The Civics Alliance, a coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to improving America’s civics education, and Freedom in Education have created new Constitution Week Lesson Plans. The lessons are designed for Grade 12 civics or United States history courses to lead students through a week-long discussion of the United States Constitution. Constitution Week seeks to further students’ understanding of the debates that crafted the Constitution and its amendments.
The U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787. In honor of that day, Congress in 1952 named September 17, “Citizenship Day.” In 1956, it asked the president to proclaim the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23 each year as Constitution Week. In 2004, September 17 was renamed Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. The purpose of this day is to mark the signing of what is the supreme law of the land and encourage all citizens to honor and celebrate the rights and duties of U.S. citizenship. To help fulfill that purpose, the law requires all schools receiving federal funds to hold an educational program for their students each September 17. This lesson is part of a week of lessons on the Constitution produced by the National Association of Scholars in order to enable schools to meet the requirements of the law.
Contact: David Randall, Executive Director, Civics Alliance; Director of Research, National Association of Scholars