Teacher:
First Name: JenniferLast Name: Hardy
Email address:
Lesson Information:
Lesson Title: Kindergarten Bill of Rights
Lesson Duration: 14 days, 20 min. each lesson
Suggested Grade Level: Kindergarten – 1st Grade
Major Themes/Concepts:
Social Studies:
K-02History/Geography
Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of yesterday, today,
and tomorrow.
Recognize the globe as a model of the earth.
K-03 Economics
Identify how families and communities work together to meet their
basic needs and wants.
K-04 Citizenship/Government
Participate cooperatively in group activities.
Follow school rules.
Reading/Language Arts
K-02Memorize and recite familiar nursery rhymes and poems
K-05Produce single consonants and short vowel sounds.
K-06Recognize color, number, and high-frequency words.
K-11Use oral language to communicate
Lesson Objectives: By the end of this unit, students will be aware of our nation’s Bill of Rights, understand that it helps to keep us safe, and provides us with freedom, and have helped in drafting a classroom version of the Bill of Rights.
Introduction / Anticipatory Set: Show students pictures of buildings in WashingtonD.C., our founding fathers, posters of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Introduce globe show students where Philadelphia and WashingtonD.C. are located. (These skills will be introduced throughout the two week unit and revisited frequently). Discuss the United States flag, practice saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Discuss why we say the pledge and put our hands over our hearts. Introduce patriotic songs throughout the week such as Grand Old Flag, My Country Tis of Thee, and Oh Beautiful.
Materials/Resources: Students will be able to view the poster of The Pledge of Allegiance, Bill of Rights, and pictures of WashingtonD.C. and Philadelphia throughout the two week unit. As the classroom Bill of Rights is written, display it on the wall for students to see. Other materials needed throughout the unit are: pictures of speakers or marches for ideas people believe in; pictures or pamphlets from various churches in the area; pictures of courthouse and jurors, different types of press materials such as newspaper, tabloid, magazine, books; any other items that would help students to understand what these rights guarantee for us.
The Process/Procedures for Instruction:
Day 1 – Begin with an introduction by showing posters of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Each day will be focused on a specific right guaranteed to us through the Bill of Rights.
- Freedom of Speech – Talk to students about what it means to be free to say what you would like. Be sure to point out that that freedom does come with boundaries. Explain to students that you cannot purposefully hurt someone or tell lies about them. Introduce pictures of famous speakers or famous Marches on Washington. This is a good time to bring in Martin Luther King, Jr. and what he spoke about.
- Freedom of Religion – Show students pictures or bulletins from the different churches and denominations throughout the city. Explain to them that their freedom of religion means that you cannot tell another person what they have to believe in. People are free to believe in whatever God they want to or not to believe in God at all. This would be a good time to bring in guest readers from area churches so that students can be familiar with positive role models.
- Right to Trial made up of a Jury of Peers – Show students pictures of the Douglas County Courthouse and Courtroom if possible. Explain that when there is a trial,a jury is selected. Briefly go through what a jury selection would be like. If time permits, role-play what it would be like to have a jury trial in the classroom.
- Freedom of the Press – Bring in different types of written media for students to look at. Show them newspapers, magazines, tabloids, and books that are written with the purpose of getting a political message across. Leave these items out throughout the week so that students can look at them when they visit the ReadingCenter. Compare Freedom of the Press with Freedom of Speech. Remind students that they are free to say what they would like as long as it is not mean or a lie. Explain to students that Freedom of the Press works the same way, except it is written.
- Freedom from the Use of Cruel and Unusual Punishment – Carefully explain to students that when a person is arrested, this right protects them from being beaten once they are in custody. It is also used during times of war and not treating any terrorist in a cruel way. This is a very difficult topic to discuss with this age group. Be careful in the way you explain things. A fairly safe way to explain this would be to use the example of being taken to the office for punishment. The principal is not allowed to hurt you, keep you from food, or treat you unfairly.
- The right to keep and bear arms – Explain to students that this right allows us to keep registered firearms in our own homes. Point out that firearms must be purchased legally and training should be done so that you are able to use them correctly, without injuring yourself. Possibly bring in a police officer from the local precinct or a military recruiter to discuss safety issues with students.
- The right to control your own property – Explain to students that this right allows you to purchase your own home and to be safe from people coming and knocking on the door saying that they are taking your home for their own. Give a brief history of how this happened many years ago and why the founding fathers were worried about this becoming a popular practice.
- Right to Assembly – Review pictures of famous speeches and marches that have taken place. Explain why these individuals have been allowed to come together in a peaceful manner to express their feelings. Give them the example of being able to go to church, coming to school gatherings, having people over to their houses without having to explain why they are there.
- Quartering Troops in your Home - Show students pictures from the Revolutionary War and Civil Way. Ask them if this was something that happened yesterday or a long time ago. Ask them how they can tell that these pictures are from a long time ago. They should notice the dress, the color of the picture, possibly the types of weapons or location. Briefly explain that when these pictures were taken, soldiers would go to different homes and demand to be let in, fed, and taken care of. This amendment was put into place so that Americans would feel safe that soldiers would not barge in and take over their homes.
- Unreasonable Search and Seizure – Ask students what their property is in our classroom. They should say their desk, pencil box, back pack, and coat. Ask them if I could dig through those things at any time. Ask if their friends can go through their stuff without permission. Explain to students that unless I feel that you have something that does not belong to them, I will exercise my right to search your belongings. I will not dig through your things just because I feel like it, that would be an unreasonable search. Ask students if they can take something from their neighbor’s pencil basket or back pack without their permission. If I were to walk over to their desk and take their pencil and say it was my own, that would be an unreasonable seizure. This is a great way to begin discussions on honesty and trust within the classroom.
Learning Advice
When working with kindergarten or first grade students, remember to try and relate concepts to things they are familiar with. Make sure to research each right before beginning discussions on topics. Plenty of visual aids will be helpful when delivering this unit.
Summary / Conclusion
As a summarizing activity, develop a classroom Bill of Rights with students. Discuss what is important to them and why. Write their decisions on chart paper and have each of the students sign the paper. Display in classroom throughout the year.
General Notes
Most of this lesson has been differentiated throughout the daily activities. It is important to bring in as many pictures and artifacts as possible along with letting the students discuss what they notice about the items.
Assessment Activities
It is difficult to assign a rubric to grade for a Kindergarten Unit. If the teacher chooses to teach unit in two weeks and move on after that, students can be assessed on the number of songs/poems that they know as long as they have been practiced daily. If the teacher chooses to extend the unit longer than two weeks, students can be assessed on how many of the rights that they can remember. Students should be given credit if they can explain a right, but cannot remember the formal name.
Bibliography
You and the Constitiution of the United States by Paul Witty
The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights DVD by Schlessinger (2006)
Wynnewood, CA
Interactive bill of rights web sight for kids
White House Kids website with information on the Bill of Rights and additional activities and video clips for students to view
Teacher resource page for different activities to pull in during course of unit.
Omaha World Herald
Time for Kids
Time Magazine
Star Magazine
U.S. News and World Reports
Campus newspaper from University of Nebraska-Omaha and/or CreightonUniversity
People Magazine
Enquirer