Free Lesson Plans

Subscribe to the Constitution Courier, our free lesson newsletter!

Our free Constitution Courier newsletter helps teachers connect America’s Founding principles to students’ lives. Delivered directly to your inbox, each Courier includes historical content, connections to real life, classroom activities, downloadable PDFs, answer keys, discussion questions, and/or suggestions for further reading. Our 2 newsletter themes each come out once a month and cover a variety of topic areas to engage today’s students. Sign up for the Courier today, or read more about the most recent lessons below!

Bill of Rights in the News

The Bill of Rights in the News Constitution Courier focuses on issues making headlines that directly relate to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. With current online news articles, discussion questions, and related links and resources, Bill of Rights in the News is a valuable teaching asset for government, history, or civics teachers. View past lessons.

Learn More About Gouverneur Morris eLesson

Though James Madison has been given the title, “Father of the Constitution,” a case could be made that Gouverneur Morris was second in importance only to the Virginian in shaping the final version of the document. Morris spoke more often (173 times) than any other delegate at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Though he was often on the losing side of issues and was not a political theorist on the level of Madison, Morris was a leader of the nationalist bloc at the Convention that ultimately carried the day. In addition, it was the native New Yorker who actually crafted much of the language of the United States Constitution.  Download the complete lesson.

Current Events and the Constitution

There are many opportunities to analyze and discuss current events in light of our Founding documents.  Current Events and the Constitution provides a framework for discussing current events in context with history. Each month, students will analyze how the Constitution applies to a specific issue and can be adapted to discuss events on the local, state, or national level. View past lessons.