The U.S. Bill of Rights | Write Your Own Bill of Rights | Comparative Politics
Learn the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Apply them to real life. Compare the Bill of Rights to the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the Haitian Declaration of Independence. Then write your own.
Tess Tureson
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(23)
What's included
Homework
1 hour per week. Lesson 1: Students will need to watch the video lecture and take notes. Lesson 2: Students will be asked to play the game "Do I Have the Right?" on the icivics platform (a free website with no account or registration needed) or to teach what they have learned to someone else. Students should then type what surprised them most and what interested them most from the class in the comments section of our Outschool classroom. Lesson 3: Students will watch the video lecture and read through the French "Declaration of the Rights of Man and The Citizen" and the Haitian "Preliminary Declaration." Lesson 4: Students will write a rough draft of their own Bill of Rights based on what they learned from class and what they think are the most important rights to protect and defend.Assessment
The capstone project for this class will be the creation of a personal "Bill of Rights" which should reflect the enlightenment ideas which were explained and practiced throughout the class.Class Experience
US Grade 9 - 11
This class is about the Bill of Rights and is broken into 4 lessons. Lesson 1: (video lecture) We will start by briefly reviewing why we have a Bill of Rights and what the Bill of Rights is. Then we will go through and read all 10 amendments contained in the bill of rights and discuss what they mean and what is guaranteed to us in them. Next, I will share a short YouTube clip reviewing all 10 amendments and giving tips and tricks about how to remember them. We will review the memorization tricks. Lesson 2: (game) I will explain to students how to play the game "Do I Have The Right?" on icivics that will help them practice implementing what they've learned. Students should play the game on icivics. If they don't feel comfortable visiting or using this site, they may teach what they have learned to someone else and share what they learned from that in the comments section of our outschool classroom instead. Otherwise, Students will be asked to screenshot the results page at the end of the game and write in a comment in our outschool classroom what surprised them most and what they learned that was the most interesting from the first two lessons. Lesson 3: (video lecture) In this lesson, we will go over the teaching of enlightenment philosophers, focusing specifically on Rousseau's ideas about the "social contract" and the "general will" and John Locke's ideas about property and consent. Once students understand the philosophical basis and political theory behind this era of political movements, we will compare the Bill of Rights with similar documents from other Atlantic revolutions which happened around the same time. In doing this, we will focus on how they drew upon similar ideas with varied results. Lesson 4: (writing assignment) Students will use what they have learned to write their own Bill of Rights for a pretend country.
Learning Goals
Students will learn why we have a Bill of Rights, that the Bill of Rights is the name for the first 10 amendments to the constitution, what is contained in the Bill of Rights, and what these rights look like in practice.
Students will also learn the philosophical basis and political theory behind the Bill of Rights.
They will see that government structure is determined by an assessment of values and priorities, leading to different forms of government that are based on different values.
Students will be asked to assess their own values and priorities to create their own Bill of Rights based on what is most important to them.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
This course goes over the first 10 amendments to the U.S. constitution which includes references to guns, crimes, and cruel and unusual punishment. No graphic detail is shared nor are personal opinions about the implementation of these rights.
Students will also be guided to a game on a different website, icivics. Icivics is a free website containing games and resources for teachers and students interested in government. No registration or account is required to play the game. If students would prefer not to play, they may choose to teach what they've learned to someone else instead.
Supply List
In the outschool classroom, I will post reference and note sheets that students may wish to print, though this is not required.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Joined June, 2022
5.0
23reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
Utah Teaching Certificate in Social Studies/History
I am a licensed high school social studies teacher and former debate coach. This is a lesson that I taught previously in schools to my students in a unit about the U.S. constitution.Reviews
Live Group Class
$8
weekly or $30 for 4 weeks4 weeks
Completed by 1 learner
No live video meetings
Ages: 14-17
