Celebrate Constitution Day

On September 17, 1787, forty-two of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention held their final meeting. Only one item of business occupied the agenda that day, to sign the Constitution of the United States of America.

Since May 25, 1787, the 55 delegates had gathered almost daily in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. By the middle of June, it became apparent to the delegates that to merely amend the Articles of Confederation would not be sufficient. Instead, they would write an entirely new document designed to clearly define and separate the powers of the central government, the powers of the states, the rights of the people and how the representatives of the people should be elected.

After being signed in September of 1787, Congress sent printed copies of the Constitution to the state legislatures for ratification. In the months that followed, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay would write the Federalist Papers in support, while Patrick Henry, Elbridge Gerry, and George Mason would organize the opposition to the new Constitution. By June 21, 1788, nine states had approved the Constitution, finally forming "a more perfect Union."

No matter how much we argue about the details of its meaning today, in the opinion of many, the Constitution signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787 represents the greatest expression of statesmanship and compromise ever written. In just four hand-written pages, the Constitution gives us no less than the owners' manual to the greatest form of government the world has ever known.

Now students can learn more about our Constitution and government on Constitution Day or any day with CourseCarts. What's a CourseCart? This new eLibrary resource helps teachers of U.S. Government and Civics courses to enrich learning beyond the textbook. ProQuest Editors have created a collection of 21 BookCarts that correlate directly the major chapters in popular textbooks used to teach U.S. Government and Civics. In addition, several current issues such as gun control and the 2nd Amendment serve to motivate students to understand the Constitution in light of their current world.

Each CourseCart provides more than 30 articles and websites relevant to the chapter topic. Even more important, each CourseCart has a template for teachers to customize it as a lesson plan for students. Teachers can type in student directions, end-of-chapter critical- thinking questions, and even create a quiz. Now, Social Studies teachers can select and assign an enrichment activity at any point in the course because CourseCarts provide quick and easy access to credible and relevant information, save learning time by reducing searching, and address both content and issues relevant to that content.

Here is the list of CourseCarts for U.S. Government & Civics. In addition, teachers or librarians can copy and adapt this CourseCart collection and hundreds of other ProQuest models from ProQuest Carts collection (learn how).

• Logon to the eLibrary Teacher Edition.
• Click the BookCart Admin link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
• Scroll down list of Folders, then click U.S. Government & Civics CourseCarts.
• Click the Copy icon in the Actions column for the first CourseCart.
• Click Return to My Local Carts.
• Repeat the process until all CourseCarts are copied.

With editing, each CourseCart can include information that students can use to complete the assignment (example: write a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources and addresses each of the essential questions listed). To edit each CourseCart for your students to use:

• Click the first new BookCart Title with the prefix "Copy of".
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your first and last name in the Author boxes.
• Type any brief and specific directions for your students to use in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click Save.
• Return to My Local Carts.
• Repeat the process until all CourseCarts are edited.

Assign research on the current importance of the Bill of Rights. Assign students to complete a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources. Or choose a PowerPoint report of at least two minutes and seven slides. Students should address the following essential questions for critical thinking (you can create others) in their reports:

• Why is the Bill of Rights included as the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?
• Why did the founders decide against revising the Articles of Confederation?
• Which of the Bill of Rights is most important to you and why?
• Which of the Bill of Rights is the least important to you and why?

Click Search Topics link > Government > United States Government > Constitution > Bill of Rights > General Information on the Bill of Rights

Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

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