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Constitution Day – September 17th

• Overview
• Activities
• Websites

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Overview
Did you know that September 17th is Constitution Day? In May 2005, the U.S. Department of Education announced that all educational institutions receiving federal funding must observe September 17th, as Constitution Day, celebrating the 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution. According to the guidelines put forth by the Department of Education, teachers and schools are free to design Constitution Day programming that best addresses the needs of their students.

For 21st Century Community Learning Centers that are operating during September, this can be a great opportunity to design after- school programming that can be educational and fun for your participants. And, if this date is prior to the start date of your 21 CCLC program, there’s no reason these ideas can’t be used at any time – knowledge of theour nation’s Constitution is ALWAYS important!

In schools across the country students will participate in Constitution Day activities, and these activities will be remembered even more if they are reinforced during the after-school hours. Connect with teachers working with your students during school hours, to see if there are any activities that you can build on with your after-school participants. There are many websites that are helpful in planning this day’s activities. Several of these are listed at the end of this article.

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Constitution Day Activities
To get you started here are some simple Constitution Day activities you might want to try in your after-school program;

1. Have the students write a Constitution and/or Bill or Rights for their 21 CCLC program. What are their rights and responsibilities as Center attendees?
   
   
2. Make a big, bright time-line about the writing of the Constitution. Using butcher block paper or other paper that comes on a roll, cover one or two walls in the classroom. Have students research important dates and represent them on the paper with appropriate pictures presented in chronological order. The pictures can be hand drawn or printed from the internet. Students can invite other students in to see the timeline, as they explain the important events to the other students.
   
   
3. Have students learn the basics of calligraphy and then try re-writing sections of the U.S. Constitution or students can use calligraphy to write their own Constitution. Students can even try their hand at using the quill pens our fore-fathers used to write the Constitution.
   
   
4. Students can explore signatures of the Constitution. Who’s was the largest, smallest, neatest? This is an opportunity to do research on the signers. Students can then practice writing and perfecting their own individual signature.
   
   
5. Students can make up a puzzle word hunt using words associated with the Constitution, or they can complete a word hunt already created. See http://www.nccs.net/constitution-week/preamble.pdf for ideas.
   
   
6. Students can make their own creative posters to define popular sovereignty, limited government, federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances, the key elements of the Constitution. These posters can then be displayed in the school or in the community.
   
   
7. Students can make up crossword puzzles using words related to the Constitution, or they can complete ones already created. See http://www.constitutionfacts.com/puzzles.shtml for downloadable Constitution puzzles.
   
   
8. In small groups students can research each of the signers of the Constitution and then make up an information display about the individual. They can write plays using the historical figures as the central characters. The plays can explain how the individuals arrived in Philadelphia, what they were thinking, etc. Information on each of the signers can be found at; http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/signers.html
   
   
9. Students can make a flash card game with words related to the Constitution. These cards can then be used to teach younger students. Interesting facts to put on the cards can be found at; http://www.constitutionfacts.com/glossary.shtml
   
   
10. Students can make up a song, or a rap about the Constitution. To get ideas, visit http://www.lessonplanspage.com/SSMusicBillOfRightsSong4.htm for a song about the Bill of Rights, to get ideas.
    
    
11. Students can “act out” the Preamble of the Constitution. Visit http://www.nccs.net/constitution-week/preamble.pdf for hand motions that represent the elements of the Preamble. Once students memorize the motions they can visit classrooms and younger students to explain and act out the Preamble.
    
    
12. Students can read the book; “Shh! We're Writing the Constitution” by Jean Fritz and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. Students can use this book for ideas and then they can write their own book for younger students, or use the book to read to younger students.

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Helpful Websites for Constitution Day

http://www.statelibrary.state.pa.us/libraries/cwp/view.asp?Q=113788&A=254

http://www.constitutionfacts.com/

http://www.constitutionday.us/

http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/Instructional/Resources/
ConstitutionDay/index.htm

http://www.crf-usa.org/constitution_day/constitution_day_home.htm

http://www.civiced.org/byrd/?page=General_Information