Elementary Activities for Constitution Week

"Laws, Rights and Responsibilities"

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Civics/CIV0012.html

This teaching unit, "Laws, Rights and Responsibilities," is an interaction-based plan providing strategies designed to promote student thinking about and reacting to the content.  The strategies provide opportunities for students to recognize not only the rights protected by the Constitution but also the responsibilities of each individual exercising these rights. Worksheets are included that may be duplicated for student use. These worksheets could be combined into a booklet containing organized information on laws, rights and responsibilities.

Character and Citizenship Education:
A Class Citizenship Tree for Elementary Students

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Civics/CIV0014.html

Adventures of a Tired King

www.crf-usa.org/constitution_day/adventures_tired_king.pdf

This short lesson introduces students to the three branches of government as they assist a hypothetical king with his daily tasks in a fairy-tale type kingdom. (From Adventures in Law and History, Vol. II)

A Visitor From Outer Space

www.crf-usa.org/constitution_day/4b5_visitor.pdf

In this lesson, students must reach consensus on the rights they value most. (From V.O.I.C.E., Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago.)

Mr. Madison Needs Some Help

www.crf-usa.org/constitution_day/4b5_mr_madison.pdf

Here are three lessons to choose from or implement as a unit. The first lesson provides background on the Constitution, the second engages students in helping James Madison develop a Bill of Rights, and the third focuses on the First Amendment. (From Adventures in Law and History, Vol. II)

Teaching the Constitution

http://www.usconstitution.net/constteach.html

Younger Student Suggestions
Understand the concepts embodied in the Constitution

Depending on the class level, the actual Constitution itself may be too advanced. Using the Constitution for Kids Page or any one of a number of books likely available in your library, you can introduce the concepts.

Suggested books

• ... If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution by Elizabeth Levy
• Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz
• The U.S. Constitution and You by Syl Sobel
• If you have access to video equipment, Schoolhouse Rock has several relevant songs

Suggested discussion questions

• What is voting? Talk about voting in everyday life: making a choice in the lunch room is a form of voting, for yourself. What if there was a vote for what to have for lunch? What if pizza always won, would that be fair to those who vote for chicken? How could the chicken voters influence some of the pizza voters to switch?
• What is a state, and what is a country? What if the United States were actually 50 different countries? How would it be if you had to have a passport to travel to a neighboring state? What if people from other states had to pay a fee to eat in the restaurants in your town? What if another country attacked a neighboring state? What are the advantages of being a part of a larger country? What are the advantages of being a part of a state?
• What is slavery? What is it about skin color that made it so white people held black people as slaves? Could eye color be used instead of skin color, or hair color, or height? Would it be fair if blue-eyed people had to do all the work and brown-eyed people got to tell The Blues what to do? Why was it important that skin color be no different than eye color in terms of how people are treated?
• Why is there a difference in how the House and Senate seats are divided up? If House seats were divided by state size, rather than state population, what states would have the most seats? Which would have the least? Do these list match the actual seat counts at all?
• Why was it important to compromise when making the Constitution? Small states wanted all states to have the same number of representatives; large states wanted the seat count based on population. Explain why each group wanted what it did. How did the Framers compromise on this issue?
• List some of the individual rights: speech, religion, assembly, etc. Is there any right which is more important than the others? Why? Is there any right that is less important? Why? It has been found that school newspapers can be censored or edited by the schools - is this fair to students? Why is it a good idea, or a bad idea, for school papers to be edited or censored?
• What is "separation of powers"? Why is it important that no one person or group hold too much power? Explain the relationship between Britain and the colonies - does this explain why the United States Constitution ensures that power is spread out over the three branches? Does any branch have too much power? Should any branch have more power?

Coloring Pages for Kids

http://www.usconstitution.net/constteach.html#color

Elementary Lessons from the Center for Civic Education

http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=elementary_school

The Constitution for Kids

http://www.usconstitution.net/constkidsK.html

Constitution Day Lessons

http://www.ja.org/programs/programs_supplements_constitution.shtml

JA Worldwide® has developed five lesson plans on the U.S. Constitution that can be downloaded and used in conjunction with Constitution Day. In addition,

 the National Council for the Social Studies publication, Social Education. Lessons can be accessed and downloaded below.

• Grade Level: Elementary Grades K-2

• Grade Level: Elementary Grades 3-5

Picture Books and the Bill of Rights

http://www.constitutioncenter.org/education/ForEducators/LessonPlans/BillofRights/5489.shtml

This lesson is designed to acquaint students with sections of the Bill of Rights through the use of Caldecott Medal Books and other picture books.