Get Ready for Constitution Day 2026

(Nerdy sidebar: Want a bit of an academic take on the history of Constitution Day? Check out "What Constitution Day Means and Why It Matters" from Social Education.)

There is no mandated curriculum for Constitution Day---you get to design what works for you and your students. The resources below are intended to help schools and teachers plan these learning experiences about how our system of government works.

National Constitution Center Resource Library (also, here is their calendar of events)

National Constitution Center Constitution Day Resources

The National Archives (they also developed an online activity using primary docs from the archive)

The National Archives News: Celebrating Constitution Day

"Bring the Constitution to life!" from DocsTeach

The United States Census Bureau

iCivics

Library of Congress’s Constitution Day Teacher Resources (primary sources, interactives for teachers, discussion questions, lesson plans, online collections, stories for kids)

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's Constitution Day Resources (historical documents, videos, online exhibitions, and lesson plans)

Constitution Day Resources from the Bill of Rights Institute (live events, lesson plans, videos, viewing guides, and activities for K-12 students)

• Encourage your students to understand the full story of creating a new form of government from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution. Test their knowledge of the Constitutional Convention with our Constitution quiz!

Check out the new collection by PBS Learning Media focused on topics and skills central to civics learning:

Democracy depends on informed citizens who have the knowledge and skills to engage in their government. Empower your student citizens with this collection that teaches civic knowledge and understanding through applied examples from U.S. history and skills such as analyzing civic engagement and engaging in civil discourse. Focusing on multiple perspectives and diverse stories, these resources enable all students to see themselves as civic actors and prepare them to engage in civic and political life.

• Lesson Plan: Constitution Day | PBS NewsHour: Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. In this lesson, students will hear from constitutional scholars and see an excerpt of the Broadway play “What the Constitution Means to Me.” Students will assess the importance of the U.S. Constitution and the necessity of learning about the document and our constitutional system. Students will also have the opportunity to propose their own amendments to the Constitution.

• Explore the U.S. Constitution | Interactive Lesson: In this interactive lesson, students will read and analyze the U.S. Constitution. Beginning with the Constitutional Convention, and followed by a close reading of most of this founding document, students will gain an understanding of the structure and purpose of the Constitution. They will explore how the Constitution established a new democratic form of government through three branches of government, a system of checks and balances, and the separation of powers. They will also learn about how a bill becomes a law, the powers that are granted or denied to each branch of government, and the establishment of federalism.

• Foundations of the Constitution | The Constitution EXPLAINED: Explore the Constitution’s structure, and learn why the Framers divided the federal government’s roles and responsibilities among the three branches in this video from iCivics and the Center for Civic Education. Examine the three key principles that serve as the Constitution’s foundation: federalism, the separation of powers, and check and balances.

• John Adams’ Contributions to Constitutional Thinking: Discover how the founders designed a government built on consensus and bringing together multiple perspectives. Students will synthesize excerpts from John Adams's “Thoughts on Government” and clips from the documentary to trace his contributions to constitutional thinking in order to analyze the fundamental ideas behind the distribution of powers and the system of checks and balances established by the Constitution.

• Constitution in the Headlines is a collection of curated resources designed to help teachers and students contextualize topics in the news.
• Scholar Exchanges (grades 5 and up) give students the opportunity to discuss constitutional topics with a lawyer, judge, or constitutional scholar and their peers from around the country. In this setting, students gain deeper constitutional understanding and engage in enhanced civil discourse.
• Civic Stories, geared for the elementary and middle school grades, give students the chance to engage with the past through artifacts and the stories they tell.
• Decoding the Document, geared for middle and high school, brings primary sources to life through a live, guided document analysis that gives students a flexible three-step strategy for examining the texts and ideas that shaped American history. September topics include Common Sense, Abigail Adams’ “Remember the Ladies” letter, and George Washington’s Farewell Address.
• The Founders' Library includes primary texts that span American history—from the philosophical works that influenced the Founding generation to the most important speeches, essays, books, pamphlets, petitions, letters, court cases, landmark statutes, and state constitutions that have shaped the American constitutional tradition.

Visit the full landing page for Constitution Day Resources here!

Click here to book one of the virtual student programs (Scholar Exchanges, Civic Stories & Decoding the Document)

• It’s Constitution Day! From Scholastic News

Use this fun video from Sesame Workshop's Together We Can to spark a conversation with your early learners about the purpose of the Constitution and the ways that it has both remained the same and changed over time as amendments have been added. After watching and singing along, invite your students to brainstorm questions and continue the conversation using the printable activity page. Click here for the video!

Fifty-five men met for 116 days to construct a Constitution for a federal republic that would last into "remote futurity." This is the story of the delegates to that convention and the framing of the federal Constitution.

Click here for Teaching American History's Digital Atlas of the Constitutional Convention.

This article from the Zinn Education Project invites students to inquire about the Constitution rather than just memorize it—pressing on questions like who was included/excluded, whose interests were served, and how the document has been contested and expanded over time. It’s a strong fit for inquiry-based civics and disciplinary literacy work.

Check out this lesson (designed for middle school students) published in Social Education, a publication of the National Council for the Social Studies.

"Show students that while voting is a constitutional right, it is vulnerable to being manipulated away from certain segments of society through the passage of laws, and that this loss of voting rights leads to a loss of political power for those groups. Invite students to look critically at the history of voter suppression, and to keep a historical framework in mind when analyzing whether current voting laws in certain states have affected some classes of citizens more than others."

P.S. TED-Ed offers free lessons and original animations for all grades and subjects.

Cast your vote in the history vs. history showdown!

100 historic documents. Only ONE will stand apart from the rest. America—it’s time for YOU to decide!

Vote for what YOU find significant to help choose the top 16 records that will go head-to-head before the United States’ anniversary in 2026!

Click here to access the resource!

All About the Preamble (Virtual)

In this 30-minute virtual program, learn why the Constitution and the Preamble were written and what “We the People” means for us today. Includes an inspirational reading of the Preamble and question time with a Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Recommended for grades 3-8.

Register for September 15, 10 a.m.

"Sign" the Constitution (In-Person Tours)

Themed tours include a reader’s theater about the Constitutional Convention, a Constitution “document lab” with facsimile images, and Q&A with a guest speaker.

Request a Tour for September 17

Check out the Michigan Supreme Court Learning Center!

Student Webinars:

• The Constitution and Our Community (Grades 3–5)
• Voting Rights, the Constitution, and Representative Government (Grades 6–8)

Teacher Webinars:

• A More Perfect Union: Teaching the Constitution (Grades 3–8)
• September 16, 2026, from 10 to 11 a.m. EST
• September 16, 2026 from 6 to 7 p.m. EST
• September 17, 2026, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. EST

In December 2026, the National Archives will also offer student webinars to celebrate Bill of Rights Day. Be sure to check our website for program offerings!

Join the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy and Wayne Law for a Constitution Day conversation on the challenges facing Congress today and the opportunities to revitalize its role in American democracy:

The case for strengthening Congress as an institution of

deliberation, accountability, and compromise

• Date: Thu, Sept 17, 2026 (Constitution Day)
• Time: 4pm to 5:30pm Eastern - followed by a reception
• Location: Partrich Auditorium, Wayne Law School, 471 W Palmer Ave, Detroit
• Cost: FREE!

As public trust in government has declined and political polarization has deepened, some observers point to the long-running erosion in congressional performance and capacity as a driving force in this dysfunction.

This panel will explore both the causes and consequences of that decline and consider what it would mean to reinvest in Congress. Drawing on perspectives from practice, scholarship, and policy, the discussion will examine ways Congress might better support meaningful debate, strengthen its oversight responsibilities, and rebuild public confidence in democratic institutions.

Click here to RSVP.

Third-grade classrooms nationwide are invited to participate in the 2026 Constitution Day Mock Trial event on Sept. 17.

Through an engaging mock trial experience, students learn about the U.S. Constitution, the court system and the branches of government while exploring the civic duties citizens perform in their communities.

During the trial, each classroom serves as a jury, listening to evidence, deliberating, and submitting a real-time verdict of guilty or not guilty. Students also participate in a live question-and-answer-session with Judge Robert J. Wonnell of the Kansas 10th Judicial District Court and learn how classrooms across the nation voted.

Third-grade classes interested in participating on Constitution Day, Sept. 17, should complete the registration form.

Please direct questions regarding Michigan’s Constitution Day programming to Scott Koenig, KoenigS1@michigan.gov.

Oakland Schools is not responsible for any content that is linked to external sites. While OS will periodically review these resources, links should be reviewed for use and approved through your district prior to distribution within your district and/or community.

Have a great idea or resource to share? Send it our way!

Molly Gale, Social Studies Consultant

Molly.Gale@oakland.k12.mi.us

Stacie Woodward, Disciplinary Literacy & Social Studies Consultant

Stacie.Woodward@oakland.12.mi.us