Help Students Memorize the Preamble to the Constitution

I am helping my daughter memorize the Preamble to the Constitution.  I think it is imperative that ALL citizens of this country memorize at least the introduction to our governing document.  The Preamble is a good reminder of why this country was founded and what the purpose of our government truly is.  I do NOT like the idea of making my students memorize a lot of random dates, but I always made my students memorize (and be able to explain) two things every year in US History:  the Preamble to the US Constitution and the first line of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence (“We hold these truths…Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”).  I did not, however, just give the text to my students and say, “Memorize this.”  We worked for a few minutes in class every day for about a week, and then students had to recite it.

I wrote the various words and/or phrases of the selected text on various pieces of construction paper.  I divided the text up into bits that equaled the amount of students in my largest class.  So if my largest class had 28 students, I divided the text up into 28 chunks.  This way, each student had a piece.  In the smaller classes, I just gave a few students 2 chunks if there were extra pieces.  Then I did this:

• Time the students on how quickly they can line up so that the words of the Preamble were in the correct order.
• Read the words of the Preamble as a class.
• Mix up the words and do it again, trying to beat the previous time.  If the students are successful, they get a reward (like candy or a few free minutes at the end of class).
• Repeat this exercise each day until you are confident that most students know it.
• After the second day, I don’t allow students to talk when they are moving around with their pieces.  It makes things a little harder (and more interesting).

The day of the unit test, students had to come up and say the Preamble to me after they took their test.  I didn’t make students say it in front of the class, because I had some students that knew it but just couldn’t handle saying it in front of others.  The recitation was worth 100 points.  I allowed the students to start over as many times as they needed, but I subtracted 5 points for every prompt required or word missed when they said it the final time.  One thing I did notice was that many students seemed very nervous having to come up and say it to me.  I think it’s intimidating for some students to have a teacher’s undivided attention while reciting something from memory, so be sure to smile and be encouraging.

When learning the Preamble, you can also show the the School House Rock video.  It’s older, but the song is very catchy.  (Just be aware that they leave out “of the United States” at the beginning.)

I also recently found this rap.  The video quality is not very good, but the rap is pretty catchy.  You could try to recreate it for your students or let them watch it and perform along with it.  (You’ll have to read your students’ attitudes and whether they will be willing to do this one or not.)

I also found this free memorization sheet that would great to use if needed.