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"American Justice" - 1st Place, Elementary. Caleb Troup, 2nd Grade, Homeschool

Welcome to Civics: Beginning at Home!

The framework for understanding the rights and responsibilities of citizenship is fundamental to our development as human beings who exist in communities.  Keep reading for books, ideas, conversations, and activities that can help your child grow into an involved, engaged, and informed citizen. Scroll down the page to learn more about previously posted topics.


The First Amendment

Although it may seem that the First Amendment, ratified on December 15, 1791 is as old as it gets - the origins of the five freedoms embedded in this one amendment reach far deeper into the past. For the Founding Fathers, these ideals were fundamental to a thriving democracy! Taken as a whole, the First Amendment protects our ability to communicate, not just our needs and wants, but also what we believe. Although there are some exceptions on the times and places, the government is not allowed to restrict how we express what we believe. Why do you think the Founding Fathers thought this right was so important?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Discussion:

Ask your child to think generally about how they communicate about the things they need or want. Spoken word is the obvious form of communication but encourage them to think about other ways to communicate, such as writing or body language. Does what we wear or how we sit or how we hold our arms communicate anything to other people? Think about a time or a place when you are not allowed to use your favorite type of communication (maybe walking through hallways at school, or reading in the library). If you are not allowed to use one or more of those forms of communication, how do you express yourself? Have you ever had a time when you were not allowed to communicate at all? How did it feel?

A coloring page identifying the five freedoms of the first amendment. The freedoms are listed on a scroll next to a bottle of ink with a quill.

Click on the image to download a PDF of this coloring and activity book.

Activities and Books

  • Ages 3 - 7

    • Read From Head to Toe by Eric Carle (practice naming common gestures).
    • Read The Bad Seed by Jory John (discuss how our words and gestures impact others).
    • Read Free for You and Me: What Our First Amendment Means by Christy Mihaly
    • Read The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy
    • Read Say Something! by Peter H. Reynolds
    • Play "Mirror Me" - one person is the leader and the others are mirrors. The idea is for the mirrors to copy the leader as closely as possible. Preschoolers will especially love seeing their grown-ups copy their silly actions.
    • Color the pages in the Five Freedoms Activity book and discuss what each of the freedoms means.

  • Ages 7 - 12

    • Read My Mouth is a Volcano By Julia Cook.
    • Read Your Freedom, Your Power: A Kid's Guide to the First Amendment by Allison Matulli, Clelia Castro-Malapsina, and Carmelle Kendall
    • Practice the "art" of expression by playing Pictionary or Charades as a family.
    • Work on the activities in the Five Freedoms coloring and activity book.

  • Ages 12+

    • Take a walk to a Little Free Library and pick out a book to read. Consider the power of books and the significance of free exchange of knowledge and ideas.
    • Read The Declaration of Independence (look through the document to search for grievances that the colonists had against the King that inspired the First Amendment).
    • Play Make a Case: A Student Expression WebQuest to learn about two cases in which students went to the Supreme Court to protect their Freedom of Expression.

Back to the Top

The Constitution

Even very young children understand that there are rules that govern behavior. Use these suggestions to help your child learn more about the United States Constitution and the rules and responsibilities that we live under as citizens.

Discussion:

Ask your child to think about the rules they must follow in their classroom. Do they have jobs in their classrooms? How does everyone in the classroom know whose job is whose? If you have multiple children, make sure that everyone gets a chance to talk about their classroom’s rules and responsibilities. What does the classroom look and sound like when everyone follows the rules and does their job? What happens if someone doesn’t follow the rules, or doesn’t do their job? What school rules also make sense as rules for home? What classroom jobs also make sense as jobs at home? What rules or jobs would be silly to have at home?

Activity:

Create a Home Constitution!
  1. Take a look at the U.S. Constitution online or print one out. The first part is called the Preamble. It is a vision for what the Framers wanted our country to look like when everyone follows the rules and does their jobs. The second part sets up our government and explains what job means and who will do it. The third part is the Amendments. These are the ways that we have fixed our Constitution to make sure that important rights are protected. In the past 239 years, we’ve only fixed it 27 times!
  2. As a family, discuss what you each hope that your home looks like when everyone follows the rules and does their job. Write a sentence to describe your vision. This will be your preamble.
  3. Write down the important rules and responsibilities to help your family achieve this vision. This might take some negotiation. That’s ok! It took about four months for 39 out of 55 men to finally agree to our constitution… but then it took 2 more years for the rest of the country to ratify it!
  4. Act the part! Once your Constitution is ready, everyone must sign it. This is especially fun using a “quill” (craft feathers or decorative toothpicks work just fine) and ink (if you’re feeling adventurous, click here for a berry ink recipe).
  5. Look the part! No party is complete without a great hat. Here is a template for crafting your very own tricorn hat.

What to Read

  • Ages 3 - 7

    • What if Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick
    • David Gets in Trouble By David Shannon
    • A Little Spot of Responsibility By Diane Alber
    • The Pigeon Wants a Puppy By Mo Willems
    • If You Were a Kid at the Signing of the Constitution By Janel Rodriguez

  • Ages 6 - 11

    • We the Kids By David Catrow
    • Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution By Jean Fritz
    • A More Perfect Union By Betsy Maestro
    • What Was the Constitution By Patricia Brennan Demuth
    • We the People: The Constitution of the United States by Peter Spier
    • The Constitution and You by Syl Sobel

  • Ages 10 - 15

    • What Does the Constitution Say?: A Kid’s Guide to How Our Democracy Works By Ben Sheehan
    • We the People: The United States Constitution Explored and Explained by Aura Lewis & Evan Sargent
    • The Constitution Decoded: A Guide to the Document That Shapes Our Nation By Katie Kennedy
    • The United States Constitution
    • Alexander Hamilton: The Graphic History of an American Founding Father by Jonathan Hennessey

  • Ages 16 +

    • The Federalist Papers #51
    • The 14th Amendment

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