If Constitution Day sneaks up on you every year, I am right there with you. September is busy. There are routines to practice, you are still getting to know your students, assessing beginning-of-year skills, trying to get small groups going, and all the other things on the list! And right in the middle of it, you remember you need Constitution Day Activities for elementary students.
I always feel a big responsibility to do a great job teaching such an important subject, but I also do not have gobs of time to devote to my planning and preparation.
A bit of background you may or may not know: Constitution Day is observed each year on September 17 to commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. For schools receiving federal funds, the U.S. Department of Education states that an educational program about the Constitution is required on September 17, with an adjustment when the date falls on a weekend.
And it is a great time for your students to learn a bit of history, as well as strengthen your classroom community!
I have tried it a couple of different ways, but I think working activities into all of my content areas rather than creating a separate day to teach it works the best!.
I have found that you don’t have to teach every detail of the Constitutional Convention to make Constitution Day worthwhile. The goal is to help students begin to understand that the Constitution is an important document and that it affects the country they live in.
I have some activities listed below that my students love to do each year! If you are short on time, just pick your favorite, but if you are feeling it, work in all four or even come up with a couple of your own.
4 Easy Constitution Day Activities for Elementary Students
1. Read a Kid-Friendly Constitution Passage
One of the easiest ways to introduce Constitution Day is with a short informational text.
Students can learn:
- What the Constitution is
- Why it was written
- When it was signed
- What Constitution Day celebrates
- Why the Constitution is important
For younger students, look for a passage with short sections, kid-friendly vocabulary, and opportunities to stop and discuss what they are learning.
You can turn the activity into a reading lesson by having students:
- Before reading: Ask, “What do you think a constitution is?”
- During reading: Stop to identify important facts.
- After reading: Have students share one new thing they learned.
This gives you a Constitution Day activity while still incorporating reading comprehension.
2. Create a Class Constitution
This is one of my favorite ways to make the idea of a constitution more concrete for young children. We do this after reading the book, “We the Kids.” If you do not have a copy, you can listen to it on YouTube! To begin a class constitution, I like to ask:
“What would we need in our classroom to make sure everyone can learn and feel safe?” Then, students brainstorm rules, rights, responsibilities, and expectations.
You might end up with ideas such as:
- We will be kind.
- We will listen when someone is talking.
- Everyone gets a chance to learn.
- We will take care of our classroom.
- We will help others.
- We will use materials responsibly.
Then record some of those great ideas on chart paper and let students sign their name. There is something pretty dang special about writing your name with a marker in kindergarten, am I right?
3. Make Constitution Day a Writing Activity
Constitution Day is also a great opportunity to sneak in some writing. Depending on your students’ abilities, you could ask: “What freedom is important to you?” or “What would you include in a classroom constitution?” You can differentiate the writing expectations.
- Kindergarten students might draw a picture and dictate a sentence.
- First graders might complete a sentence frame.
- Second graders might write a short paragraph explaining their idea.
This is a great example of how you can make one Constitution Day topic work for several different learners without creating three completely different lessons.
4. Explore the Meaning of “We the People”
The words “We the People” are a wonderful starting point for a discussion with young students.
Ask:
Who are “the people”?
What does it mean to be part of a community?
How can people work together?
Why do we need rules and laws?
You can even connect this discussion to your classroom. Instead of thinking about the Constitution as something distant and complicated, students begin to see that communities have rules and that people have responsibilities to one another. That connection makes the lesson much more meaningful for elementary students. That makes your Constitution Day activities feel like instruction rather than “one more thing.”
If you want to do some of your own Constitution Day planning, there are some excellent free resources available online.
Free Constitution Day Activities for Elementary Students
Library of Congress Constitution Day Resources
The Library of Congress has gathered Constitution Day resources specifically for teachers. You’ll find primary sources, interactive materials, lesson ideas, and additional Constitution resources.
Explore Constitution Day resources from the Library of Congress
Their collection includes primary source documents and teaching resources related to the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the creation of the United States government.
National Archives Constitution Day Resources
The National Archives also has a collection of Constitution Day activities for educators and students, including activities through DocsTeach and other online resources.
Explore Constitution Day activities from the National Archives
DocsTeach
If you want to bring primary sources into your lesson, DocsTeach is another great option. The National Archives uses the platform to provide online teaching activities based on historical documents.
Explore Constitution activities on DocsTeach
Want to Make Constitution Day Activities for Elementary Students Even Easier?
If the thought of finding a passage, creating comprehension questions, making writing organizers, coming up with math practice, and putting together digital slides sounds like more planning than you have time for…I can help!
I have created a resource for Constitution Day that contains many different activities and printables. There is even a Google Slides component that pretty much eliminates all prep! It was designed with busy elementary teachers in mind and gives you a variety of printable and digital activities you can use during Constitution Day or Constitution Week.
The resource includes an emergent reader, comprehension activities, graphic organizers, writing planning pages, a writing checklist, publishing pages, a freedom poem, leveled math problems, a class constitution, and a close-reading passage. There are also corresponding digital activities for Google Slides and PowerPoint.
You can use just a few pages for a quick Constitution Day lesson or pull activities from the resource throughout Constitution Week.
Take a look at the Constitution Day Worksheets & Activities on Teachers Pay Teachers → The goal isn’t to make Constitution Day another giant thing on your teacher to-do list. It’s to give you meaningful, age-appropriate activities that are ready when you need them.
Don’t Let Constitution Day Become Another Thing on Your To-Do List
There are so many special days and holidays during the school year that it can feel impossible to do them all well.
You don’t need an elaborate bulletin board.
You don’t need a five-day unit.
You don’t need to spend hours searching Pinterest for Constitution Day activities.
You just need a simple, meaningful way to introduce your students to the Constitution and give them an opportunity to think about what they learned.
Whether you choose one reading passage, have a quick class discussion, create a classroom constitution, or spend the week exploring the idea of rights and responsibilities, you can make Constitution Day work for your classroom without letting it take over your schedule.
And if you’re the teacher who realized on September 15 that Constitution Day is coming up on the 17th…
I’ve got you.
Grab the ready-to-use Constitution Day Worksheets & Activities here !
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