Get it Right!
Educating the Community about Individual Rights
Created By: Angie St. George
Area of Service: Legal Rights Education
Grade Level: Middle or High School
Subject Area: Civics/Government/American History
Unit Description:
- BACKGROUND
o Students will understand the rights of American citizens by researching the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and key Supreme Court cases.
o Students will answer the following questions:
§ What did this statement mean to the Founding Fathers, and what does it mean to us today? “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty
§ Where are individual rights defined in the Constitution? What are these rights?
§ What are the key Supreme Court cases that have determined our individual rights?
§ What are current local or national issues regarding individual rights?
§ Are there any limits on individual rights?
- RESEARCH
o Small groups of 2 to 4 students (depending on the total number of students involved) will work together to research a specific topic within the unit that answers one of the previously stated questions. The teacher will generate a list of suggestions, but if a small group has another idea, it can get approval from the teacher.
- WIKI
o Each group will complete a section of a wiki page dedicated to this project in which students present their research in written form. The completed wiki will be a valuable resource for both the school and the community at large.
- “GET IT RIGHT!” COMMUNITY FAIR
o Each group will create an interactive display educating others about their topic. Depending on the availability of technology, these displays can either be technology based or not. The displays will be set up in an area of the school where other students can visit them throughout the school day (a large meeting space would be ideal, such as the school gym, where many tables can be set up).
o The students and teacher will work together to create a worksheet to help guide visitors through the “Get it Right!” display area. To encourage other teachers to bring their students, perhaps the completion of the worksheet could count as an assignment or extra credit.
o In the evening, the project will be open to the public for parents, students, and community members to visit. During this evening portion, the students would be able to present their displays and field questions from visitors. The students will compose letters to send to local community leaders, lawyers, and politicians, inviting them to attend. The students will also create flyers to post around the community to notify people about the “Get it Right!” project and the wiki page.
o If local businesses were involved, donated goods and services could be raffled off to encourage attendance.
- GOALS
o Students will learn about their individual rights.
o Students will employ their knowledge to reach out to and educate the community.
Standards Met:
7th Grade:
- SS.7.C.1.4: Analyze the ideas (natural rights, role of the government) and complaints set forth in the Declaration of Independence.
- SS.7.C.2.4: Evaluate rights contained in the Bill of Rights and other amendments to the Constitution.
- SS.7.C.2.5: Distinguish how the Constitution safeguards and limits individual rights.
- SS.7.C.2.14: Conduct a service project to further the public good.
- SS.7.C.3.6: Evaluate Constitutional rights and their impact on individuals and society.
- SS.7.C.3.7: Analyze the impact of the 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments on participation of minority groups in the American political process.
- SS.7.C.3.12: Analyze the significance and outcomes of landmark Supreme Court cases including, but not limited to, Marbury v. Madison, Plessy v. Ferguson , Brown v. Board of Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, Miranda v. Arizona , in re Gault, Tinker v. Des Moines , Hazelwood v. Kuhlmier , United States
8th Grade:
- SS.8.C.1.5: Apply the rights and principles contained in the Constitution and Bill of Rights to the lives of citizens today.
- SS.8.C.1.6: Evaluate how amendments to the Constitution have expanded voting rights from our nation's early history to present day.
9th-12th Grade:
- SS.912.C.1.2: Explain how the Declaration of Independence reflected the political principles of popular sovereignty, social contract, natural rights, and individual rights.
- SS.912.C.2.2: Evaluate the importance of political participation and civic participation.
- SS.912.C.2.5: Conduct a service project to further the public good.
- SS.912.C.2.7: Explain why rights have limits and are not absolute.
- SS.912.C.2.9: Identify the expansion of civil rights and liberties by examining the principles contained in primary documents.
- SS.912.C.3.1: Examine the constitutional principles of representative government, limited government, consent of the governed, rule of law, and individual rights.
- SS.912.C.3.6: Analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the judicial branch as described in Article III of the Constitution.
- SS.912.C.3.7: Describe the role of judicial review in American constitutional government.
- SS.912.C.3.10: Evaluate the significance and outcomes of landmark Supreme Court cases.
- SS.912.C.3.11: Contrast how the Constitution safeguards and limits individual rights.
- SS.912.C.3.13: Illustrate examples of how government affects the daily lives of citizens at the local, state, and national levels.
The amount of Language Arts standards met is too large to list.
NETS-
- Creativity and Innovation
- Communication and Collaboration
- Research and Information Fluency
- Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
- Digital Citizenship
- Technology Operations and Concepts
Technologies/Web Applications:
- Wiki page- This web application will be used to compile the students’ research in one place. It also allows the students to easily look at their classmates’ work. The wiki will be available to the school to use a resource, to the community for education, and to anyone in the world who wants to access it.
- If access to technology is available and feasible for the community fair portion of the project, then students can use wikis, web pages, PowerPoint, etc. to create their interactive displays.
- Students can and should use Internet resources in their research.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed during each phase of this project
- Group Work (10%)
o Students will evaluate each other on their contributions to the group throughout the project. This will be incorporated into their overall grade.
o Wiki Evaluative Criteria (35%)
§ Quality of research and citations
§ Effectively covers the topic
· Identification/explanation of topic
· Explains relationship to individual rights
· Notes any problems or controversies regarding the topic
· Different topics may need additional or different criteria, which the teacher will address to each group
§ Quality of communication, organization, spelling, and grammar
§ Completed on time
o Interactive Display Evaluative Criteria (35%)
§ Creativity
§ Quality
§ Effective presentation of information
§ Degree of interaction with visitors
§ Educational value of the display
§ Completed on time
§ Reflection (20%)
§ At the conclusion of the fair, students will write a brief reflection describing:
· What they learned
o Content
§ From their research
§ From classmates’ research
o Technology
o Team work
· How they served the community/impact of the project
It might also be fun for the students if at the end of the fair awards were given out to the most creative display, the most interactive display, crowd favorite, etc. to encourage students to produce high quality work and to recognize outstanding student efforts.
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