September 17 marks the 220th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Congress created National Constitution and Citizenship Day as a way to ensure that tomorrow's citizens, our students, will continue to understand and value the Constitution as the guarantor of the individual rights and freedoms American citizens enjoy.

The Constitution was adopted by the states in June 1788. However, the states remained concerned about individual rights, leading to the creation of the Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) and its adoption in 1791.

The Constitution has always been challenged by government efforts to suspend individual rights when dealing with major events such as wars, riots, and economic disasters like the Great Depression. The Constitution gives the Supreme Court of the U.S. the final say on the balance between individual and societal rights. Over time, the pendulum of rights has swung from left to right, but historically it has moved toward individual rights, in cases involving women's suffrage; civil rights, and reproductive issues. such as Roe v Wade.

Studying any topic/issue becomes much more effective if teachers and librarians pre-select learning resources appropriate for their students.

Traditional library services include the book cart as a way of delivering print resources to teacher classrooms. eLibrary BookCarts leverage technology to provide today's unique digital tool, which uses the same strategy but with added benefits.

When BookCarts are used for student research activities, teachers and students reap the following benefits:

• Student understanding increases when teachers provide reading level appropriate articles
• Student interest increases because teachers can select appropriate articles and websites
• Learning time is conserved because surfing and distractions are dramatically reduced
• Focused relevancy and authority of resources is ensured for each activity
• Lesson plan elements added to BookCarts ensure that students know what to do with resources

Here are two new ProQuest model BookCarts to help your students celebrate National Constitution Day:

• Supreme Court Landmark Decisions
• U.S. Constitution--Current Challenges

Copy these BookCarts (find out how.) Click the ProQuest Carts tab > SS -- Government & Civics folder (view in alphabetical order).

Each of these BookCarts contains essential question for critical thinking that teachers can assign to students or use to create others specific to their needs.

New York's debate over the adoption of the 1787 Constitution was critical to the nation's survival and perhaps to avoiding civil war. The Constitution's draftsman, James Madison, along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, anonymously coauthored 85 essays, or "op-eds," signed "Publius," to promote the new system; these became known as the Federalist Papers.

New York ratified the Constitution by a mere three-vote margin. Publius's Federalist Papers helped save the country with what may be the finest commentary on limited government ever written.

America, Publius began, can accomplish something unheard of: the establishment of good government by "reflection and choice." The framers looked to "reason and common sense," since the "dim light of historical research" revealed no model for limited government.

Use this procedure to get more information on the works of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in their quest for a limited federal government and constitution.

Type "James Madison" in the Quick Search box for the first search and "Alexander Hamilton" for the next search. Look for information that will help you to answer the following essential questions for critical thinking:

• What beliefs and background motivated these leaders to promote such a radical idea of government?
• What new principles did their works convey to readers that would create confidence that this type of government could work?

Here is the procedure that will provide students with the Study Units necessary to learn more about the philosophy, history, and processes involved in creating the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights: Click the History icon > Study Units > American History > The United States of America, 1776-1865

Students should choose among the following subtopics:

• The foundations of American government
• The United States Supreme Court and the Constitution
• The United States Constitution and the Republic, 1776-1800
• The Federalist administrations, 1789-1801