Constitution Day Websites and Descriptions Michigan Specific Resources

Timeline

Timeline: A State Bar of Michigan Guide for Bar Associations and Individual Lawyers

Constitution Day Websites and Descriptions

American Bar Association, Division for Public Education, “Conversations on the Constitution”

This site encourages classroom discussions and debate about the meaning of some of the Constitution’s concepts and clauses, using a conversation starter, resources, and closing the conversation format. Topics include separation of powers, advice and consent of the Senate, establishment of religion, and unreasonable search and seizure. Free copies of the Constitution can be downloaded from this site.

National Constitution Center

Materials are directed to educators, students, and community leaders, and include lesson plans and curriculum standards for several constitutional topics. The featured program is “I Signed the Constitution,” designed for Americans to affirm their rights and responsibilities as citizens and learn more about their constitution. Classroom materials include lesson plans for middle and high school, and teach to a variety of learning styles, including visual spatial and visual linguistic models. Resources for the popular “Street Law” program are included in the community leader link.

Bill of Rights Institute

The Bill of Rights Institute is a non-profit organization that develops programs and curriculums designed to teach students about how our nation was founded and what it means to be an American citizen. This website contains various educational materials for educators to use when teaching constitutional principles that define our nation.

Center for Civic Education

The Center for Civic Education, in collaboration with the American Association of School Administrators, has prepared lessons for kindergarten through twelfth grade. Elementary lesson topics include authority, limited government, and the ideas in the Preamble. Secondary lessons include federalism, establishment of the executive and judicial branches, and the drafting of the Bill of Rights. The Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation dedicated to fostering the development of informed, responsible participation in civic life by citizens committed to the values and principles fundamental to American constitutional democracy.

Constitutional Rights Foundation

This site provides free online lessons suitable for kindergarten, grades 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, and links to help educators design their own Constitution Day program. Sites include a link to download a Constitution Day Implementation Guide. The Constitutional Rights Foundation seeks to instill in our nation's youth a deeper understanding of citizenship through values expressed in our Constitution and its Bill of Rights and to educate young people to become active and responsible.

Michigan Specific Resources

Korematsu v U.S. Government–Defining Moments from the Past with Lessons for a Post 9/11 World

Available through Michigan Government Television, this package presents curriculum materials dealing with the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, with the U. S. Supreme Court case of Korematsu v U. S. Government, and with the dissenting opinion in that case of Michigan’s Frank Murphy, a U. S. Supreme Court justice, former Detroit mayor, and Michigan governor. The materials target standards and benchmarks in the Michigan Curriculum Framework in government, history, and technology, and tell the story of Murphy and Fred Korematsu, a second generation Japanese American who was working as a welder in the San Francisco shipyards when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Their lives crossed because of the involuntary interment of Japanese Americans in camps following the Pearl Harbor attack and the resulting Supreme Court case that bears Korematsu’s name.

Written in conjunction with a State Bar of Michigan Legal Milestone presentation, and with funding from the Michigan State Bar Foundation, the materials include a video, script, case, and student and teacher materials. The Lesson Plan Extension offers a perspective through the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and the due process clauses of the 5th.

Washtenaw County Bar Association Public Service Committee

This activity introduces and discusses the Sixth Amendment guarantee of an impartial jury for criminal defendants. The materials illustrate how the American juror selection process differs from a similar process used in ancient times during the Roman Republic. The topic is intended to complement the 6th grade social studies focus on world history.

Genesee Intermediate School District

This page on the Genesee Intermediate School District website was compiled as the result of an exhaustive search for resources to help teachers. Links connect to a variety of sites and resources, including: National Archives Teaching with Documents: Observing Constitution Day, the Bill of Rights Institute Constitution Day Page, U.S. Courts Constitution Day Resources, Federal Department of Education Constitution Day Resources, to name a few.

Michigan Supreme Court Learning Center

This site includes Education Resources and Programs from the Michigan Supreme Court Learing Center. View the Constitution Day webcast with Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly.

Educating for Everyday Democracy: The Jury Process PDF

This new curriculum is designed to educate high school students about the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the critical importance of the jury process in our system of justice. The curriculum is a suitable classroom activity any time during the school year, but is particularly appropriate for Constitution Day observances. Developed by the Michigan Center for Civic Education, award winning educator Wayne Bentley, and the State Bar of Michigan, the curriculum explains how jury service and diverse jury pools help guarantee due process, equal protection of the laws, individual rights, and justice in a democracy. The curriculum can be adapted for a variety of situations—a 90- minute classroom lesson, an assembly program, or an in-depth, day-long presentation. An appendix contains various other lessons that can be used in conjunction with this program. View the Jury Process brochure PDF

Sample Press Release

Use this sample press release to advertise your Constitution Day activities.

• Word Format MSWORD
• PDF Format PDF

Photos from 2009 Events

Lawyers and judges in Berrien County observed Constitution Day by working with teachers and high school students in St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. Their efforts culminated with a joint school visit to the jury room in the courthouse to replicate the experience of being called to jury duty.