Bill of Rights

In an engaging activity on universal and unalienable rights, learners work in groups to establish a democratic nation and determine what principles they want to protect to ensure a democratic society. They conduct a "rights auction" in...

Examine conflicting viewpoints in this lesson, in which middle schoolers write their own proposal for including a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. As a class, they discover how the Bill of Rights was not a planned document to be...

Students work in collaborative groups to research an amendment of the Bill of Rights. They then design and present a skit that demonstrates and communicates the core values and concepts of the amendment to the class.

Do citizens need protection from the federal government? Scholars investigate why the framers of the Constitution created the first 10 amendments and what these amendments mean to citizens of the United States more than 200 years later....

The Bill of Rights is not just a standard page in a social studies textbook. It protects the rights that every American enjoys every day, whether it's free speech, freedom of the press, or the right to a timely trial. An educational...

The cherished rights included in the first ten amendments to the Constitution almost didn't happen! Pupils tour via video a National Archives exhibit on the Bill of Rights, as well as listen to how a modern judge applies them. Once...

Where did the cherished ideals enshrined in the Bill of Rights originate? While history gives the Founding Fathers much of the credit, laws in colonial America influenced the Bill of Rights. An interactive web-based activity allows...

Why was the Bill of Rights necessary after the Founding Fathers spent so much time drafting the Constitution? Watch an informative video that explains what the Bill of Rights is and why it is important. 

Provide your class with an opportunity to investigate an important historical document. Without identifying the document, distribute copies of the original Bill of Rights, as transcribed by John Beckley, Clerk of the House of...

Have your critical thinkers determine why the Bill of Rights was added to the U.S. Constitution. They'll work to discover why the Anti-Federalists wanted to add the Bill of Rights and then put the ten Amendments in order of most importance.