The Classroom

We the People: Lessons for U.S. Constitution Day

Christy Walters

Sep 10, 2024

On September 17, our country recognizes U.S. Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. This date commemorates the day in 1787 when 39 political leaders signed a document recognizing the rights of all people born in the United States or who have been naturalized as American citizens.

Help your students explore the preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments of the world's oldest written and longest-surviving national constitution with our social studies and ELA resources.

Teach students about the foundations and impacts of the Constitution in social studies

The Constitution is the foundation of the United States government as we know it. Help students explore the events that led to its creation, influencing voices and documents, and how we interpret its contents today with Newsela Social Studies:

Explore the U.S. Constitution

Help students get acquainted with the Constitution and its framework by exploring resources like:

The full text of the Constitution of the United States of America at five reading levels in both English and Spanish.
An explainer article that breaks down the roles of state and federal governments.
James Madison’s notes from the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where delegates debated the election processes for the legislative and executive branches of government.

Discover the foundations of the Constitution

Other documents paved the way for the Constitution, and historical events set the scene to help some political leaders realize the need for change. Help students better understand their implications with content in both English and Spanish, like:

The full text of The Articles of Confederation, the U.S. governing document that preceded the Constitution.
A primary source comparison that looks at excerpts from the Magna Carta in 1215 and the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and how they each limited the power of central government and protected individual liberties.
An explainer article about Shays’ Rebellion, a 1786 armed uprising in Massachusetts to oppose the state government’s tax increases despite the existing debt crisis.

Teach how the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists debates influenced the Constitution

In early America, Federalists and Anti-Federalists were two major political groups. Federalists believed in a strong central government to guide the nation, while Anti-Federalists believed in giving state and local governments more power. Teach students how debates between these two groups led to ratifying the Constitution with resources like:

An explainer article about the differing opinions of Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
An interactive video that explains the purpose of the Federalist Papers and how they influenced people to accept the Constitution.
An article that examines the Anti-Federalist causes and gives background on some of its biggest supporters.

Meet some of the Framers of the Constitution

Introduce students to some of the Founding Fathers who helped influence and shape the ideas recorded in the Constitution, like:

President James Madison and how his belief in freedom of the press shaped the First Amendment.
President Thomas Jefferson and how his beliefs about religious freedom also shaped the First Amendment.
George Mason, a Founding Father who opposed slavery and rejected the constitution compromise that perpetuated it.

Learn more about the minds and governments that influenced the Federalists

Those who contributed to the Constitution got some ideas from philosophers and other governments. Help students explore some of these influences:

Teach how ancient Greek democracy influenced how the Founding Fathers structured the new U.S. government.
Introduce students to philosophers whose ideas influenced the structure and content of the Constitution.
Share an explainer article about the origins of the term “social contract” and how it impacts the American political system.

Discover how the Constitution became a compromise

Federalists and Anti-Federalists had to learn to compromise when creating the Constitution. Teach students how each group had to bend to have their ideas included:

Share an interactive video about how representatives from all 13 states had to compromise about what information was included in the Constitution.
Assign an article that breaks down some of the most essential compromises in the Constitution, like the separation of powers and how each state received representation in the federal government.
Read about what was known as the Great Compromise, a deal the Founding Fathers struck at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to resolve disputes between big and small states about their congressional representation.

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Teach students how the government can amend the Constitution

The U.S. Constitution is considered a living document because government leaders can change and update it over time as the needs of citizens change. Teach students what it takes to amend the Constitution with resources like:

An explainer article that looks at how amendments start: Either as a proposition from Congress or a constitutional convention.
An article that explains the history of the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments added to the Constitution.
The full text of Amendments 11-27 of the constitution, which cover subjects like changes to presidential elections and term limits, abolition of slavery, and giving women the right to vote.

See how the Constitution addresses race

Initially, the rights and privileges of being a U.S. citizen extended only to white male landowners. In fact, the original text of the Constitution protected enslavement and helped enslavers. Future amendments revised the document to abolish the practice. Teach students more about how the country’s views of slavery evolved:

Share an article about how the Constitution protected enslavement with things like the “three-fifths clause.”
Discuss how not all of the Constitution’s framers agreed with slavery and how they navigated the moral implications of including it in the document.
Extend the lesson by having students act as journalists from the 1780s and creating an informational flyer documenting the role of enslavement in the Constitution.

Inquire if the U.S. Constitution created a just government

Though the Constitution is one of our country’s most important documents, people still question if it created a truly just government. Explore this inquiry with your students by:

Assigning a staging task where students read the preamble to the Constitution and discuss whether or not our government fulfills the goals established in the document.
Looking at the document’s text, structure, representation, and omissions to look for evidence to support or refute that the Constitution created a just government.
Asking students to write an argumentative essay as a summative performance task using the claims and evidence collected throughout the inquiry to prove their point.

See the Constitution at work today

Though it’s over 200 years old, the Constitution still affects our lives today—and still has the potential to receive more amendments. Help students examine current events and evaluate them through the lens of the Constitution with content like:

An infographic that explains how the three branches of government affect and interact with each other.
An article that explains the concept of the Electoral College and how delegates elect a president rather than an election relying solely on the popular vote.
An article that discusses how individual states still have power to create their own laws, such as five states approving laws that remove racist language and symbols from public spaces.

Dive into the words, writers, and implications of the Constitution in ELA

In your ELA classes, use this holiday to look deeper into our government’s historical documents and the people who wrote them with content and activities that spotlight the value of words in our nation’s history.

See what it took to write the U.S. Constitution

Every piece of writing starts with an idea—including historical documents! Teach students about the ideas that contributed to writing the Constitution and help them practice evaluating details to determine key ideas:

Play an interactive video that explains what the Constitution is.
Share primary source excerpts of James Madison’s notes from the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where the Founding Fathers argued and compromised on which ideas should appear in the document.
Read about how ordinary American citizens—such as African Americans, artisans, and small farmers—viewed the Constitution in the late 18th century.

Learn more about Alexander Hamilton and his Constitutional contributions

Alexander Hamilton is a famous historical figure for many reasons, including being one of the top contributors to the ideas of the Constitution. Teach students more about his involvement with the document’s creation:

Watch an interactive video about Hamilton’s writing desk and how he used it to write important documents like the Federalist Papers.
Read one of Hamilton’s letters to Revolutionary leader James Duane, detailing the faults he found with the Articles of Confederation, which predated the Constitution.
Read some of Hamilton’s Federalist Papers essays to learn more about his arguments in favor of creating a new Constitution.

Teach students how we interpret the U.S. Constitution today

Help students dig deeper into the freedoms outlined in the Constitution and how battles over these issues continue to shape the United States today:

Assign an interactive video about the freedom of the press and how it’s a basis for the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights.
Give students an overview of the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment—Freedoms of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly—and how they’ve evolved.
Explore the pros and cons of the argument “Should we update the Bill of Rights?”

Explore the Legacy of the U.S. Constitution

Beyond interpretations of the document, you can teach students how we see the Constitution at work every day in the country. Use resources like:

An informational article that explains how and why we celebrate Constitution Day and Citizenship Day each year.
A news article that examined the class-action lawsuit filed by students and parents against Rhode Island officials claiming the state didn’t do enough to prepare students for civic responsibilities like voting or jury duty.
An article that examines how Supreme Court justices think about and interpret the Constitution when hearing a case.

Explore more historical content with Newsela’s subject products

You can teach about the U.S. Constitution and other significant world and U.S. history topics all year with Newsela’s knowledge and skill-building products. If you’re not a Newsela customer yet, sign up for Newsela Lite to start your free 45-day trial and get access to all our premium differentiated content and activities.