Brichta Elementary
Rosemary Tweet, IC
Activities by grade level, K-5
Teaching of the Constitution - Brichta Elementary, TUSD, 2005
Details follow.
 
Kindergarten:  Padilla, Castro and Sadatmousavi - We read/talked about the message and illustrations in the book We the People, The Constitution of the United States of America by Peter Spier.  In addition, we related the laws of the Constitution with the 3 "R's" which are the rules which guide our students at school:  Respect Yourself, Respect Others and Respect Property.  The Constitution is the "Three "R's" for our country.
 
1st grade: Teaching about the Constitution First Grade - Reteach/Enrichment Rotations (West, Cueto and Astrene's students) 
  
Oral storytelling, about the history of the beginning of our nation.
   
People and events included:  
-King of England
-people coming across the ocean to find a new home
-war between the British and Americans
-men in America had a big meeting in Philadelphia, at Independence Hall
-founding fathers created the Constitution, the "3 R's for the whole nation"  
-women helped out during this time, too - at home and in the war
-America defeated the British
-our new nation is a place for freedom, liberty and justice for all
President in American, King in England
  
We integrated various resources: 
*vocabulary words in the pocket chart
*world map
*globe
*U.S. map
  
Songs: 
*This Land is Your Land
*My Hat[West, Karen]  (review from Harcourt program)  
*Yankee Doodle
*America the Beautiful
  
KIDS DISCOVER magazine issues: 
* HOW AMERICAN WORKS  
* REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN  
* AMERICAN REVOLUTION  
  
Books: 
* THE LIBERTY TREE:  THE BEGINNING OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION  
* THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE(2000) Scholastic  
* AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL (2003)  G. P. Putnam's Sons  
* AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL (2002)  Troll
* AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL (2004)  Little, Brown and Company
  
We also took a look at a "13-star" U.S. flag, 
and recited the pledge of allegiance
  
As a guide, we referred to vocabulary words in pocket chart: 
England, King, America, freedom, liberty, justice, war, Yankee, doodle, macaroni, Philadelphia, Independence Hall, Constitution, Founding Fathers, President, 
 
As closure, students chose to do:  
*a maze - Ben Franklin going to the meeting at Independence Hall, or  
*a dot to dot - the Liberty Bell
Both tasks came from the website:  
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/k-2/index.html
  
We had some fun with this!     Karen West
 
2nd grade:  Lani Green:  Opened with "We the People: The constitution of the United States of America by Peter Spier and discussed the content and illustrations.  Discussed and wrote about how government looks in our lives, how it relates to rules in our family and the importance of flexible laws.
   Andy Townsend:  In our discussion about the Constitution, we discussed the concept of freedom.  As a group, we shared our ideas of what it means to be free, and gave examples of our rights guaranteed by the constitution.  In addition, we are doing an art activity with the US flag.
   Mary Rollins: The students have been studying an American Revolution Unit for the last three weeks, starting at the French and Indian War and leading up to the U.S. constitution.  We learned about how the U.S. Constitution effects our daily life today.
 
   
3rd grade:   Molly Harris, Michelle Schickling and Lisa Bradford:  Students viewed a movie about the process of the development of the constitution.  Whole group discussion followed with references to the way the constitution was viewed and functioned at the beginning of our country and how it is viewed and functions now.
 
4th grade:  Katie Felix:  I am presenting a PowerPoint/CPS lesson that I put together that takes the kids form the Articles of Confederation through the Bill of Rights.
 
Mary Frietas:  Students investigated the balance of power among the three branches of the federal government.  A math related puzzle was used to identify the various components of the three branches of federal government.
 
5th grade:   Victoria Estrada, Nando Gonzales - Purpose:  General Question:  What do you think the purpose of government should be?  Discuss preamble to the Constitution in order to understand the purpose of the Constitution. Focus on vocabulary:  a more perfect union, blessings of liberty, common defense, establish general welfare, justice and ordain.  Relate to Hurricane Katrina, current events.
 
Lee Gardner:  Students discussed how the Constitution has set up the 3 branches of government and the jobs of each branch as well as checks adn balances.  In addition, students discussed why people came and still come to this country adn what freedoms are guaranteed by the Constitution.

The teachers here at Ft.Lowell really got into the spirit of "Constitution Day". Some of the activities that took place were as follows:  
The kindergartners integrated the science kit (fabrics)and cooking with constitution day by creating flags of the United States from felt material and Graham Crackers (Yummy!)  
The first graders will began with a read out loud book discussion about pilgrims and their reason for coming to America. Forward to writing of constitution, the teachers showed a sample of the constitution, and wrapped up with present day and the publics right to choose their own religious beliefs.  
The second graders spent time reading the background of the Constitution, the Constitutional Convention, the Bill of Rights, and the organization of the Constitution (Preamble and Articles). Then made an ABC list/book centering on the themes of patriotism, responsibility, character traits, and freedoms.  
The third graders read the had a little discussion on the constitution, specifically the concept and compared and contrast past and present times.  
The fourth graders integrated technology by going on various websites to find out who created the constitution, and why they decided a constitution was needed.  
The fifth grader were finding all of their information through the Tucson Citizen publication on the "Constitution". The fifth graders enjoyed the activities the paper had and completed each task with relative ease. At the end of the day the fifth graders could tell you everything there was to know (and then some) about the United States Constitution.  
The culminating event was the Newcomer Students from different parts of Africa singing "God Bless America" on the intercom after morning announcements.  
 
All in all it was a very successful day!!!!!  
 
P.S.
The first posting of this can be found on the instructional coaches blog.

Miles ELC
 
The kindergarten students did daily activities taken from the book Helping Children to Understand the United States Constitution and they concluded by writing and signing their own class constitution.  The 1/2 grade classrooms learned to sign the Pledge of Allegiance and discussed the symbolism of the U.S. flag; read We the People and the biography of Thomas Jefferson and wrote in their journals.  The 3/4/5 Constitution and the Amendments.  They have been studying maps, so they found the important historical sites on the map.  They discussed the importance of the Constitution in our time and its influence on our lives today and they wrote about it.  The Middle School classes have been studying the Constitution and what rights and responsibilities an individual has under the Constitution.  They then developed classroom rules.  They studied the roles of each branch of the government and now hold Middle School Court.

Lynn/Urquides Elementary
Anna Castillo, IC
 
     Some of our Kindergarten classrooms made flags and had a parade with them.  Others celebrated with patriotic books and songs.  First grade classes learned about American symbols, saw pictures of the White House, and had a discussion about it.  2nd grades sang the School House Rock about the Constitution, learned about American symbols and did the Ben Franklin Vocabulary activity on the Constitution Website.  All of our 3rd grade classrooms learned about the background history of the Constitution, as well as the history of the American Flag.  4th grade classes used "Quick Reads" on the Constitution, wrote about "What it Means to be Free" and discussed what the colors of our flag mean. 5th grades also used the "Quick Reads" and Chapter 13 of their Social Studies textbooks.  Some classrooms also used the Bear Essential News article on the Constitution, or handed out summaries of the Constitution, then reviewed the key parts.

Vesey Elementary School
Jennifer Culbertson, IC
 
Our librarian, Kay Fischer, organized with teachers at each grade level activities to celebrate Constitution Day during weekly class library times.  
Kinder and First Grade classes read A True Story of the Constitution, discussed the vocabulary and saw a replica of the Constitution document.
Second grade classes read We the Kids and discussed the importance of laws and rules.  They also saw a replica of the Constitution document.
Third grade classes read and discussed If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution and then saw a replica of the Constitution document.
Fourth and Fifth grade classes read the U.S. Constitution and discussed the Founders and the importance of the document.
 
Individual Classrooms/Grade Levels -  
Kindergarten - "We the People" was read to the students and students completed a Constitution coloring page.  They discussed where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed and why they are important documents.
First Grade - Students made special hats to wear during the activity and students colored flags to create a patriotic classroom environment. Then they discussed with the students that the Constitution is a document on which the laws of our country are printed.  Then students did an activity in which they pretended to be one of our forefathers and created a law that they needed to have signed by some of their fellow students.  The teachers incorporated the Constitution during their cross curricular Buddy Reading time.  They also went over the Bear Essential News for Kids that featured an article, The Evolution of Our Constitution.
Second Grade - Teachers discussed the importance of the Constitution and why we need laws in our country, state, home and school.  They created classroom Constitutions focusing on the rules of their classroom.  Teachers read We Dream of a World.  Students also wore the colors red, white and blue for the week.   
Third Grade - Teachers used the Third and Fourth grade lesson plans from the website - http://www.civiced.org/byrd/.  They explained the purpose of the Preamble of the Constitution and explained what some of the key phrases in the Preamble mean.   
Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade - One of the Fourth grade teachers used some of the materials found on the website http://www.civiced.org/byrd/ to create a small take-home booklet for the students.  He has also been using the article that has been running in the AZ Daily Star that featured key amendments and their AZ connections.  Another Fourth Grade teacher is teaching facts about the Constitution - specifically the Preamble and the First Amendment Rights for Americans.
Several of the Fourth and Fifth Grade teachers also did an activity with their Kinder and First grade buddy readers where they colored a crayon outline however they wanted and then made a giant Crayola box and put all of the crayons together.  They discussed with the students how the crayon box shows that each crayon(person) is an individual but they all come together to make one box (i.e. our country and the Constitution).

GALE Elementary
Judy Pickeral, IC
 
On our daily announcement this week students read the Preamble for every class to hear.  In our first grade classes, the students sang the schoolhouse rock Preamble and also learned hand motions to the book We the People. They also read the New True Book, The Constitution. Both of our fourth grades have been doing a six week unit in social studies on the people, places and events leading to the writing of the Constitution.  Fifth grades have looked at copies of the documents, looked up, read and discussed parts of the Constitution, and a student shared her trip to the National Archives.

Warren Elementary School
Laurie Elling, IC
We began the week with a school wide assembly on Monday. This was especially special because our new second grade teacher, Ana Kaphingst, took the oath of citizenship last Friday at the TCC.  We surprised her with the cafeteria all decorated in red, white, and blue streamers and a large sign "Congratulations Mrs. Kaphingst U.S. Citizen". We have a "Wall of Presidents" around Lady Liberty so the students can "learn a little" while eating.  After talking about our Constitution, we had Mrs. Kaphingst give all the students the oath and then she led us in the Pledge.  We used the Poxima to show a little bit of "School House Rocks the Preamble and Constitution on the large screen.  Then our 4th graders came up on stage and said the Preamble. Their teacher explained its importance. We closed the assembly by singing patriotic songs, which we had typed out on an overhead and shown on the large screen.  It was a very special morning.
Each day this week a class has presented a poem or song about our country during our morning announcements using the intercom.
All teachers have been discussing the constitution during lessons. The assembly was especially helpful for our younger students.  Teachers have been referencing back to the assembly and Mrs. Kaphingst when teaching lessons that can be difficult for our younger students.
The older grades have made connections to our school's constitution.

Borman Elementary
Delphine wood, IC
 
Our amazing (half-time) librarian, Susan Dabbs, coordinated with teachers at each grade level to celebrate Constitution Day during class library times. Students were involved in age-appropriate discussions to get an overview of the concept. Follow-up activities for each grade level included: 
 
Preschool: Color a flag and practice the Pledge of Allegiance
Kindergarten: Discuss Presidents, George Washington, and George's teeth
   Make George's teeth out of apple slices, peanutbutter,and marshmallows
First: Discuss Presidents, George Washington, and Yankee Soldiers
   Make tri-point hats and parade through the school singing "Yankee Doodle" 
Second & Third: Show a PPT called "We The Kids" from the book by the same name
   It explains the constitution in kid-friendly language.
Fourth & Fifth: Show a PPT called "The Constitutional Convention" 
   It explains the history of the writing of the Constitution.

Duffy Elementary School
Tanya Schrantz, IC
Constitution Day: we will celebrate all week during community time.  Our song for the week will be, "The Preamble" from School House Rocks.  We will also be going over the vocabulary and included in the preamble.
 
http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/Duffy/Documents/The Preamble.doc

Constitution Activities
Maxwell Middle School
September 19-23
 
 
Grade 6 - William Rivas & Troy Jones
 
·   Preamble - brief overview and discussion
·   Bill of Rights - brief overview and discussion
·   First 3 Articles - powers of each branch of government
·   Final Quiz
 
 
Grade 7 - Yancey Wells & Magdalena Abalos
 
·   Constitution Power Point - Cheryl Walling (library) 
·   "The Roots of Rights" - reading and discussion questions
·   "Choices and Consequences" video
·   Courts - Federal, State and Juvenile
·   Amendments to the Constitution
 
 
Grade 8 - Jessica Molina & Patricia Jerald
 
·   Articles 1-3 - simulation of how a bill becomes a law
·   Preamble - memorization and discussion
·   School House Rock video "American Rock" 
·   Bill of Rights cartoon strip
 
 
Chorus teacher will teach and sing the National Anthem and some American Folk Songs.

Tully Elementary
Rose Moreno, IC
 
**Comments from Rosaisela 'Rose' Moreno** 
Our school is one of the two in the nation to be recognized by the Exchange Club. They brought in a program named "Give Me Liberty" where all 5th graders get to participate.They raise money all year and reward the students (who participate) with a trohy, an award, and a t-shirt.Our 5th graders  are involved all year. This year our facilitator (Patty Ludovici) has planned our Constitution Day by having a formal flag raising in front of the school, and readings from our Constitution, Founding Fathers, and Bill of Rights.