This teaching guide accompanies a curriculum, intended to be used in the middle school grades, that introduces students to the study of constitutional government in the United States. It is designed to help students understand the most important ideas of the constitutional system and how they were developed, and to provide students with a knowledge of how the Constitution came into existence, why it took the form it did, and how it has functioned for the past 200 years. By gaining such an understanding, students will be preparing themselves for the responsibility of citizenship. The curriculum employs a conceptually oriented approach that stresses the development of analytic and evaluative skills. It is intended that students will learn how to apply their understanding and knowledge to a wide variety of political questions and issues. The skills they develop will help them to relate their everyday experiences to basic issues of constitutional government and civic responsibility. Teaching strategies are varied, including directed discussions, debates, role playing, timeline construction, and small-group problem solving. The curriculum is organized into six units: (1) What is government? (2) What experiences shaped the Founders' thinking about government? (3) What happened at the Philadelphia Convention? (4) How was the Constitution used to establish our government? (5) How does the Constitution protect our basic rights? and (6) What are the responsibilities of citizens? In each unit, the teacher's guide contains an overview, objectives, introduction, and optional project. The six units contain a total of 29 lessons. For each lesson, the guide includes an overview, objectives, materials needed, teaching procedures, and optional activities. A reference section also is included containing copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, brief biographies of important Framers, and a glossary. (DB)