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.