Author: Jennifer Boeri-Boyce
Grade Level: 8
Length of lesson:
1 period
Download Activity

Historical Context:

  • Theme: Change and continuity in American democracy: ideas, institutions, events, key figures, and controversies
  • Era: Development of Modern America (19th and 20th centuries).

Essential Question

What rights are protected by the first amendment? How are these freedoms linked together?

Overview

Before engaging in this activity, students should have learned the basics of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This activity helps students apply and reflect on knowledge already gained. (A helpful website for background may be found at: http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/page.aspx? pid=462.)

Before engaging in this activity, students should have learned the basics of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This activity helps students apply and reflect on knowledge already gained. (A helpful website for background may be found at: http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/page.aspx? pid=462.)

Materials

Martin Luther King Day Events
Petition Signing
Women holding Banner
Newspaper announcing armed forces desegregation
Proposition 8 Rally
Gay Pride Rally
Strike
Little Rock, 1959. Rally at state capitol
Lyndon Baines Johnson signing Civil Rights Bill, April 11, 1968
The Latimer and Great Massachusetts Petition, 1842
NAACP Rally Announcement

Many other images are available on and off-line in magazines, newspapers and books; feel free to gather your own collection. This one was found at the Vermont Historical Society website.

Activity Plan

Before the lesson, print and number the images. Make copies of worksheet for students.

  1. Review with students what the Bill of Rights is. What rights are protected by these amendments?
  2. Review with students what the Bill of Rights is. What rights are protected by these amendments?
  3. Briefly brainstorm how these rights apply to our lives. List on board as students share.
  4. Organize students into five small groups.
  5. Hand each student the chart worksheet and explain the task.
  6. Hand out a packet of images to each group and have students analyze the images and fill in their charts. (As teacher, you can decide how many of the images each group gets. All of them? Just a few? Does each group get the same images or different ones? Decide what fits best for your students and the time allotment.)
  7. As groups begin to finish the chart, assign them a freedom. They will be responsible for briefly presenting the images they chose for their freedom. (Again, with the group presentation you decide how formal or informal this will be. Choose one spokesperson yourself? Allow students to determine their presentation? How you decide to manage this should fit your students.)
  8. Go around the room asking each group to
    1. explain their freedom
    2. share what images they felt depicted this freedom and explain why.
  9. Students should find that images overlap and fit into more than one category. Discuss this and then have students answer the question on their worksheets: “The writers of the Bill of Rights chose to place these five freedoms together in one amendment instead of five separate ones. Why? Explain what links these rights together and how they impact each other. Use specific examples to help describe your answer”. Depending on time, this could be done for homework.
  10. If there is time, share and discuss either at the end of the period or the next class.

Assessment

Because of the variety of possible answers, the chart (and whole activity if you wish) can be graded in regards to completion and participation effort only. A short rubric (included in download) is provided for a more detailed evaluation.

Standards

6.10.aa Types of Government Students describe the basic principles of democracy…
6.12.b Human RightsStudents explain the importance … of personal rights