Introduction

The Internet Resources

Introductory Sites

• Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids - This site is a great resource for students and teachers. It is an excellent site to serve as an introduction to the U.S. Government for all ages.

• A Road Map to the Constitution - This site is a good introduction to the Constitution. In addition, it provides key historical background to understand the Constitution in its historical context. Be sure to use the road map on the left side of the home page.

The Constitution Center

• Interactive Constitution - This Interactive Constitution allows the user to view and explore every part of the Constitution from the Preamble to the 27th Amendment. In addition, this site has three powerful search tools to access information about the federal government, especially the Supreme Court.

• Exploring the Constitution - This site allows the user to view the text of the Constitution by section. It also gives historical background information about the Constitution and gives selected biographies of those who participated in the Constitutional Convention.

• Citizen Participation - This site allows the user to find out who their elected representatives are by zip code. Users can also search for current issues regarding the court system and upcoming elections.

• Constitution Newswire - This site has up to date information about current issues regarding the government in the daily news. It is updated daily and allows it users to study current events.

Link Resources

• The American Heritage Education Foundation - This site offers dozens of annotated links on the government. It offers link to search engines, archival and library resources, presidential histories, and current news outlets.

• Links to the Government - This site is a resource to over 250 links on the government. It allows the users to find links based on the branches of government, political parties, elections, and many other categories.

Things to Explore

• The National Archives Experience - This site gives the user access to the National Archives. The user can view the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence. It also had resources to learn about the creation of the documents.

• The Digital Classroom - This site is a great resource for teachers. It provides lesson plans and primary source documents for teachers to use in their classroom. It also gives lesson on how to study many types of primary source materials.

• Rediscovering George Washington - This site has a wide range of materials and link on the George Washington. It provides everything from timelines to images of original documents from Washington. It also offers lessons for teachers wanting to explore Washington’s role in the early republic.

• The Official Government Website - This site is the White House sponsored site for the government. Students can learn all about the government and find important links to most government agencies.

Current Events

• An Analysis of the Constitution - This site allows the user to look at each section of the Constitution in depth. Its strength is that it discusses important developments on Constitutional issues for each branch of the federal government.

• The Constitutional Rights Foundation - This site offers debate on currents issues involving Constitutional rights of citizens and the power of the government. It current and up to date and provides insight into some our nation’s most controversial issues.