1st Amendment Lesson Reflection

Recently I taught a lesson to a class of middle school students regarding the Bill of Rights. The main objectives of this lesson is that students will understand the importance of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution and why many of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention refused to ratify the Constitution without the inclusion of the Bill of Rights.
I’ve taught this lesson several times previously only this time I included a pre-assessment/anticipatory set activity which I haven’t used before. In this activity, students were given a document mirrored after our Constitution called “The Parents Constitution”. Basically this document outlined the duties of any parent in caring for their children; however what was lacking was any wordage what-so-ever allowing for any input from children. Parents duties were solely to ensure the wellness of their children without any regard to their kids happiness, wants or desires.
After going over the document, students were put into groups, and given a set of questions to discuss in particular, how they felt about the Parents’ Constitution and concerns some people felt about the U.S. Constitution when it was ratified. As I circulated the classroom assessing responses, it was clear students were making the connection that just as their rights, wants and desires were not present in the Parents Constitution and they thought their parents may have far too much power, the Constitution without the Bill of Rights gave the government too much power and didn’t address the wants and need of the people.
We then began the lesson with the essential question which was, “What rights and freedoms does the Bill of Rights protect and why are they important?”. Through the lesson, we went over the organization of the “Bill of Rights”, the different rights, freedoms and protections it offers, why they were included and why they are important. For the post-assessment, students were directed to focus on the First Amendment only, list the different protections included in the First Amendment and why they think each of these protections are listed in the First Amendment.
In assessing students this activity, it was clear they as a whole understood the different protections the First Amendment provided and a basic understanding of why each was included. Based on my assessments, due to the fact that the First Amendment covers such a variety of protections, I would break this lesson into small chunks, focusing more time, possibly a mini lesson for each of the five protections guaranteed in the First Amendment and the reason for their inclusion.
I do always enjoy teaching students about this topic because going into it they always believe it’s going to be so boring and that it will have no effect on their lives. However, when we start talking about the different amendments and how we see them enacted in everyday life all around them most students become much more involved and students really open up with personal and family stories. What I really enjoyed this time was the inclusion of the Parent’s Constitution. In using this tool, students were able to make personal connections much faster and easier than in any time I’ve taught this previously.

Parent's Constitution

 Recently I performed a warm-up activity with a group of students as an anticipatory set for a new unit that we were beginning on the Bill of Rights.  To begin the lesson we had a brief discussion about the previous unit on the Constitution, it's ratification and some of the difficulties in it's ratification. In particular, while most delegates agreed with what had been created, many where still unwilling to sign and ratify the Constitution because it lacked any wordage that protected citizen rights and freedoms-A Bill of Rights.  These hold outs only agreed to sign after it was agreed that a Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments were added to the Constitution.

I began the lesson by giving the students a handout called the Parent's Constitution:

Parents’ Constitution:

We, the Parents of the United States, in order to form more perfect Families, raise obedient

Children, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for our children’s Defense, promote the general

Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Children, do ordain

and establish this Parents’ Constitution for the United States of America.

I. Parents shall have the power to command complete respect from their children.

II. Parents shall have the power to assign chores to their children.

III. Parents shall have the power to promote family togetherness even if this power

interferes with their children’s social lives.

IV. Parents shall have the power to ask their children questions and to expect honest

answers.

V. Parents shall have the power to make all decisions about family spending, including

the power to restrict children’s spending on unproductive or harmful items.

VI. Parents shall have the power to decide how much time their children’s friends can spend

with their children. (New Haven Unified School District in Union City, California.) 

We read the document as a class then I had the kids pair up and respond to questions regarding the Parent's Constitution.

1. Do you believe that parents should have all of the powers described in the Parents’

Constitution? Why or why not?

2. List four rights that you would add as amendments to the Parents’ Constitution to make it

fairer for children and protect them from the power of parents.

3. What parallels can you draw between how you feel about the Parents’ Constitution and

concerns some people might have felt about the U.S. Constitution when it was first ratified

in 1789?

We then came back together as a class and I had students share their responses with the rest of the class.  With each response I would let the pair speak but then would focus their response on question 3. The objective was to have them make connections between how they feel about the Parents Constitution is how many likely felt about our Constitution before the Bill of Rights was included.

Most students agreed that while the Parent's Constitution seemed well intended it was very restrictive to them, not allowing them any input and didn't take into account any of their wants.

From this the discussion naturally turned to the same thing regarding our Constitution in that it basically did the same thing in not taking account individual freedoms, protections and wants.

I feel the lesson went well and students were able to make the intended connection.  I would make a couple changes/additions to this lesson however.  Much of the vocabulary in the constitution is difficult for students and the preamble, which is included in the parent's constitution is a little difficult for students to fully comprehend.  As a preparation for our new unit and the above warm-up, I would have the students 1)Define important vocabulary terms and 2)Have students write the Preamble in their own words as homework the night before.  These I believe would address some of the issues many had with the lesson and it would flow much more smoothly.  

Hello, my name is Adam Sutherland.  At this point I'm working as a substitute teacher among other things but have taught 8th grade Language Arts and Social Studies for approximately 10 years prior to this.  I was teaching at a charter school for 8 years that closed down when the economy tanked.  In working for a charter, there is no union nor school district to place you so I found myself out of teaching.

I hold a multiple subject credential which has severely limited my preferred job search options so I've been working on updating my credential to a single subject in Social Studies.

Although somewhat frustrated due to circumstances (mainly administrative and operational) at my last position, three years out of the profession have shown me that teaching is truly the profession that gives me a sense of accomplishment and self-worth.  The ability to engage others and assist them to become successful learners and accomplish personal goals is why I taught and am working toward obtaining a full time position.

To be honest I take the results of these personality tests with a grain of salt, I tend to be all over the place.  However, I believe these types of results are representative of students you will find in any classroom.  There are always the students who want to answer every question and be the center of attention while there are others who would prefer to go unnoticed and then all those in between.  It is up to us as teachers to be aware of all these varying personality traits and tailor methods to reach all as effectively as possible.