Classroom Activites

The Bill of Rights Institute's Being an American Essay Contest is an effective and engaging way to help your students learn about and analyze American history, traditions, and values. It also makes a great Constitution Day activity!

Classroom activities are available for FREE download on this page. Building classroom activities around the Being an American essay topic will help your students to generate new ideas and consider multiple perspectives, any day of the year!

• A complete classroom activity, designed for a 45-minute class period, can be found here.
  
  
• A one page information sheet designed for students can be downloaded here.

• A set of inspirational quotations that can be used for pre-writing activities or as prompts for small or large group discussion can be found here.

• A handout containing essay writing tips can be found here.

• Essays from last year's Contest winners can be found here.

Additional resources can be found in the "For Students" section of this website.