!

Want to show your students why our Constitution is so important in today’s society? Have them watch this interview of our President by two Scholastic News Kids Reporters. Then, have students create a short speech with additional reasons as to why they believe the Constitution is important today.

What are you doing to celebrate? Share some of the things you do with your students below!