US Constitution Lesson: The Preamble & Its Principles, Grades 6-8

A team writes a one-sentence purpose at the top of its rules. Why bother, if the rules already say what to do? Students answer that first, then read the Preamble to the Constitution word for word from the National Archives transcription and see how a purpose statement does something a rule cannot.

What's inside

• 15 slides, with speaker notes on all 15
• Lesson plan, 2 pages
• Student reading, 1 page, "Purposes and Principles"
• Primary-source page, 1 page: The Preamble and 6 more clauses of the Constitution and 10th Amendment (Documents A to G)
• Student worksheet, 2 pages
• Answer key, 1 page
• Print-all PDF, 7 pages (lesson plan, reading, primary-source page, worksheet and answer key in one file)

Answer key included

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