Last year, I moved to a new school and eventually restarted its Quill & Scroll chapter. Since then, I have been brainstorming potential chapter activities. Celebrating Scholastic Journalism Week is a no-brainer – so why not also observe Constitution Day?
Students participate in a leadership activity at the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Boston, 2023.
Here are five activities your chapter – or your student media programs or even journalism classes – could do to help educate your school about the Constitution.
- First Amendment memorization challenge: At first, students balk at the idea of memorizing it, but it’s just 45 words. If they can memorize a song, they can handle this. Some advisers require this as a grade early in the year. (I’m offering it as extra credit to my introductory students.) If your school allows, turn this into a schoolwide challenge and offer candy or small prizes as a reward.
- Bill of Rights poster design contest: Challenge your students to make a poster about each of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Display the best ones somewhere visible in the school.
- Organize a voter registration drive: I’ve noticed this is a big thing in national/statewide election years, but not in smaller cycles like this one. Collaborate with teachers on your campus who are voter registrars or an organization like the League of Women Voters.
- Announcements/slides: We have both daily intercom announcements and TVs with announcement slides. Task your students with designing and writing content to play leading up to Sept. 17.
- Lunchtime trivia: As a school in a state with a new cell phone ban, we now have a captive audience during lunches. Think about using this time to hold trivia and offer prizes. Here are some questions to get you started. (And if you wanted to stack activities, consider tailoring the announcements from activity four to these questions.)
View this activity as a Google Doc
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Compiled by Kristin Taylor, MJE, members of the Scholastic Press Rights Committee contributed to this set of activities around the theme “Power to the People” for teachers to use in their classrooms this Constitution Day, Sept. 17. They range from full lesson plans to quick activities and ways to promote Constitution Day in your school community. You can find all of this year’s activities on the Constitution Day event page.
Written By: Andrea Negri, MJE