On September 17, third-grade students at James H. Boyd Intermediate School in the Elwood Union Free School District took time to celebrate Constitution Day, in recognition of the signing of the United States Constitution in 1787. Students in Ms. Held’s and Ms. Noon’s classes arrived at school dressed in red, white and blue on the special day. They gathered together and to sign the Constitution’s Preamble to a “Schoolhouse Rock” song, using sign language that they had learned only days earlier.

According to Ms. Held, “We try to do everything hands-on. A project like this really makes the Constitution come alive for the students and helps them to understand why it’s so important.” In addition to this activity, students formed their classes’ own Constitutions, which detail the rights that students have within the classroom.