Instructional Materials - We the People

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution is a program focusing on the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights for upper elementary, middle, and high school students. The curriculum not only enhances students’ understanding of the institutions of constitutional democracy, it also helps them to identify the contemporary relevance of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Critical-thinking exercises, problem-solving activities, and cooperative learning techniques help develop participatory skills necessary for students to become active, responsible citizens. The program’s culminating activity is a simulated congressional hearing wherein students are given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge by evaluating, taking, and defending positions on relevant historical and contemporary issues. 

Since the inception of the We the People program in 1987, more than 28 million students and 75,000 educators in the United States have participated in this course of study. Several countries, such as Colombia and Lebanon, have adapted this material to teach students about the principles of their constitution.