Teacher Page
Understanding by Design
Unit name: Bill of Rights Redux
Sandy Stuart
Wyandotte High School Library
Kansas City, KS
The Bill of Rights Webquest is a part of an entire unit which has
been designed using Grant Wiggin's "Understanding by Design" backwards
model. For all elements of this UbD unit, see below:
Stage One: Desired Results
Content standards:
Standard 2 – Civics
American Government Benchmark:
2.2.1 Explain the principles of American democracy and citizens’ rights
and responsibilities as derived from the Declaration of Independence,
the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and apply them to
historical and
contemporary issues.
2.2.1.2 Describe the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
2.2.1.4 Identify contemporary issues, which may affect citizens’rights.
American Government Benchmark (AP):
2.2.1 Use research documents to explain the principles of American
democracy and citizens’ rights and obligations.
Understandings: Students will understand that…
For a government to have legitimacy, citizens’ rights must
be safeguarded.
The rights of greatest concern to the authors of the Bill of Rights
may differ from the rights of greatest concern to today’s
citizens.
Public discourse concerning rights promotes the continuation of
a democratic society.
Effective decision-makers incorporate information from a variety
of sources.
Essential questions:
For a government to have legitimacy, what rights must its citizens
hold?
Why do we have the Bill of Rights? What is their purpose and function?
Which of the first 10 amendments (the Bill of Rights) are most
needed and applicable in today’s society? Which are outdated
and/or less applicable?
What other rights applicable to today’s society should now be included?
Students will know...
The purpose and function of the Bill of Rights.
The rights included in each Bill of Rights.
How amendments are added to the constitution.
Students will be able to...
Analyze the applicability of the existing Bill of Rights to contemporary
society.
Research and provide documentation that supports their analysis of the
applicability of the Bill of Rights.
Create additional rights that are applicable to contemporary society.
Research and provide documentation that supports and explains the need
for the additional rights.
Utilize elements of discourse and persuasion to promote the rights they
deem most important.
You are consultants to United States senators serving on a committee
to review the Bill of Rights. Having decided that some of the original
bills are more applicable to today’s society than others, the committee
has decided to retain five of the ten original Bill of Rights amendments
and create five new ones to submit for ratification. Should this Bill
of Rights revision succeed, the review committee
feels the new and improved Bill of Rights might also be adopted by other
countries such as Iraq as they seek to establish a democratic society
that
protects its citizens’ rights. Clearly, the importance of this committee’s
proposal cannot be overstated!
You will be a part of a four-member team assigned the task of determining
which five of the original ten Bill of Rights amendments to retain. You
will also create
five new additions to the Bill of Rights. The senate committee has established
the following requirements for your project:
For each of the five Bill of Rights to be retained, you must:
explain its need and usefulness by researching its relevance in today’s
society.
provide convincing argument for inclusion of the right.
This argument must also cite:
Three or more professional sources, with complete bibliographical citations.
Three or more statements/opinions from citizens (age 18 or older) that
you have interviewed.
For each of the five new additions to the Bill of Rights, you must:
demonstrate the need for it by describing the societal issue or concern that the
new right would address.
provide convincing argument for its inclusion, citing:
Two or more professional sources, with complete bibliographical citations.
Two or more statements/opinions from citizens (age 18 or older) that
you have interviewed.
Each member of the team must complete a graphic organizer with the above
required information. See Bill of Rights
Graphic Organizer.
Eventually the senate committee lets your team in on a fact they previously
withheld; your team is not the only team working on this project. Each
team will present
their proposals to the senate committee, with the senate committee determining
the final proposal. They may choose to use portions of various teams’ proposals.
You must create a presentation that will persuade the committee that your team’s
proposal is the best for our country. You will need to convince them that the
five rights you chose to retain are the most relevant of the original ten and
the five new ones that you created are the most needed in today’s
society. Remember that as you present your information, the senators
will be taking
notes on your reasons and rationale, as well as noting the sources included
in your
research. Rumor has it (Washington D.C. rumor, that is) that if you ever
want to work in this town again, your team better convince the committee
to use
at least part of your proposal in the final proposal.
Oh, and it might be wise to keep in mind that senators become bored rather
easily. Therefore, a dynamic, lively presentation with visual aids (posters,
powerpoints,
or other) would help hold their attention.
The pressure is on, but you have been chosen for this team because you
are up to the task!
Time is of the essence, so it’s best to get
started without delay.
Ladies and gentlemen, good luck.
Teacher note: The “Senate Committee” may be the rest of the class
not presenting at the time. Even better, though, would be to have an evening “Citizens’ Night” when
students would present to their parents, teachers, and other interested
adults who would then vote on the final proposal.
Key Criteria:
Effective analysis of relevance of the Bill of Rights to today’s
society.
Creation of new rights effectively tied to societal issues/concerns.
Appropriate number and quality of sources cited and properly referenced.
Dynamic, convincing presentation of proposal.
See the Bill of Rights Rubric for more specific criteria.
Other Evidence:
Quiz: On purpose and function of the Bill of Rights; how and why originally
written
Quiz: On how an amendment becomes law
Academic Prompt: Why is it important to safeguard rights? Provide a scenario
that shows the importance of having a guaranteed right. What could happen
if that right were not protected?
Academic Prompt: Why not just use your opinion? Why become informed by
other sources?
Quiz: On what rights are guaranteed in each of the Bill of Rights.
Self-Assessment: Students journal about changes to their understanding
of guaranteed rights as a result of this unit. Also self-assessment of
the student’s
processes in completing work.
Team Self-Assessment: Team members rate their team process: what went
well, could have been better, each member’s contribution and effort,
etc.
Stage Three: Learning Plan
1. Introduction to unit:
Short “skit”: a guest teacher or a student who has been
coached ahead of time plays the role of a clueless individual who thinks
that the right
to have as many helpings of the school lunch main course as he/she wants
(or some other erroneous right) is a right guaranteed in the bill of
rights. When
informed by the teacher that this is not in the bill of rights, the clueless
person then decides to hurry up and make it a new part of the bill of
rights and wants everyone to vote on it right now. The teacher then informs
this person
that new amendments to the constitution aren’t added that easily.
Students are then given a pre-test of their knowledge about the rights
contained in each of the ten amendments that comprise the Bill of Rights
to see if everyone
is a clueless as our clueless guest. They are also pre-tested on their
knowledge of how an amendment is added to the constitution.
(Teacher note: Guidelines accompanying the performance task assigned
later will make it clear that students are not to create “frivolous” rights
such as the one used in the skit, which was used to bring their attention
to the subject in a humorous way. They will be expected to take the
assignment of creating new rights seriously.)
2. Essential questions for the unit are posted.
3. The teacher will present a mini-lesson on the creation, purpose, and
function of the Bill of Rights and on how an amendment is created and
ratified.
4. Students will use their text books, a graphic organizer, and a teacher-facilitated
cooperative learning strategy such as Kagan’s think-pair-share
to first write down the exact wording of each amendment in the Bill of
Rights
and
then share with at least two others how they would state the rights contained
in
each amendment in their own words. At the end of the sharing time for
each of the
Bill of Rights, students will return to their seats to write down the
rights in their own words. This strategy is repeated until all ten of
the rights
are completed.
5. Quizzes and prompts listed above will be given where appropriate.
6. The online Webquest outlining the primary performance task is introduced.
The Webquest will explain the task to the students, point them toward
resources to use and/or how to find resources, explain the process involved,
and
provide evaluation criteria. Due dates/deadlines will also be given.
See “Bill of Rights Redux” webquest.
7. Presentations of team proposals are given and voting occurs. If adults
(parents, teachers, and others) are used as the audience, preparation
for the event must
precede the presentations. Preparations may include invitations written
and mailed, phone calls to parents and others, and plans for refreshments
for the event.
8. Students will complete self and team evaluations, reflecting on their
process, their products, and what they have learned.