The U.S. Constitution was signed Sept. 17, 1787. This day is nationally recognized as Constitution Day, and each year, Texas schools honor the week containing Sept. 17 as Celebrate Freedom Week. In honor of this historic event, students learn about the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. They study the values and ideals on which the United States was founded, as well as the sacrifices that were made for freedom in the founding of the country. Students also examine the relationship between the ideas in these documents and subsequent American history.

Coinciding with Celebrate Freedom Week, Constitution Week was established by the U.S. Congress to encourage all Americans to learn about the Constitution. Constitution Week celebrates the signing of the U.S. Constitution and was started by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). In 1955, DAR petitioned Congress to annually recognize Sept. 17–23 as Constitution Week. The resolution was later adopted by the U.S. Congress and signed into public law on Aug. 2, 1956, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. 
According to DAR, the goals of the Constitution Week celebration are: 

• Emphasizing citizens’ responsibilities for protecting and defending the Constitution.
• Informing people that the Constitution is the basis for America’s great heritage and the foundation for our way of life.
• Encouraging the study of historical events that led to the framing of the Constitution in September 1787.

The websites below contain lessons, activities, and instructional materials on the U.S Constitution for your classroom:

• Visit the National Constitution Center’s website for a variety of live classes, virtual town halls, a media library, and other Constitution Day activities, as well as an interactive Constitution.
• Head over to the Library of Congress website for Constitution Day activities, lesson plans, and a free ebook for your classroom.
• The National Endowment for the Humanities provides a teacher’s guide with lesson plans and resources to help students learn about the framework of our constitutional republic.
• Stop over at the HMH website for eight fun Constitution Day activities for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.

This site on the American Revolution is a companion to the award-winning series produced by PBS. It contains educational resources such as a timeline of the Revolution, bibliographies, links to related sites, and lesson plans.