Procedures

• WARM-UP:

  As class begins, have the students respond to the following warm-up questions:

  • What are your rights as a citizen? Where do these rights come from?

• INTRODUCTION:

  Review the students' answers to the warm-up questions. As a class, have the students watch the following two video clips to introduce the Bill Rights. Use the questions associated with each video clip to guide the students' responses.

• VIDEO CLIP 1: The Purpose and Function of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (4:39)

  • What is meant by the Constitution being a "negative document?" How does this relate to the need for a Bill of Rights?

  • What does Judge Gorsuch say is the purpose of the Constitution?

  • Why did the founders add the Bill of Rights?

  • What are examples of rights included in the Bill of Rights that Judge Gorsuch mentioned?

• VIDEO CLIP 2: Bill of Rights in Modern Times (1:31)

  • Where did many of the rights included in the Bill of Rights come from?

  • Explain what Judge Davis means when he says "The text hasn't changed… the rights haven't changed but the facts have changed."

  • What factors have impacted how the Bill of Rights has been interpreted?

• APPLICATION:

  Discuss the history and purpose of the Bill of Rights and review the students' responses. Either assign rights to individual students or have each student view the videos for all of the rights. Have the students use the note-taking chart on the Bill of Rights handout to view the clips from C-SPAN Classroom's Constitution Clips listed below and take notes. If students are assigned individual rights, allow time for the students to present their information to the class.

  For each right, students will identify the amendment in which it is found, summarize the right, describe current issues relating to it and define key vocabulary mentioned in the video clips.

  HANDOUT: Bill of Rights (Google Doc)

• First Amendment Rights:

  • Constitution Clips: Establishment of Religion (6 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Free Exercise of Religion (2 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Freedom of Speech (7 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Freedom of Press (7 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: The Right to Assemble (2 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: The Right to Petition the Government (2 Clip)

• Second Amendment Rights:

  • Constitution Clips: Right to Bear Arms (8 Clips)

• Third Amendment:

  • Constitution Clips: Quartering of Troops (2 Clips)

• Fourth Amendment Rights:

  • Constitution Clips: Protection for Unreasonable Searches and Seizures (6 Clips)

• Fifth Amendment:

  • Constitution Clips: Indictment of a Grand Jury (3 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Double Jeopardy (3 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Witness against Yourself (3 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Due Process of Law (4 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Eminent Domain (3 Clips)

• Sixth Amendment:

  • Constitution Clips: Speedy and Public Trial (3 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Impartial Juries (3 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Confront Witnesses against You (2 Clips)

  • Constitution Clips: Assistance of Counsel (4 Clips)

• Seventh Amendment:

  • Constitution Clips: Civil Jury Trials (3 Clips)

• Eighth Amendment:

  • Constitution Clips: Excessive Bail (2 Clip)

  • Constitution Clips: Cruel and Unusual Punishments (4 Clips)

• Ninth Amendment:

  • Constitution Clips: Rights of the People (2 Clips)

• Tenth Amendment:

  • Constitution Clips: Powers of the States (2 Clips)

• APPLICATION:

  Review the information from the note-taking chart and address any misconceptions. After doing this, have the students respond to the following prompt with an essay:

  • Using specific examples from the videos, explain how the rights listed in the Bill of Rights relate to issues today.

• CONCLUSION:

  Review the students' answers and have the students discuss which right listed in the Bill of Rights is most important to them today.

• EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

  Translate the Bill of Rights- Using the text of the Bill of Rights, translate the Bill of Rights into modern language. Without changing any of the rights, rewrite the rights found in the Bill of Rights using words and phrases that you use with your friends.

  Rewrite the Bill of Rights- If you were drafting a new Bill of Rights, what rights would you include? Review the current list of rights in the Bill of Rights; determine which of those rights you keep and which rights are not listed that are needed. Create a list of rights that you feel are necessary today. After listing these, provide an explanation of why you chose those rights.

  Categorize Rights- Divide the rights found in the Bill of Rights into 3-4 categories. Look for similarities between the rights and categorize the rights based on commonalities. Create a name for each category and explain how the rights are connected.

• ADDITIONAL PROMPTS:

  • Was the Bill of Rights necessary? Provide examples from the video clips to support your argument.

  • Why were the Ninth and Tenth Amendments included in the Constitution?

  • How are the Ninth and Tenth Amendments similar?

  • Which amendment to the Constitution is the least important?