This is a searchable database of the cornerstone documents of our government. It has more than 100,000 digitized copies of the National Archives most popular and significant manuscripts, photographs, maps, drawings and other documents.
The guide introduces educators and students to the National Archives' ARC. Searching in ARC to learn more about National Archives' historical documents could enrich a classroom activity, a homework assignment, or a research project.

This DBQuest activity has student explore and analyze primary source documents (preambles and introductory text of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution) to begin to understand the thinking behind the formation of our United States govenment.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

Website Description:
This lesson gives an article-by-article overview of the structure and function of the U.S. Constitution. Students learn about the duties and powers of the three branches, the amendment process, and the role of the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. (Note: Anatomy of the Constitution now includes content previously covered by the lesson Directions for Democracy.)
Got a 1:1 classroom? Download fillable PDF versions of this lesson's materials!

Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
*Explain the structure, function, and powers of the U.S. government as established in the Constitution.
*Identify the roles of the three branches of government.
*Describe the constitutional amendment process.
*Interpret the intentions of the Preamble of the Constitution.

This WebQuest has students explore the definition of the role of the President, what tasks are part of the job, the departments and cabinet that support the President, and their role in passing and carrying out laws. .

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students through their iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

The Center for Civic Education helps students develop (1) an increased understanding of the institutions of constitutional democracy and the fundamental principles and values upon which they are founded, (2) the skills necessary to participate as competent and responsible citizens, and (3) the willingness to use democratic procedures for making decisions and managing conflict. Ultimately, the Center strives to develop an enlightened citizenry by working to increase understanding of the principles, values, institutions, and history of constitutional democracy among teachers, students, and the general public.

C-SPAN's Constitution Clips makes the U.S. Constitution come alive by providing teachers and students with video clips from C-SPAN's Video Library of the Constitution in action. Click on any text link or image link to view video clips correlating to their respective section of the U.S. Constitution

iCivics offers a variety of different ways to engage in the celebration of Constitution Day. They offer a simple one-day lesson, but also expand to more in-depth WebQuests, DBQs, and online games related to the Constitution and its effect on our government and our way of life. To gain full access, educators must establish a free account.

This website offers a wide variety of ready-to-use lessons related to the Constitution for students K-12. Developed by the Center for Civic Education, the lessons include: matching with the US Constitution (K); the Constitution Rap (1-3); Basic Ideas in the Preamble (3-6); 9/11 & Civil Liberties (3-5, 9-12); Citizenship & the Constitution (9-12); and so many more topics that lend themselves to celebrating Constitution Day or for a more in-depth study of our government & the founding documents.

iCivics presents a comprehensive, short-form video series explaining the text, history, and relevance of the United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, and additional amendments.

"Students will explore the idea of different responsibilities in their community and analyze images that highlight the jobs of the three branches of government as outlined in the Constitution. This Civics for All of US distance learning program is available for groups of 10 or more students free of charge.

Each program will be led by one of our educators located at National Archives sites, the Center for Legislative Archives, and Presidential Libraries across the country. After submitting your program request, you will be connected to an available National Archives educator to confirm your reservation.

We require that the requesting educator or another educator from your institution be present during the student distance learning program to observe the session and support classroom management.

Check out the teacher guide for this program for optional pre- and post program activities.

The Constitution Rules! Teacher Guide Download includes lessons and activities to help students construct their own classroom constitution!

Programs are also offered as regularly scheduled interactive webinars. Registration is required, but there is no minimum attendance prerequisite.

Questions? Please contact civics@nara.gov."

This webquest gives students an overview of our Constitution, its parts, why it was written, what it does, and what changes have been made.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

This interactive guide to the U.S. Constitution provides the original text and an explanation of the meaning of each article and amendment. The guide is an excellent research tool for students to use to gain a deeper understanding of one of our nation’s founding documents and the establishment of the federal government.

Website Description:
Magna Carta, Montesquieu, the Mayflower, and more! Follow this WebQuest through history to the events, people, and documents that inspired the writers of the Constitution.
This WebQuest serves as an introduction or review. Students will learn how documents from the Middle Ages and thinkers from the Enlightenment had an impact on the system of government that was formed in the Constitution, and how that has an impact on them today.

Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to...
*Identify documents and ideas that shaped the U.S. Constitution
*Compare American and British governing documents
*Explain key constitutional principles and their impacts

We're revisiting the origins of United States government and rights.

Long before we could decide and insist upon what they mean to us, a handful of powerful men had to put pen to paper. We're revisiting two episodes from our Foundational Documents series: The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. This is the story of how these now-indispensable documents came to be during a time when independence and unity was new and highly vulnerable.

Our understanding and interpretation of these documents has grown and changed in the hundreds of years since they were ratified. Take some time to get reacquainted.

This DBQuest activity has students explore and analyze George Washington's cover letter to the Constitution, which served as an introduction and kick off for the nations's Constitution. Washington's cover letter gives background to the process of creating our Constitution but is also persuasive to its intended audience.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

Why are the founding principles essential for a free society? This civics and government lesson plan was developed to facilitate instruction and discussion concerning the United States’ founding principles versus totalitarian systems of government. Students will contrast a totalitarian system of government with the founding principles of the United States as established in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

The founders left three groups out of the Declaration of Independence: Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, and women. This is how they responded.

A few years ago, Civics 101 did a series revisiting the Declaration of Independence, and three groups for which the tenants of life, liberty, and property enshrined in that document did not apply. We bring you all three parts of that series today.

Part 1: Byron Williams, author of The Radical Declaration, walks us through how enslaved Americans and Black Americans pushed against the document from the very beginning of our nation’s founding.

Part 2: Writer and activist Mark Charles lays out the anti-Native American sentiments within it, the doctrines and proclamations from before 1776 that justified ‘discovery,’ and the Supreme Court decisions that continue to cite them all.

Part 3: Laura Free, host of the podcast Amended and professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, tells us about the Declaration of Sentiments, the document at the heart of the women’s suffrage movement.

Role of the engineer as patent expert and as technical witness in court and patent interference and related proceedings. Rights and obligations of engineers in connection with educational institutions, government, and large and small businesses. Various manners of transplanting inventions into business operations, including development of New England and other US electronics and biotech industries and their different types of institutions. American systems of incentive to creativity apart from the patent laws in the atomic energy and space fields. For graduate students only; others see 6.901.

Website Description:
Take a close look at the structure of Athenian democracy and how it influenced the U.S. government. In this lesson, students explore the democratic ideals and practices of the ancient Greeks and search for evidence of them in the U.S. Constitution.

Student Learning Objectives:
* Identify political institutions and principles in ancient Athenian democracy
* Explain the organization of Athenian democracy and the importance of citizenship
* Analyze the purpose, strengths, and shortcomings in the rules and structure of Athenian democracy
* Discover aspects of Athenian democracy found in the U.S. Constitution

Website Description:
In Do I Have a Right? students run their own firm of lawyers specializing in constitutional law. They decide if potential clients have a right, match them with the best lawyer, and win their case. The more clients you serve and the more cases you win, and the faster your law firm grows!

Do I Have Right? includes:
*Full edition or a Bill of Rights edition
*Option to play in English language or Spanish language
*Option to hear or mute English voiceover, music, and/or sound effects