Congress has mandated that, "Each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution."
Hello Teachers,
Are you looking for a fun and easy way to bring interest and excitement about the Constitution to your class? Is Constitution Day earlier in the year than you had planned on teaching about the Constitution?
One thing you could try is using song 2 from the Professor Presley History Rocks CD to begin a lesson and or discussion about the U.S. Constitution. There are many ways to use this song. Students can create a PowerPoint presentation to go with the music, or they could even make group posters showing the key concepts from the song. Students have even done a rap in class using just the lyrics while creating their own beat. At the middle school where I teach the video production class made a MTV style music video with historic images as the backdrop. This video was presented to the entire school on Constitution Day.
"A New Constitution" is the most downloaded song from the History Rocks CD. You can listen to a sample of the song or download it from Apple ITUNES http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=58914092
or any of the other major music download sites. Also you may check out your local library for the History Rocks CD.
Liner notes and lyrics for Song 2 "A New Constitution"
The United States of America established their first constitution during the American Revolution.
This first constitution was called the Articles of Confederation. The Articles created a national government with a congress but it did not include a federal court system or a president. This government lasted
long enough to see the U.S. achieve victory in the Revolutionary War, but it was not strong enough
to give the direction the new country needed. In 1787 leaders from 12 of the 13 states met in Philadelphia
planning to fix the Articles of Confederation but they ended up writing a new constitution.
A NEW CONSTITUTION
Madison had a plan for the nation, goodbye to the Articles of Confederation,
The Virginia Plan offered up a new solution, we need to write a brand new constitution,
Were learning from the past, Magna Carta yeah, English Bill of Rights, Our future is so bright,
They finally agreed to a Congress with 2 sections, the House of Reps. every 2 years will have elections,
2 Senators no matter what your population, the larger states will not have domination,
The Great Compromise, the 3/5 Compromise, slave’s rights were denied, the states would decide
A philosopher by the name of Locke had a good plan, so they added in his belief in the natural rights of man,
Montesquieu had once said without hesitation, 3 branches with separate powers is best for the nation,
This is what it says, there are checks and balances, Dividing powers fair, I think we're almost there,
The legislative branch will make the laws, the executive has the President to lead us all,
the judicial branch has judicial review, when the Supreme Court explains what we can do!
They had a plan, the Federal government man, the people get to choose, democracy is cool,
They sent it out to the states to get approved, the Federalists and Hamilton had a lot to do,
The Anti-feds felt that the government would be too strong,
without a Bill of Rights they felt the plan was all wrong,
The States had to decide, would they ratify? Add a Bill of Rights, now it looks all right.
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare,
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
(preamble to the U.S. Constitution)
Music & Lyrics: B. Reynolds Vocals: Charlie Ware (Lucy’s Fur Coat)
Guitars: B. Reynolds Bass & Drums: M Kamoo
©Prof. Presley 2005
