ARE YOU FREE?

Corinna Sech
SCED 355
Unit Plan
Context
■ Unit Topic: Rights and Responsibilities
– Civil Rights vs. Civil Liberties, Bill of Rights – specifically the 1st Amendment, various
court cases, the impact of the Bill of Rights on individuals/groups today.
■ Course: American Government
■ Grade Level: 9th grade
■ Class Description: A standard level 9th grade government class. The class is comprised of
twenty-five students. There are four students with ADHD.
■ About this Unit: The purpose of the unit is to educate and inform students on their rights
given to them in the United States Constitution. Students are also to think critically about
their rights and limitations in comparison to other countries. These lessons will help
students to become good, active citizens because they will understand their constitutional
rights. Throughout this unit, students are to think about the overarching essential question:
are our rights granted or earned?
Standards
■ Maryland State Curriculum Standards: Standard 1: Civics
– INDICATOR 2. The student will analyze historic documents to determine the basic
principles of United States government and apply them to real-world situations
(1.1.1).
■ OBJECTIVE I - Identify the rights in the Bill of Rights and how they protect individuals and
limit the power of government
– EXPECTATION 2. The student will evaluate how the United States government has
maintained a balance between protecting rights and maintaining order.
■ INDICATOR 1. The student will analyze the impact of landmark Supreme Court decisions
on governmental powers, rights, and responsibilities of citizens in our changing society
(1.2.1).
■ INDICATOR 3. The student will evaluate the impact of governmental decisions and
actions that have affected the rights of individuals and groups in American society
and/or have affected maintaining order and/or safety (1.2.3).
■ NCSS Standards: NCSS Standard 1: Content Knowledge, NCSS Standard 2: Application of
Content Through Planning, NCSS Standard 4: Social Studies Learners and Learning, &
NCSS Standard 5: Professional Responsibility and Informed Action.
Assessment Plan
■ My overarching essential question will be my pre-assessment to gage what students are
thinking about the Rights they are given.
■ Formative Assessment Strategies (throughout the lessons):
• Day 1 – Exit Ticket: reviews lesson/checks to see if the objective has been fulfilled
• Day 2 – Closure: If you had to give up one right, what would it be?
• Day 3 – Crash Course Worksheets
• Day 4 – Summary essays
• Day 5 – Exit Ticket
• Day 6 – Closure: Write down one thing they learned from this lesson.
• Day 7 – Summative in-class essay
■ How will students demonstrate achievement of the essential questions?
• Essential questions are asked in a discussion activity or are included in a warm-up
activity.
Assessment Plan (Continued)
■ Important Concepts:
• The Bill of Rights
• specifically the 1st Amendment
• Civil Rights vs. Civil Liberties
• Various court cases
• The impact of the Bill of Rights on individuals/groups
today
■ The comprehensive assessment of the essential questions and
the indicators I have selected will be the summative essay on
Day 7.
• The performance assessment is the rubric included for
the essay.
Day 1 – Civil Rights and Civil
Liberties/Introduction to the Bill of Rights
■ Objective: Students will be able to define what is a civil right and a civil liberty.
■ Essential Question: Civil rights, civil liberties, civil responsibilities – are they are all the
same?
■ Motivational Activity: This scenario will be displayed on the screen. I will read the scenario
aloud two times for students.
– Two students are talking quietly, but seriously, to each other. A third student, standing
at the next locker, overhears the conversation, which happens to be about an act
they have committed in violation of school rules. The third student shares the
conversation with two other students, one of whom reports the incident to the
principal's office. The principal searches the lockers of the first two students, locates
some incriminating evidence, and suspends the students in accordance with school
policy.
■ Students will be asked to consider and respond to the following:
– Are the other students morally or legally obligated to report the incident? What rights
do the two students have? And the third student? Can the principal search the
locker?
Day 1
Continued
■ Pre-Assessment:
Students will fill out the
“before” part of the
essential question
worksheet. Students
will answer the “after”
part of the worksheet
on Day 7 before they
write their in-class
essay.
Day 1 Continued – Activities & Procedures
■ Activity 1 – Cell Phone Cartoon
• I will display the cartoon on the screen.
• After students have looked at the cartoon
for a minute or so, I will ask the following
questions:
• “What would you do if your school
began confiscating all student cell
phones, even though you never
abused its usage at school?”
• “Why might school administrators or
teachers create this policy?”
• “How could this be a positive thing?
Who would benefit?”
• “How could this be a negative thing?
Who is affected and how?”
• “If cell phones were confiscated for ‘the
common good,’ what does this mean?”
• “Could cell phones be confiscated
throughout schools in this country? Why
or Why not?”
• “What about the government checking
your cell phone records, library books
you have checked out, etc. . . . Has this
ever happened in this country?”
• I will then explain after our discussion that all
of these factors fit into our civil rights and
civil liberties.
Cell Phone Cartoon
Day 1 Continued – Activities & Procedures
■ Activity 2 – Distinction of Civil Rights / Civil Liberties Video
• Before watching the video, I will explain to the class our unit.
• We have discussed what rights we have in our scenario and in our cell phone discussion.
As I am sure all of you know, in the United States, we have rights as citizens. Today and
for the next week, we are going to define and focus on what exactly are those rights
• Before we delve into these rights, it is important for you all to understand the distinction
between a civil right and a civil liberty.
• I will pass out a worksheet (see slide 11) that has three important ideas to keep in
mind. I will then display the definition of both a civil right and a civil liberty on the
screen. I will ask students to write down the definitions at the bottom of the
worksheet because it can be confusing.
• After going over the worksheet together, I will ask students to flip the worksheet
over. I will tell them we are going to watch a video that further explains these
differences while touching on the historical context. Students can write down notes
on the back of this video if they would like to; however, it is not required because I
am more concerned that students are actively listening to the video rather than
focusing on writing down notes.
• https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-are-civil-liberties-definition-examples-
cases.html
Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
■ Civil Rights – the basic right to be free from unequal
treatment based on certain protected characteristics (race,
gender, disability, etc.) in settings such as employment,
education, housing, and access to public facilities.
– Most civil rights are established through the federal
government via federal legislation or case law.
■ Civil Liberties – the basic rights and freedoms that are
guaranteed – either explicitly identified in the Bill of Rights
and the Constitution, or interpreted or inferred through the
years by legislatures or the courts.
 Day 1 Continued – Activities & Procedures
■ Activity 3 – Introduction to the Bill of Rights (Think-Pair-Share)
• Before we begin our activity, I will say to the class:
• Now that we all know the difference between a civil right and a civil liberty, its time to
delve into where our civil liberties come from.
• Our civil liberties come from the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is a name we commonly
use for the first 10 Amendments in the Constitution. We are going to learn a little about
these Amendments right now and we will continue with this tomorrow.
• I will then put students into pairs. I will explain to them that they will read a short
introduction to the Bill of Rights. I will pass out the introduction to them on a half sheet of
paper.
• After they are finished reading, students are to think about why delegates were concerned
about now having rights in 1787-89. Students will then discuss this question with their
partner then share with the class for a small discussion.
• I expect students to recall that this is right after the American Revolution and the
delegates wanted to have rights since the British previously took theirs away and
restricted them.
Day 1 Continued -
Closure
■ No homework will be given
on this day.
■ Closure – Exit Ticket
• Students will respond
to an exit ticket. This
exit ticket will then be
collected. The purpose
of this exit ticket is to
ensure students fulfill
the objective and can
define what is a civil
right and a civil liberty.
Day 2 – The Bill of Rights
■ Objective: Students will be able to paraphrase the Bill of Rights in
their own words.
■ Essential Question: If you had to give up one right, what would it be?
■ Motivational Activity: Students will be asked: What are the rights that
you already know are included in the Bill of Rights?
• I expect students to mostly focus on certain parts of the 1st
Amendment, specifically freedom of speech, and the 2nd
Amendment.
• This will help me get an understanding of how much prior
knowledge my students have.
Day 2 Continued– Activities & Procedures
■ Activity 1 – Rights in the Classroom
• Students will be able to choose to work independently or with a partner for this activity.
In order to get students into the mindset of rights, I am going to ask them to think about
the rights they have in the classroom. This will have students think about specific
protections for individuals and general limits on authority.
• I will ask the following questions:
• What specific protections for individuals apply to students?
• What specific protections for individuals apply to teachers?
• Are these sets of protections distinct from one another or shared to some degree?
• What limits are placed on the authority of teachers?
• What limits are placed on the authority of students?
• What limits on authority do they share?
• For instance, school rules and class policies limit student's authority to decide
certain issues, while contracts and school policies limit certain actions by
teachers.
• Students will record their answers on a Venn Diagram worksheet (see next slide).
Day 2 Continued– Activities & Procedures
■ Activity 2 – Classroom Bill of Rights
• After discussing the worksheet, the class will create a Classroom
Bill of Rights. Students should base their rights off of their
worksheet. I will write the rights they choose on the white board.
• I will ask students to consider:
• What specific protections for individuals should be
guaranteed?
• What limitations on authority should be included?
• How will the class determine what to include in this Bill of
Rights? Simple majority? Super-majority? Unanimous vote?
What vote does the teacher or administration have?
Day 2 Continued– Activities & Procedures
■ Activity 3 – Analyzing the Amendments
• Before students begin analyzing the Amendments, I will pass out a handout of
the Bill of Rights (see next slide).
• Students will be reading the Amendments and putting them into their own
words. I will hand out a graphic organizer (slides 19 & 20) that goes along with
the Amendments. I will first give students the first five and if there is still time in
class, I will give them the other five. Students can work in pairs or individually.
In order to accomplish this the students are going to do a careful reading as
they analyze the text and then restate the various parts of the amendment so it
makes sense to them.
• I will "share reads" the first five amendments with the students. The students
follow along silently while I read aloud. I will then asks the class to join in
reading after a few sentences while I continue to read along with students. This
will support struggling readers as well as English Language Learners (ELL).
Day 2 Continued -
Closure
■ Homework – If students do not
finish putting the Amendments
into their own words, they
should finish the worksheet for
homework.
■ Closure – Rank the rights given
in the Amendments from 1-10,
1 being the most important, 10
being the least important.
Students will then share their
answers and explain why they
chose the rights they did. They
will then respond to the
essential question and turn
that into me.
Day 3 – Equal Protection
(Abbreviated)
 Objective – Students will be able to identify important aspects of
equal protection.
 Essential Question – Does the Bill of Rights protect us from the
federal government or other people? Or both?
 Motivational Activity – Students will reflect on how Madison’s quote
is connected to the Bill of Rights. Students should also think back
to why delegates were concerned with having explicit rights in the
Constitution.
 “Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by
the abuse of power.” – James Madison
 Activities & Procedures
 Activity 1 – QR Code Race
 10 numbered QR codes will be displayed around the
room. Each QR code will have 3-4 pictures describing an
Amendment. Students are to match the number of the QR
code to the correct Amendment on a worksheet. This will
help students review the Amendments from the previous
lesson. The first two students to match all the
Amendments correctly will receive a small amount of
extra credit points.
Day 3 – Equal Protection (Abbreviated)
Continued
 Activities & Procedures Continued
 Activity 2 – Mini Lecture
 Although student-centered instruction Is preferred, I plan on doing a mini lecture every so
often in order to have my students practice taking notes. This is also to prepare them for
college lectures.
 During this mini lecture, I will be clarifying any questions students have regarding the Bill of
Rights. In the mini lecture , I will cover the issue of dual citizenship felt in the United States
during this time. These rights were federal and did not apply to the state in which you
resided. It was not until after the Civil War and the 14th Amendment that states could no
longer do as they pleased. I will remind students that it was not until after the Civil War
that all men were viewed as “equal.”
 In order to put limits on government, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in
1789, but this didn’t mean that those limits applied to the states, probably because the
founders expected states to be the main protectors of rights. Yet it was not until after the
Civil War did Congress get around to addressing the issue of States denying people’s
liberties. The rights we assume that cannot be taken away have actually been guaranteed
through the process of selective incorporation.
Day 3 – Equal Protection (Abbreviated)
Continued
 Activity 3 – Equal Protection Crash Course
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKK5KVI9_Q8
 Students will watch the Equal Protection Crash Course
video with closed captions. Students will fill out a
worksheet while watching the video. I will play the video a
second time, time permitting, because the information
tends to move quickly.
 Assessment – I will collect the worksheet students filled out while
watching the Crash Course. Students will also answer the
essential question on the back of their worksheet.
Day 4 – Freedom of Speech (Abbreviated)
 Objectives – Students will be able to compare examples of offensive
expression to 1st Amendment protections. Students will be able to
conduct a case study applying 1st Amendment protections to recent
cases where the exercise of free speech was offensive to others.
 Essential Question – Who has the right to determine our limits on
free speech?
 Motivational Activity – This question will be displayed on the screen:
“We are given the right to freedom of speech. Can I yell ‘fire’ in a
crowded movie theater?”
 After students respond, I will explain to them where that
expression comes from (Schenck v. United States [1919]).
 I will also explain that political speech is the strongest form of
protected speech.
 ~FUN FACT~
“When that speech
In the Supreme Court presents a clear
ruling, Brandenburg v.
Ohio (1968), it was
and present
determined that you can danger, the State
say things that
advocates the use of can abridge that
force or encourages
people to violate the law
person’s speech.”
AS LONG as no one -Oliver Wendell
ACTUALLY does it!
Holmes
Day 4 – Freedom of Speech (Abbreviated)
Continued
 Activities & Procedures
 Activity 1 – First Amendment Scenarios
 The First Amendment will be displayed on the screen.
 I will have 6 scenarios on index cards and pass them out to 6 random students. An
example of a scenario would be, “protestors burn the American flag on the steps of
the Capitol building on a 4th of July celebration.”
 The students with the index cards will read their scenarios aloud. As a class we will
discuss each scenario:
 Identify the action being taken, who is taking it, and who it affects.
 What First Amendment right is being exercised by this action?
 Is this action is protected by the First Amendment?
 What affect might the action have on the people being offended? What rights
of theirs do you feel are being violated?
 How would you determine whether the feelings of the people being offended
outweigh the rights of those exercising their right to free speech?
Day 4 – Freedom of Speech (Abbreviated)
Continued
■ Activity 2 – Case Study
• I will divide students into small groups of at least seven and assign students in
each group or have groups assign themselves the following roles:
• Three students will role play justices of the court.
• Two students will role play the petitioners
• Two students will role play the respondents.
• Student groups will then work on a Case Study exploring the issues of the 1st
Amendment. The Case involves a pastor threatening to burn a Quran.
• Each set of attorneys is allowed five minutes to present their case. Justices can
ask relevant questions at any time during or after oral arguments.
• After all groups have completed the case study, have a spokesperson from
each group summarize the case and the decision. After the groups have
shared, I will share and compare students decisions on this case with the
Supreme Court decision handed down in 2011.
Day 4 – Freedom of Speech (Abbreviated)
Continued
■ Assessment/Homework:
• Have students write a summary essay on the case they reviewed. In
their essay they should have the following information:
• Brief summary of the circumstances surrounding the case.
• Positions held by the petitioner and the respondent.
• Their personal position on the case and whether they agreed or
disagreed with the judges’ decision. (Students who role-played
judges can express dissenting opinions or why the felt the
decision was just.)
• What they believe the impact of the judges’ decision would be on
the litigants of the case and on society in general.
Day 5 – Freedom of Religion/Press
(Abbreviated)
 Objectives – Students will be able to define religious freedom. Students
will be able to evaluate and discuss the role and value of a free press.
 Essential Questions – Is religious freedom absolute? Is journalism
worth dying for?
 Motivational Activity – In America, religious freedom is protected in the
First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Religious freedom can be
defined as “the right to practice any religion you choose, or to live
without any religion at all.” Put this definition into your own words. In
your opinion, what is included under the term religious freedom?
 Follow up question – Again, why do you think delegates were
concerned with the freedom of religion? Think back to colonization.
 Day 5 – Freedom of Religion/Press
(Abbreviated) Continued
■ Activities & Procedures:
• Activity 1 – Time Magazine Article
• Students will read an article from Time Magazine. In this article, a group’s religious freedom is being
questioned in the Islamic Cultural Center in lower Manhattan.
• “Mosque Protests Add Note of Discord to 9/11 Remembrances”
• After reading the article, students will discuss in small groups the following questions and will then
share as a class.
• What do opponents of the Islamic Cultural Center think or feel? Why do you think they think or
feel this way?
• Is religious freedom absolute?
• What do supporters think or feel? Why do you think they think or feel this way?
• What are the values reflected by both sides?
• Select and highlight or record one part from the article that was most meaningful to you. Why
does this part stand out for you?
Day 5 – Freedom of Religion/Press
(Abbreviated) Continued
■ Activity 2 – (switching to Freedom of the Press) Risky Reporting
• Students will watch this clip about Francisco Ortiz who was assassinated over an
article.
• “Risky Reporting” (clip length – 1:42).
• After watching the clip, students will discuss in small groups the following questions
and will then share as a class.
• Why was Ortiz willing to die over an article?
• Is journalism worth dying for?
• What value does an independent and free press bring to a democracy?
• How can a free press protect other human rights?
• What is the role of government in protecting freedom of the press?
• Do we have a free press in America? Explain.
 Day 5 – Freedom of
Religion/Press
(Abbreviated)
Continued
■ Closure – Exit Ticket
• Students will respond in a
short paragraph to the
following question:
• We have spent this week
discussing various
freedoms given to us in
the Bill of Rights. Why do
you think the delegates
decide to group the rights
given in the 1st
Amendment together?
Day 6 – The Effect of the Bill of Rights
(Historical Investigation) Abbreviated
■ Objective: Students will analyze and interpret primary sources to write an opinion
piece on the impact of the Bill of Rights on individuals and/or a group of citizens.
■ Big Idea: What is the impact of a right from the 18th-century Bill of Rights on 21st-
century America?
■ Motivational Activity: As a refresher, students will watch a TedEd video on the Bill of
Rights. Students will again rank which rights they think are the most important from
1-10 (1 being most important, 10 least important). Students will then be asked to
share and discuss why they ranked the way they did and if their ranking has
changed now that they have learned more about their rights.
– Which of the amendments seems to be the one most frequently chosen? Ask
 Why do they think that is?
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYEfLm5dLMQ
Day 6 – The Effect of the Bill of Rights
(Historical Investigation) Abbreviated
■ Activities & Procedures:
1. I will break the class into student groups of four.
– Each group will require: one copy of “The Four Freedoms” poster
and one copy of the Bill of Rights.
– Within each group of four, there should be one student looking at
one of the four images on the poster. Working as a group and
individually, students will analyze the poster as a whole and their
individual image using the worksheet provided. Students will share
their individual observations and conclude as a group the poster’s
correlation to the Bill of Rights.
■ I will allow 15-20 minutes for the student groups to complete
the analysis.
2. I will ask the groups to write three sentences about how this poster relates
to the Bill of Rights on the bottom of the worksheet.
3. At the end of the assignment, I will ask each group to present/share their
analyses with the class.
■ Closure:
– I will hand out to each student an index card. I will ask students to
write down one thing they learned from this lesson (e.g. – a right
they did not know they had). I will collect the index cards after 2-3
minutes.
 Students will
individually complete

WORKSHEET
the “my image”
portion to write
analytical notes on
their assigned image.
As a group, they will
share their notes for
each image. Finally,
they will write how the
Four Freedoms is
related to the Bill of
Rights.
Day 7 – In-Class Essay
■ Objective: Students will be able to analyze the significance of the Bill of Rights on a group or individual today
through an essay.
■ Essential Question/Motivation: Students will revisit the overarching essential question: are our rights
granted or earned? They will respond to this on the ”after” section of their worksheet to see if their opinion
has or has not changed since the beginning of this unit. We will then discuss as a class why or why students
did or did not change their responses.
■ Assessment:
– The next day, I will explain to the students that students will be writing an opinion essay arguing for the
importance of a particular right as it impacts individuals and/or groups, using evidence from the Bill of
Rights. Students will be provided 3 articles and they must choose to read 1 of them for their opinion
essay. Students must connect the article to the Bill of Rights and use it as evidence in their essay.
■ Mistrial in Seabrook police brutality case:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20150526/NEWS/150529298/101141/NEWS
■ 'Guns-in-trunks' legislation may be back:
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120821/NEWS0201/308210015/-Guns-trunks-
legislation-may-back
■ Lawsuit regarding prayer at school board meetings dismissed:
http://www.wistv.com/story/27597031/lawsuit-regarding-prayer-at-school-board-meetings-
dismissed
– Students will work on this essay for the remainder of class.
Rubric for In-Class Essay
Analysis

■ I will determine student achievement of standards, objectives, and indicators

through class discussions and the activities planned for each lesson. Many of the
discussions and closure activities focus on answering these essential questions and
student achievement. The in-class essay will also help determine the achievement of
students.
■ The next steps I will take in subsequent lessons would be to read those essays ad
see where students stand regarding the Bill of Rights. I will also continue with the
2nd Amendment.
Reflection
While creating this lesson, I learned many things about my content. For example, I did not
know a person is allowed to say things that provoke violence as long as no violence actually
comes from that speech. I also learned about many of the court cases dealing with the First
Amendment Right. I realized I like to do activities that require more analysis and higher level
thinking. I believe setting higher standards for my students will result in them rising to the
standards. I also really like including time for discussion and reflection in my activities. I think
having students vocalize and writing their opinions will help them succeed in higher education
and in life.
I think this unit will be very effective for students because it is useful content. Students
will be able to connect to the content because it is relevant to their everyday lives. Even though
the Bill of Rights was created in 1791, these rights are still relevant today in 2019. Students will
see this connection in the last day when they are required to write an essay on how the Bill of
Rights connects individuals or groups today.
I think a challenge that I will experience in this unit is the controversial questions about
their rights, especially when I touch on the Second Amendment. If this was taught today, t is a
sensitive topic for students and I would need to teach it in a noncontroversial way. I would need to
work on eliminating my opinions and avoid bias from the lessons.