Periodic Table of the Amendments POSTER
Here you’ll find the digital resources that accompany the poster. All are free to use and to remix in the classroom.
27 IDEAS TO TEACH THE 27 Amendments
Download a teaching guide with 27 ideas (and hyperlinks) to teach concepts from the poster. All activities are also linked below.
For Use with Any Amendment
1. Define vocab words with interactive vocab (five word definition and image). Possible words: amendment, ratify, suffrage, Bill of Rights, Prohibition, lame duck, constitution, petition, succession, precedent
2. Make an infographic to describe any one case. Template, Blank Template
3. Create a Tell-A-Graphic for a case. Source Information, Example
4. Write a newspaper article explaining an amendment.
Specific Amendments
5. First Amendment – Follow along questions Graphic, Questions
6. First Amendment – What does the Supreme Court say? Tinker Text & Video, Hazelwood Text, More Supreme Court Rulings
7. First Amendment – Make an infographic. Guided video and graph paper
8. Fourth Amendment – Follow along questions Graphic, Questions
9. Thirteenth Amendment – Follow along questions Graphic, Questions
10. Fourteenth Amendment – Follow along questions Graphic, Questions
11. Sixteenth Amendment – What’s it like to file your taxes? Simulation
12. Eighteenth Amendment – Follow along questions Graphic, Questions
13. Nineteenth Amendment – Follow along questions Graphic, Questions
14. Nineteenth Amendment – Research a suffragist. Source
15. Twenty-First Amendment – Follow along questions Graphic, Questions
16. Twenty-Fourth Amendment – Understand poll taxes with a lesson from the JFK Library.
17. Twenty-Fifth Amendment – Listen to a podcast from Civics101. Graphic, Follow-along notes
Multiple Amendments
18. Use two amendments to compare and contrast. A couple possibilities: 15th/19th/26th or 18th/21st
19. Find the amendment: Check out the Bill of Rights cases on our poster, 25 Landmark Supreme
Court Cases. Which amendment is being limited or expanded with each decision? Use the Periodic
Table of the Amendments for help.
20. Make a timeline for ratification of all 27 Amendments. Use Canva
21. Learn about the Reconstruction Amendments with the Bill of Rights Institute.
The Amendment Process
22. Read Article V of the US Constitution. Constitution Center
23. Listen to an explanation of the amendment process by Civics101.
Dig Deeper
24. Watch Constitution Explained videos with iCivics.
25. What’s next? Write to a representative about a new possible amendment. Find your rep
26. Read the actual text, scholarly interpretations, and find lesson plans at the Constitution Center.
27. Read the 12 amendments proposed and the 10 ratified at the National Archives site.