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Constitution Day


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Are you looking for literature to support classroom instruction about Constitution Day? Check out Our Editors’ Choices for titles recommended by the Education World team. Then it's your turn to share books that you enjoy or use in your classroom in the Our Readers’ Voices section below. With your help, we will build the best list on the Web of Best Books for teaching about Constitution Day.

 

 

See related titles in History, Holidays


by David Catrow
Sooner or later, just about every American kid is required to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. And until now, it was one of the more boring, meaningless assignments. But artist and political cartoonist David Catrow has changed all that with his witty, clear-as-a-Liberty-Bell picture book. For him, the Constitution is "a kind of how-to book." With laugh-out-loud cartoony illustrations, and the actual words of the Preamble as the only text, Catrow depicts a camping trip taken by a diverse, bumbling group of friends, demonstrating the rights and responsibilities the Constitution places on all Americans, young and old. In one especially winning picture, the kids' long-nosed, long-eared pooch provides "for the common defense," keeping lackadaisical guard over the camp as the three human friends yuk it up in silhouette inside the tent. Readers will never yawn at mention of the Constitution again. For ages 8 to 12.



by Syl Sobel
All elementary school students learn about the history of the U.S. Constitution when they first begin social studies. This book is different. It tells boys and girls about the great American document itself . explaining exactly what the Constitution does, as well as how it affects and protects people today. Kids discover how the Constitution provides for the federal government's three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Then they see how it gives all citizens many rights, including the right to vote, to enjoy freedom of speech and the press, to worship or not worship according to one's religious beliefs, to disagree openly with government policy, and to defend oneself in courts of law when accused of crimes or civil wrongs. Kids also see how, according to the Constitution, many rights are kept beyond control of the federal government, and are reserved for the separate states, communities, and individuals. This book's language is clear and simple. It cites many examples that relate directly to each student's own experiences.

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by Syl Sobel
A fine classroom supplement and a solid information source for kids writing social studies reports, this book explains the federal system as it works today, more than two hundred years after the framers of the Constitution brought it into existence. Covered here are the Legislative body, composed of Senate and House Representatives; the Executive branch, headed by the President and consisting of Cabinet members and their agencies; and the Judicial branch, headed by the U.S. Supreme Court and extending to federal courts throughout the nation. Young readers learn how officials are elected or appointed and how government agencies work for the people's benefit. A complex process is explained in interesting terms that young readers can comprehend.


by Kathleen Krull
Which 462 words are so important that they've changed American history more than once? The Bill of Rights: the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the crucial document that spells out how the United States is to be governed. Find out what the Bill of Rights is and how it affects your daily life in this fascinating look at the history, significance, and mysteries of these laws that protect the individual freedoms of everyone -- even young people. Packed with anecdotes and sidebars, case studies, and humorous illustrations, innovative author Kathleen Krull's introduction to the Bill of Rights brings a little understood topic vividly to life.



by Cathy Travis
Constitution Translated for Kids is a simple translation of the entire U.S. Constitution, written at the 5th grade level, with the original 1787 text alongside a translation in the first ever side-by-side look at our most supreme legal and political document. This book is an excellent learning tool for teachers and parents.



by Peter W. Barnes, Cheryl Shaw Barnes (1996)
Children learn about how are laws are made in Congress, when the Squeaker of the House and the Senate Mouse-jority leader must pass a bill to establish a national cheese.




Add your voice to our list of books for teaching about Constitution Day!

The Education World Editors’ Choices above represent just a handful of the fine books that might be used to support classroom instruction about Constitution Day. Now we’re waiting for you to add to our list! Simply send us your review of a favorite book in 100 words or fewer and we will add it to the Readers’ Choices below.

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03/01/2008


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