The Consitution and Voting

STEP ONE – RESEARCH

Topic 1 - The Constitution

Click on the link below to watch a Schoolhouse Rock video about our country's Constitution. Listen closely to learn why the Constitution is so important for our country.

Topic 2 – What is a law?

It might be nice to know exactly what a law is. Read the information on this website to find out.

Topic 3 – The Bill of Rights

The first ten laws, or amendments of the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. Go the website below to read about what the Bill of Rights say.

Each group will be assigned one of the Bill of Rights. You will fill out the worksheet and present the information to the class later.

STEP TWO – WHY VOTE?

Laws are made in two ways – by voting on them directly, or by voting for people who will make the law for us. An example of voting directly would be at a neighborhood meeting, where the people who live there decide if they want to put up a fence. An example of voting for people to make laws for us is voting for President. The people choose the President and he makes laws that he things are best for us.

Why is voting so important? Click on the two links below and read why.

After you have read the information, make a poster that explains why you should vote. Your poster should be creative and catch people’s attention. Include pictures/drawings, at least one statistic, and two reasons why voting is important and why people should care about voting.

STEP THREE – CREATING A CLASSROOM CONSTITUTION

Each person in your group should come up with two laws or rules that you think should be a part of the Classroom Constitution. Write them on the worksheet and hand one in for your group. When coming up with your laws, keep in mind the Bill of Rights, the rules of the school, and what the teacher expects from you, and how you want the classroom to be run. Hand in your laws to the teacher.

STEP FOUR – PRESENTING

After all the groups have finished, you will present the Bill of Right your group was assigned and your poster to the rest of the class.

STEP FIVE – VOTING

Your teacher will collect every group’s Classroom Constitution and then the class will vote on one to make the official Classroom Constitution.