Introduction
Today you will be learning about the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was ratified in 1792 by our nations founding fathers. It consist of the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. These amendments outline what the founding fathers deemed to be the most important rights. The Bill of Rights determines and protects your rights as a United States Citizen. Although these rights are protected, keep in mind that they are not always absolute, many of these rights do have some limitations to protect you and others. Today you will read the Bill of Rights and learn about important Supreme Court Cases that involve it.
Task
Task 1: Watch a video about the Bill of Rights.
Task 2: Read the Bill of Rights.
Task 3: Rewrite the first 10 Amendments in your own words.
Task 4: Read about each of the 5 Supreme Court Cases that are linked.
Task 5: Write a short paragraph about each case and which Amendment it addresses.
Task 6: Watch the student interview video about the Bill of Rights.
Task 7: Determine which of the 10 Amendments is most important to you and write a paragraph explaining why.
Task 8: Play the Bill of Rights game and record your score.
Process
First watch this video about the Bill of Rights and why it is important. Then read the Bill of Rights. Make sure to read the introduction and articles first, then read the 10 Amendments of the Bill of Rights. Once you have read the Bill of Rights, you will rewrite each of the 10 Amendments in your own words. This should be done in 1-2 sentences, make sure you are not copying directly from the original text. This should be done in your own words to help you understand what each Amendment means, if you find any words you are unfamiliar with, look up the definition of the word, if you are still unsure ask the teacher for assistance.
Then read about each of the following Supreme Court Cases involving the Bill of Rights. Once you have read each case, write a short summary about it and which of the 10 Amendments is involved. Each summary should be 3-5 sentences and provide a brief explanation of what was being challenged in the Supreme Court and their ruling on the case.
District of Columbia v. Heller
Once you have finished reading about each of the Supreme Court cases listed above and have written your summary, watch this video. Once you have finished watching the video, review the Bill of Rights and choose which Amendment is most important to you. Provide 3-5 sentence explaining which Amendment you choose and why you think it is important.
Once you have completed the above tasks, play this Bill of Rights game. Make sure to select the Bill of Rights version when you start the game. Once you have finished the game write down how many trials you won and how many you lost.
Evaluation
| Task: | 5 points | 4-3 points | 2-0 points | Students score |
| Bill of Rights Rewritten | Each Amendment is accurately summarized in original wording. | More than half of the Amendments are accurately summarized in original wording. | Half or more of the Amendments are not accurately summarized or are not in original wording. | |
| Supreme Court Case Summary | Each Supreme Court case is accurately summarized, the correct amendment is identified, and the final ruling is stated. The student wrote the summary in their own words. | More than half of the Supreme Court Cases are accurately summarized, the correct amendment is identified, and the final ruling is stated. The student wrote the summary in their own words. Or all of the cases are accurately summarized but some information may be missing. | More than half of the Supreme Court Cases are not accurately summarized or are missing substantial information. Or the student did not write the summary in their own words. | |
| Most Important Amendment | The student identified which Amendment they feel is most important to them and provided a valid explanation. | The student did not identify which Amendment they feel is most important to them or the explanation does not match with the Amendment chosen. | The student did not explain which Amendment is most important to them and did not provide and valid explanation. | |
| Bill of Rights Game | The student completed the Bill of Rights game and won more cases than they lost. | The student completed the Bill of Rights game but lost more cases than they won. | The student did not play the Bill of Rights game. |
Conclusion
The Bill of Rights is an important document written by our founding fathers. It outlines the rights you have as an American citizen. The Bill of Rights was written after the Constitution to ensure that the government would respect the rights of the citizens. It is important that you know each of your rights as a citizen so you can properly exercise them. It is also important to understand the limitations of these freedoms, as these limitations help to protect you and others. There are many more rights and liberties outline in the Constitution which we will learn about later, but now you understand the first 10 and their importance.