Principles of the U.S. Constitution BUNDLE – 4 Resources for Civics!

This Principles of the U.S. Constitution Bundle includes four activities related to the seven principles of the United States Constitution, suitable for middle or high school Civics and American History students. The activities include a Principles of the Constitution gallery walk, quotation match, real-life newspaper headline scenario match, and a creative one-pager. This bundle is great for reinforcing what can be a really tricky vocabulary unit for a lot of students. Bring the principles of the U.S. Constitution to life in an engaging, easy-to-understand way for your students!

The seven principles of the United States Constitution covered in this bundle are:

• Federalism
• Popular Sovereignty
• Republicanism
• Limited Government
• Individual Rights
• Checks and Balances
• Separation of Powers

The resources in this Principles of the U.S. Constitution Bundle include:

✯ Principles of the Constitution Gallery Walk for Civics and American Government: Seven images, including historical and contemporary photographs, political cartoons, and war propaganda posters, demonstrate the seven principles of the Constitution.

• Get students out of their seats and analyzing primary source photographs and political cartoons!
• Encourages critical thinking and media analysis.
• Images include: historic political cartoons from World War I and World War II, primary source documents from history, historical photographs, and contemporary photos of present-day politicians such as former President Barack Obama and current Vice President Kamala Harris.

✯ Principles of the Constitution Quotation Match for Civics & American Government: Students analyze and interpret primary source quotations from historical sources and connect them to the seven principles of the United States Constitution.

• Quotations are pulled from a variety of sources, including the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, the Federalist Papers, and political speeches by President Franklin Roosevelt, Robert F. Kennedy, and Chief Justice Earl Warren.
• This is great practice at analyzing primary source writing, as well as making clear connections to the principles of the Constitution!

✯ Principles of the Constitution In Action Activity for Civics & American History: Students match historical and contemporary examples of government-in-action to the seven principles of the Constitution. They then use a direct quotation from the Constitution to explain and defend their analysis.

• Connects primary source quotes from the Constitution to real-life newspaper headlines of government actions.
• Shows the real-world applications of the Constitutional principles; students learn how the Constitution affects our day-to-day lives!
• Great practice in using textual evidence to defend your analysis!

✯ Principles of the Constitution One-Pager Project for Civics & American History: A creative one-pager project allows students to demonstrate their comprehension of the Constitutional principles by defining and illustrating each one.

• This creative project can be used as review, or as a unit exam!
• Makes for a great bulletin board as well!

This bundle is compatible with the Florida State Standard for Middle School Civics:

• Standard 3: Demonstrate an understanding of the principles, functions, and organization of government.

This bundle is also compatible with the following Common Core State Standards:

• CCSS RH.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
• CCSS RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• CCSS RH.6-8.10: By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• CCSS RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• CCSS RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

The resources in this bundle are presented as non-editable, printable PDFs. Where possible, digital TPT Easel resources are also available, which can be assigned directly to your Google Classroom from TPT. Check each resource’s product page via the links above to see if there is a digital copy available.

All the resources include Answer Keys.

Other Happy Teacher Resources You Might Enjoy:

✩ “We the People” Preamble to the Constitution One-Pager Activity

✩ Amending the Constitution Article & Review – for Civics & American Government

✩ Preamble to the Constitution Bundle for Civics & American History

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