Preamble to the Constitution Worksheets

About this resource

Teaching the Preamble to the Constitution and need pages students can actually work on? This is a complete set for grades 6-8 built around the six goals. Students read the Preamble in its own words, then read a short passage on each goal: a more perfect Union, Justice, domestic Tranquility, the common defense, the general Welfare and the Blessings of Liberty. Each reading has a box for the student's own words, a box for an example from school or town and two checks to answer with a letter. Then they match eight key terms, say each part of the Preamble in their own words, decide which goal each real-life example shows, check true or false, put seven dates on a timeline, work through a case study about an invented club, answer short questions with room for four lines each, plan and write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph, take a twelve-item quiz and do three cut-and-paste sorts. Answer keys give the letters, the years and a sample for every open answer.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (40 pages)

• 25 student pages in fourteen kinds of page, each with a name line and one short instruction
• 81 scored items spread over nineteen sheets, every answer taken from the same lists that print on the page
• Meet the Preamble (4 true-or-false items) and Read the Preamble (the whole 52-word Preamble in its own words, 3 scored items and 2 written answers)
• 6 readings of 103 to 129 words, one per goal, each with 2 ruled boxes (3 lines each) and 2 checks (12 checks in all)
• Key Terms: match 8 words (union, justice, tranquility, common defense, general welfare, posterity, ordain, preamble) to their meanings, with 2 extra meanings not used
• Say It Your Way: 6 parts of the Preamble, each with 3 ruled lines for the student's own words
• Which Goal?: 8 invented examples over two sheets, name the goal number for each
• True or False: 6 sentences, plus 2 fix-it boxes
• Timeline: 7 events with a bank of years
• Case Study: an invented robotics club writes its own preamble (3 scored matches and 3 written answers)
• 6 short-answer questions across two sheets, 4 ruled lines each
• 2 claim-evidence-reasoning sheets: an organizer and an 18-line paragraph page
• 12-item quiz across two sheets; 1 self check (8 statements)
• 18 cut-and-paste pieces on 3 sort mats (match the goal, named in the Preamble or not, put in order), 6 pieces each in a 3 by 2 grid
• 4 answer keys with a sample for every open answer; 1 tracker, 1 class grid, 1 team note, 1 family page
• 1 filled example (an invented student), 1 phrase bank (17 starters in 6 groups)
• Start Here and a how-to-read-a-page page

Built For The Student Holding The Page

A "My name" line, one short instruction with a small picture cue, a plain scalloped border and big ruled boxes. Nothing on a student page is written for an adult: the keys and records are on separate teacher pages. The cut pages have six pieces in a strip-and-grid layout, edge to edge, so there are only a few straight cuts. Clip art is kept to a flag, a star, a quill, a book, a heart, a hand, a question mark, a lightbulb and a pencil. The file prints clean in black and white.

A Short Account, Not A Full Textbook

The only direct quotation is the Preamble itself. Each reading is a plain-words summary of one goal, written for this file. It is not tied to a particular standard, and it points students to the later parts of the Constitution for the government's powers. The club in the case study and the student in the filled example are invented, and the pages say so.

Type In, Or Print

The name line, every answer box, every check box and every ruled work box are type-in fields in any PDF reader: click one, type, then save. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides or PowerPoint file.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A set of history readings and practice pages with the record-keeping around it. It is not a timed test, a screener, a clinical tool, or a claim about any student's age or rate of progress. There is no IEP goal language or eligibility wording anywhere in the file, and no claim of alignment to any standard.

If You Want More

Constitutional Convention Worksheets | Readings, Compromises, Sort Grades 6-8; Causes of the American Revolution Worksheets | Reading Sort Timeline Grades 6-8; Articles of Confederation Worksheets | Sort, Match, Timeline 6th 7th 8th Grade.