This page contains materials for Constitution Day 2010. Materials for Constitution Day 2011 are found here.
As you know, federal law requires that all high schools, colleges and universities that receive federal funds educate students about the Constitution on September 17. The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands has created the Sunnylands Constitution Project, a collection of classroom-ready digital resources, to help schools celebrate Constitution Day.
INTERACTIVE EDUCATIONAL GAMES
The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands is developing an ensemble of interactive educational resources about the Constitution, available at SunnylandsClassroom.org:
The First Amendment:
This game, based on a landmark case about students’ right to free speech, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), launches students on a journey to the U.S. Supreme Court. Along the way are mini-games and challenges that teach about the First Amendment, the Tinker case, legal concepts such as precedents, relevant vocabulary, and how the federal courts work.
The Constitutional Convention:
In partnership with U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Travel back to 1787 and take part in the Constitutional Convention as the Founding Fathers struggle to decide how the new nation will be governed. Explore how these very different men representing their states’ conflicting demands created our Constitution.
Sandra Day O’Connor’s iCivics project,
Sunnylands Classroom has produced
four additional interactive educational games for 2010:
Branches of Power:
This game immerses students in the workings of our three branches of government: executive, judicial and legislative. Players are challenged to turn ideas into laws as they act as Legislator, President or Supreme Court Justice to build support, pass a law in Congress and secure the president’s signature. And, if the law is challenged in court, the Supreme Court must be persuaded to uphold it. Players juggle several bills at once while holding press conferences and town hall meetings and making decisions on the constitutionality of laws.
Who wants to be president? Players must possess multitasking skills as they consider bills to sign, fly off for diplomatic meetings and act as commander-in-chief to handle a military crisis.
Students play a senator or representative from any state and political party they select. Then their challenge is to get Congress to pass a bill based on a need expressed by a constituent.
Players help guide ordinary citizens who are looking for justice through the nation’s court system.
Featured for Constitution Day 2010
Available on disc and at SunnylandsClassroom.org:
Jury Selection: Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company. The Sixth Amendment guarantees that criminal defendants have the right to a fair and impartial jury. But what about civil trials? This documentary tells the story of Thaddeus Edmonson, an African American construction worker whose personal-injury lawsuit, Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company (1991), became a landmark case on the right to an impartial jury in civil cases. In deciding this case, the Supreme Court ruled that in civil trials the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause barred race-based peremptory challenges. (23 minutes)
This video, on DVD, will be sent at no cost to all members of the Sunnylands Classroom mailing list, the principals of every public high school in the country, law school deans, federal judges and public libraries and is scheduled to arrive by September 15, 2010. This video provides an easy way to jump-start conversations about the most important document in U.S. history.
Available at SunnylandsClassroom.org:
A Conversation on the Constitution with Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy: The Right to Trial by an Impartial Jury. In this discussion, the Justices examine the history and importance of the Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company case. (8 mins)
Previously published Constitution Day Resources
Sunnylands Classroom Documentaries
Sunnylands Classroom Mini-Documentaries
Conversations on the Constitution with Supreme Court Justices