U.S. Constitution Fact Sheet




This one-page document is a clear and simple handout.  Presenters can use this document with middle school students to help them familiarize themselves with key dates, facts and vocabulary pertaining to the United States Constitution. 
 

How do you use it?

This document is geared to teachers as well as students, but could be mined for information for judges or other presenters to use in a lecture or talk.  

Teachers and judges could pass the one-pager out to students in third through eighth grade either prior to a judge coming into talk or after a judge has left.  It would work either as a good introduction or a strong follow up for the teacher to use and the children to keep.

Caution:  This one-pager is less a stand-alone resource than as an adjunct to a lecture, discussion or other kind of narrative presentation of the Constitution. 


Who is the audience?

This resource is informative and educational, and tailored toward the strengths of children at an mid-primary through high-school level.  Even relatively young students can interpret the timeline, the component glossary and list of "Did You Know" facts, while older students can visit the links for additional information.
  

What other resources will complement this?

  1. Amazing Amendments — Document from Scholastic.com (P, M) 
  2. Argument Wars — Game from iCivics (H)
  3. Constitution Day Rap — Lesson Plan from the Center for Civic Education (P) 
  4. Courts in the Classroom — Videos from the Judicial Council of California and the Administrative Office (P, M, H)
  5. Matching Game with the Constitution — Lesson Plan from the Center for Civic Education (P)
  6. The Constitution: The Country's Rules — Lesson Plan from the Center for Civic Education (P)
  7. What Basic Ideas Are In the Preamble to the Constitution? — Lesson Plan from the Center for Civic Education (P)


Additional Recommended Resources | Off-Site Links
  1. A Constitutional Timeline
    • Multi-aged audience timeline that highlights key dates in history of Constitution, with links to text, audio and video clips. From National Constitution Center's Constitution Day site. 
  2. Interactive Constitution
    • Multi-aged audience site that enables users to search Constitution by keyword or topic, with access to explanatory materials throughout. From National Constitution Center.   
  3. The Annenberg Guide to the United States Constitution
    • Multi-aged audience site that lists the text of each section of every article in the Constitution, and provides explanation of what the text means in plain language.  From the Leonore Annenberg Institute of Civics. 
  4. Understanding the Federal Courts
    • Multi-aged online textbook-type document that includes sections on Article III, the Federal Court system and the geographical boundaries of the Courts of Appeal and the District Courts, the code of conduct for judges, juror qualifications, exemptions and terms of service, as well as categories of bankruptcy cases.  From the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts.

Comments