Landmark Supreme Court Cases Constitution Quote Match for Civics & American History

In this Landmark Supreme Court Cases Constitution Quote Match, students pair quotes from the United States Constitution with nine Landmark Supreme Court rulings, including Tinker v. Des Moines, Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education, and more! They highlight key words in the quotes that relate to each case, then explain the connection between the Constitutional quote and the Supreme Court case in their own words. Perfect for middle or high school Civics, Government, or American History students studying the Judicial Branch and landmark Supreme Court rulings!

The Supreme Court Cases covered in this Constitution Quotation Match: 

• Marbury v. Madison
• McCulloch v. Maryland
• Dred Scott v. Sandford
• Brown v. Board of Education
• Gideon v. Wainwright
• Miranda v. Arizona
• In re Gault
• Tinker v. Des Moines
• Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier.

Aligned to the Florida State Standards for Middle School Civics (and easily applicable to other states, as well!):

• SS.7.CG.3.11: Analyze the effects of landmark Supreme Court decisions on law, liberty and the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. 

In this Landmark Supreme Court Cases Constitution Quote Match, students will:

✯ Analyze nine primary source quotes pulled directly from the United States Constitution. They will determine the main idea of each quote and figure out its connection to one of nine Landmark Supreme Court Cases. A word bank is provided!

Sample United States Constitution quotes include:

• “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech. (Tinker v. Des Moines)
• “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” (in re Gault)
• ”Tn all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial … and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.” (Gideon v. Wainwright)

✯ Highlight Key Terms in each quotation. To provide evidence for their claim, they will highlight the key words in each quote that gave them clues as to which Supreme Court case the quote related to.

✯ Pair each Constitution quote with a Landmark Supreme Court case and explain the connection in 1-2 sentences. Students will have to demonstrate their comprehension of each Landmark Supreme Court case by briefly explaining how it connects to the quote from the Constitution.

This activity is a great way to check student understanding of the Landmark Supreme Court cases, and to flex their critical thinking and quotation analysis muscles!

Use this no-prep, print-and-go lesson as homework, emergency sub plans, unit review, or test prep for your state’s Civics EOC.

This resource is presented as a printable, non-editable PDF. An Answer Key is included. It consists of a two-page worksheet. A digital version of this resource is available through TPT Easel, which can be assigned directly to your Google Classroom!

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