How to Write a Bill of Rights Lesson Plan

A bill of rights is needed in a free society in order to protect the rights of the individual from abuses by the government. In particular, the US Bill of Right is examined as well as other countries. Government rarely acts against the interests of the majority, and often the beneficiary of a specific decision is one of the minority. Yet, the entire society benefits from the protection of minority rights. Often times protecting the minority causes great controversy, but each person benefits ultimately. We are all a part of some minority, whether it be race, religion, economics, political beliefs, or social beliefs. We all need our individual rights protected.

Subject(s):

Social Studies/Civics

Goal:

The purpose of this activity is to demonstrat how the US Bill of Rights is applicable to everyday life.

Objectives: The students will be able to:

Identify and locate the Bill of Rights.
List the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
Apply the rights to their daily lives.
Learn the advantages and disadvantages of committee work.
Use the newspaper to identify three rights currently being protected or questioned by the Bill of Rights.
Memorize the titles or summary statements for the Bill of Rights.

Materials:

Newspapers, butcher paper, copy of the First Ten Amendments.

Procedure:

All students will individually list the rights guaranteed by the First Ten Amendments to the Constitution. These will be checked and discussed to insure all students understand these rights. It is very important our citizens are aware of their rights.

The students will be separated into groups of three or four people, preferably with students of dissimilar interests. Each group will take a piece of paper and make three headings:
(1) Rights in School, (2) Rights at Home, and (3) Rights in Public.

The students will then list ten rights for each column. These could include rights such as weapons, travel rights, etc.
The students will then write to the side of each item in each list the number of the amendment that corresponds to the right listed.
The group will add one more right from an Amendment they had not used into one of the columns.
Each group will present its lists to the class.
The students will locate and mount on lined notebook paper three newspaper articles demonstrating current use of the Bill of Rights.
The students will memorize the titles or summary statements of the Bill of Rights. These will be tested by written exam.

Have each group orally present one newspaper article to the class. Follow up with a discussion.
Test the students' ability to identify the titles and content of the Bill of Rights.
Discuss the problems and advantages of committee work.
Have the students discuss which one right is most important. They should eventually realize that they are all important. Some are more important than others to certain people but they are all essential to our society and its wellbeing.