Lesson Plan: Bill of Rights

United States History

Learning Target
Students will identify why the liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights are important freedoms
for American citizens, and they will rewrite the ten amendments into simpler language.

State Standard Addressed

CSS 8.2. Students analyze the political principles underlying the U.S. Constitution and compare
the enumerated and implied powers of the federal government.
CSS 8.2.6. Enumerate the powers of government set forth in the Constitution and the
fundamental liberties ensured by the Bill of Rights.

Instructional Procedures

Anticipatory Set
Instructor will start by asking students to brainstorm about our American freedoms: "Because of
the Bill of Rights, we enjoy many freedoms that citizens of other countries do not have. What are
some things we are free to do here in the United States that some people in other countries are
not?"

Perceived Objective
“Today we are going to learn about the first ten amendments of the Constitution called the Bill of
Rights, and play Jeopardy to see how much we know about the amendments and how they affect
laws today.”

Input
Instructor will begin by leading students in a Think-Pair-Share based on what they have already
learned about the Constitution up to this point. Instructor will ask students to discuss the
following review questions: What is the Constitution? Why was the Constitution written? Who
wrote the Constitution and where did they write it? What governing doctrine came before the
Constitution? Students should be able to identify that the Constitution was written by delegates at
the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia 1787 and that the delegates met at the convention
to rewrite and replace the previous governing doctrine, the Articles of Confederation. The main
author of the Constitution was James Madison. The instructor should circulate around the
classroom as students discuss these review questions with a neighbor. After the students have
time to Think-Pair-Share in partners, the instructor will bring the class back together to introduce
the Bill of Rights. The instructor will explain that the Bill of Rights is made up of the first ten
amendments to the Constitution and that they consist of the freedoms that Americans hold most
dear.

Modeling
Instructor will pass out Instructional Material 1, which is a two columned graphic organizer of
the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights. On the left side of the graphic organizer is one to two
sentences pulled from the actual text of the amendment. On the right, students are to rewrite the
text to be in simpler words that most people today could understand. The instructor will lead the
class through the first two amendments, modeling how to complete this exercise. Row one of the
graphic organizer contains this text from the first amendment: ​“Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”​ The instructor should first call on students
to ask how they might rewrite this before writing an answer in the right column. The newly
written amendment that the instructor writes should be similar to this: ​“Congress cannot pass
laws that establish a specific religion for Americans, forbid Americans from practicing their own
religions, or interfere with Americans’ freedom of speech, press, the right to gather peacefully,
or the right to express disagreement with the government.”​ The original text of the second
amendment is: ​“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right
of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”​ The instructor should again ask
students to first brainstorm how they might reword this, then the instructor should write
something similar to this for the right column:​ “Americans have a right to bear firearms—or
guns—legally.”

Check for Understanding

A first check for understanding will happen during the review portion of the lesson. The
instructor will be circulating the classroom to make sure all students are discussing the review
question, stopping at students’ desks to see if they have any questions. The instructor will then
call on students using the sticks of randomness to answer the four review questions outlined
above in the “input” section to ensure that they recall the previously learned information on the
Constitution. After the instructor models how to rewrite the first two amendments, instructor will
ask students to put a hand in the air holding up one to five fingers based on how confident they
feel with rewriting the rest of the amendments on their own, with one finger being not confident
and five fingers being very confident. Lastly, the entire game of Jeopardy will act as a kind of
check for understanding because students will not be allowed to use notes, but rather only their
memory to try and remember what freedom each amendment gives citizens and which current
day scenarios are protected by which amendment. Of course students are not expected to know
all these answers as they will be learning as the game goes on. However, application of the
amendments without using notes will help with retention.
Independent Practice
After modeling how to rewrite the first two amendments in Instructional Material 1, students will
be given time to rewrite amendments three, four, and five independently. Once they have been
given sufficient time to complete the rewrite of these three amendments, the instructor will call
on students using the sticks of randomness to ask students to read what they wrote aloud for one
amendment. Instructor should call on two to three students to give examples for each
amendment. If students miss interpret one amendment, then the instructor should share how they
would rewrite the amendment to make sense. Students will then be given time to complete
amendments six through ten with their regular desk quads with whom they usually work. The
class will then again come together to share what they wrote for the second five amendments.
The instructor should again use the sticks of randomness to call on students to share their
rewrites.

Guided Practice
After the class has completed and reviewed Instructional Material 1, the instructor will give the
class only ten minutes to study the Bill of Rights. In groups of eight, two nearby quads paired
together by the instructor, the students will be competing in a version of the game Jeopardy.
They will study on their own first to try and memorize what each of the ten amendments are.
They will then be shown a standard Jeopardy board and teams will given the chance to compete
against each other to see who knows the most about the Bill of Rights. The questions will include
contents of the Bill of Rights, who wrote it, why, and where it was written, and present day
scenarios in which students must state the amendment for which the scenario applies. The link
for the Jeopardy game is here: ​https://jeopardylabs.com/play/bill-of-rights-395

Closure
To conclude, students will be asked to write an exit slip before leaving class that day. On the exit
slip, they will write two things they learned today and one way in which an amendment they
learned about today directly connects to them personally and/or something going on in their life.

Differentiation:

For students who may have trouble with auditory learning, copies of the directions for the guided
and independent practice will be projected on a PowerPoint slide. For students who may have
social anxiety and do not feel comfortable sharing their thoughts verbally in class (as
participation is always a part of their grade), they may hand write their thoughts to be turned in at
the end of class for participation credit. If a student is a slow reader or writer and needs extra
time with the amendment rewrites, they may work with a neighbor or use a sentence stem copy
of Instructional Material 1. Instructor should walk around independent desks and quad groups
during the Think-Pair-Share, guided practice, and independent study time before Jeopardy,
stopping to check in with individuals and groups of students. This will account for students who
may not feel comfortable raising their hand to ask clarifying questions during the group part of
the lesson, so at this time the instructor may work with the struggling student one-on-one. During
the guided practice, students will start by working quietly and independently and then will be
released to work with students around them.