LESSON 8.10The Bill of Rights
Learning targets
(clear, understandable versions of standards in student friendly language) / SUMMARY OVERVIEW
History Alive!lesson plan
  • Identify the rights of citizens guaranteed in the Bill of Rights
  • Understand the rights of citizens guaranteed under the Bill of Rights
/ Start with Preview Activity in ISN - comparing parental power to governmental power (10 minutes)
Students then work in pairs to break down all the rights/protections contained in the Bill of Rights. The task is to read about the different amendments and match them to illustrations in the ISN. They are then instructed to record short explanations next to the illustrations. (2 -3 days)
As part of a Response Group, the students then use what they have learned about the Bill of Rights to examine and debate four Supreme Court decisions. Students next learn about the actual Supreme Court decision. (2 days)
Recommended Changes to HA! lesson plan
Lesson is complete “as is”, but a supplementary video can be used to help students practice identifying specificrights (1 day)
  • Video: “Future Fright: Losing the Bill of Rights” (24 minutes) dramatizes the story of an American family that had been living outside the U.S. and their return to a country that has abandoned the Bill of Rights. Shows the terrible things that happen to them when they realize certain protections no longer exist
  • Partner activity: students discuss and record 10 different rights that are violated in the video and identify which amendment guarantees that right.
If time is an issue, the Supreme Court case review could be limited to two cases or different groups could be assigned a different case and then share-out.
TAG extension: students independently research the pre-revolutionary eventsthat prompted the framers to include each amendment
  • Example: Quartering Act = 3rd Amendment
Flexible grouping pattern of the lesson
  • Partnered-reading and notetaking
  • Mixed-ability groups for review of Supreme Court decisions
  • Use WRAPP reading strategy during Supreme Court case review

Language objectives
(identified cognitive functionscorrelated to the learning targets,such as sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, infer, and argue, as well as the signal words to be deliberately taught/used in discussion and writing; sentence frames in support section)
Orally and in writing, the students will use the following signal words to describe and explane the Bill of Rights:
  • In other words(simple language)
  • Means(simple language)
  • Consists of(sufficient language)
  • Characterized by(sophisticated language)
* See writing/discussion support sentence frames below.
History Alive! Preview activity
(buildsbackground; links to student experience)
Comparing governmental power to parental power is a good way for students to connect to the upcoming chapter material.
The preview activity is designed to get students to compare their parents’ power to the government’s power granted by the U.S. Constitution. The student’s reflection is intended to give them the opportunity to express their ideas about how power should be limited to create fairness and protect their basic rights as individuals.
Pre-assessment activities/documents
(serves as self-assessment for students; informs instruction for teachers; charts or documents may be used as a place to gather concepts/information throughout lesson through debriefing; may include visuals, lesson questions, lesson vocabulary, language objectives, and/or learning targets)
Use the SWYAK and WIIFM
Lesson questions
(drive instruction; may create links to previous learning; may be included in pre-assessment)
POST ON WALL
  • How are the people’s rights protected by the Bill of Rights?
  • How is the government’s power limited by the Bill of Rights?
  • How has the Bill of Rights been interpreted by the courts?

Additional background building
(streaming video segments, DVD, map review, read aloud of a related piece of fiction, etc.)
Video: Future Fright: Losing the Bill of Rights (24 minutes)
*Available on VHS video through PPS Multimedia library or digitally through Discovery Education
Key content vocabulary (italicized words assessed)
Bill of Rights
Constitution
Amendment
Separation of Church & State
Warrant
Self-Incrimination
Defendant
Criminal Trial
Civil Trial
Jury
READING SUPPORT
Lesson-specific instructional supports
* see Enrichment Plan for Compacting/Extensions
Suggested Strategies for Introduction Interactive Read-Aloud / Focus pages/paragraphs for guided reading group / Thinking or Process-Related Words
(for example: Bloom’s, etc.)
Image Analysis (p.132)
What things do you see in the picture?
Patriot soldiers, bald eagle, revolutionary flags, bell
What is the bell in the corner?
LibertyBell
What does it symbolize? What does “liberty” mean?
Liberty = freedom, independence, rights / On “The Right to Worship Freely” (2 paragraphs)
  • Page 135 – “The First Amendment has two guarantees of religious freedom…”
  • Page136 – “The second religious guarantee…”
On “The Right to Free Speech and Press”
  • Page 136 – “Freedom of the press is important because…”
On “The Right to Assemble and Petition”
  • Page 137 – “The right to assembly means that citizens…”
On “Second Amendment: The Right to Bear Arms”
  • Page 138 – “The meaning of this amendment…”
On “Third Amendment: Quartering Troops in Homes”
  • Page 138 – “Before the Revolution, Britain had forced…”
On “Fourth Amendment: Searches and Seizures”
  • Page 139 – “The Fourth Amendment protects people and their belongings…”
On “Fifth Amendment: Legal Rights”
  • Page 139 – No good summary paragraph available, focus on highlighted vocabulary (self-incrimination and defendant)
On “Sixth Amendment: Criminal Trial Rights”: (2 paragraphs)
  • Page 140 – “The right to a speedy trial means…”
  • “”Public” means that trials…”
On “Seventh Amendment: Civil Trial Rights”
  • Page 140 – “Not all trials involve criminal actions…”
On “Eighth Amendment: Bail and Punishments” (2 paragraphs)
  • Page 141 – “The Eight Amendment protects an accused person’s rights…”
  • “ After trial, if the person is found guilty…”
On “Ninth Amendment: Rights Retained by the People”
  • Page 142 – “The Ninth Amendment says that even though…”
On “Tenth Amendment: Powers Reserved to the States”:
Page 142 – The Tenth Amendment was included to protect the states…” / Describe
Explain
Rewrite
WRITING SUPPORT
Lesson-specific instructional supports
* see Enrichment Plan for Compacting/Extensions
Sentence frames for parts of the lesson
These sentence frames should appear in the ISN notetaking assignment and/or the “Future Fright” video analysis.
  • The right to ______means ______.
  • The ____ Amendment says ______, in other words ______.
  • The ____ Amendment is characterized by ______.(sophisticated language)

DISCUSSION SUPPORT
Lesson-specific instructional supports
* see Enrichment Plan for Compacting/Extensions
Sentence frames for parts of the lesson
See Writing Support above
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS(for student and teacher use)
“Check for understanding”
points during activities / Checkpoints in InteractiveStudent Notebook / Questions for
exit and entrance slips
  • Can students correctly identify and describe the different rights/protections in the ISN note-taking activity?
  • Can the students correctly describe how different rights are being violated in the “Future Fright” video?
/ There are multiple opportunities for the teacher to circulate and check for understanding during the note-taking activity.
  • Notetaking activity
  • Examination of Supreme Court decisions processing assignment
/ Which Amendment is most important to you and your life? Least important? And why?
REVIEW
Processing Assignment
(also serves as a formative assessment) / Games / Other
Students create a comic strip that tells a story about life in their community without the Bill of Rights.
RECOMMENDED LESSON ASSESSMENT AND KEY
Assessment
Key

1

Modified from History Alive! June 2010