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Constitution Day Word Search (free printable)

A free Constitution Day word search with twenty-two civics words (preamble, amendment, Congress, Philadelphia, liberty), a word bank and an answer key for September 17.

22 words. “Polar bear” becomes POLARBEAR. Add a clue after a colon (“snow: white flakes”) to put clues in the bank.
Grid size
Difficulty
Up to 40 letters. They fill the first leftover squares, so the letters nobody circles spell it. On the board it flies into place when the last word is found.
Sort and find: the look-alikes hide in the grid and the word bank too, so children decide which to circle.

Use this list in: bingo cards

Constitution Day Word SearchConstitution Day Word SearchNameDateIJOHWASHINGTONHSAMRATIFYGNETYLFEDERALPREAMBLEESENATEHZAEPEUECCAPRESIDENTEBGODDOGNTLYCOKSGCNEECRIIAEVAALUAGLMOCMADISONKIHREOUNAMENDMENTNEGCRRGLLIBERTYISARTEOIPRIGHTSNSTAUJNRHJUSTICEOECONSTITUTIONTCSYIBBRANCHESAAWIFREEDOMERIGIIFIND THESE WORDSCONSTITUTIONPREAMBLEAMENDMENTCONGRESSSENATEPRESIDENTCOURTRIGHTSCITIZENVOTELIBERTYJUSTICEDELEGATESRATIFYPHILADELPHIAMADISONWASHINGTONFRANKLINDEMOCRACYFEDERALBRANCHESFREEDOMPuzzle 13021Free at teach.peabody.kids
Puzzle ·
Constitution Day Word Search: answer keyConstitution Day Word Search: answer keyEvery word to find is circled.IJOHWASHINGTONHSAMRATIFYGNETYLFEDERALPREAMBLEESENATEHZAEPEUECCAPRESIDENTEBGODDOGNTLYCOKSGCNEECRIIAEVAALUAGLMOCMADISONKIHREOUNAMENDMENTNEGCRRGLLIBERTYISARTEOIPRIGHTSNSTAUJNRHJUSTICEOECONSTITUTIONTCSYIBBRANCHESAAWIFREEDOMERIGIIPuzzle 13021Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key ·

To save a PDF, choose Print, then “Save as PDF” as the printer. Only the sheets print.

All 22 words are in the grid, and each one appears once.

About this set

Twenty-two words from the first weeks of a civics lesson: the document and its parts (Constitution, Preamble, Amendment, Rights), the people and places that made it (Madison, Washington, Franklin, Philadelphia, delegates), the three branches of government (Congress, Senate, President, Court) and the ideas behind it (liberty, justice, democracy, citizen, vote, ratify). The longest answers, Constitution and Philadelphia, are twelve letters, and the grid is a full 15 by 15, so third graders will want the word bank and eighth graders can switch to Hard and a 20 by 20 grid.

Grades: 3rd to 8th grade. Best in: September.

The words to find

Constitution · Preamble · Amendment · Congress · Senate · President · Court · Rights · Citizen · Vote · Liberty · Justice · Delegates · Ratify · Philadelphia · Madison · Washington · Franklin · Democracy · Federal · Branches · Freedom

How to use it: five ideas

  1. Preview: before the lesson, students find the words, then predict which three they think matter most to the Constitution.
  2. Glossary: each student defines five words from the puzzle in their own words, using a classroom copy of the Constitution as a source.
  3. Branches grid: students sort the answers under legislative, executive or judicial and explain their choices to a partner.
  4. Who was there: students use the people words (Madison, Washington, Franklin) to find one fact about each in a library book.
  5. Exit ticket: students choose the one word they would explain to a younger student and write that explanation.

Related

Questions

When is Constitution Day?

September 17, the date in 1787 when the delegates signed the Constitution in Philadelphia. When it falls on a weekend, schools observe it on the nearest weekday.

Is it an official federal requirement?

A federal law passed in 2004 requires schools that receive federal funds to hold an educational program about the Constitution on that day. Ask your district how it counts activities like this one.

Can I change the words or the difficulty?

Yes. Edit the 22 words in the box, choose Easy, Medium or Hard, pick a grid size from 8 to 25 and a shape, and add a secret message if you like. The puzzle rebuilds as you change it, and any word that cannot fit is listed.

Can we play it on the board?

Yes. Press “Play on the board”: the class finds words by dragging across them or tapping the first and last letters, each find plays a note, and H gives a hint. Press F to fill the projector.

How do I save it as a PDF?

Press Print and choose “Save as PDF” as the printer. The puzzle is page one and the answer key is page two.

How do I get a different layout?

Press “Make another”. The same words are placed in a new arrangement, which is handy when neighbors should not have the same puzzle.

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