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Grade 7, Civics
Std 5.1:  Explaining the rights of citizens under the Constitution     

Lesson Plans:

The six (6) lessons below are offered by The Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center (six additional lessons are currently in the works), a nonpartisan center dedicated to the understanding and appreciation of the values of the First Amendment, the cornerstone of our democratic way of life. These lessons (beginning and advanced levels) address constitutional principles and contemporary issues involving the First Amendment.

Lesson 1: What's It All About? An Introduction to the First Amendment
This lesson gives students a broad overview of First Amendment principles that is the cornerstone of our nation's firm commitment to provide the principle of limited government.

Lesson 2: Does Having Freedom of Speech Mean We Can Burn Our Flag?
In this lesson, students participate in a moot court activity based on the Supreme Court case of Texas v. Johnson (1989), which involved burning the American flag.

Lesson 3: Tough Calls: How Do Journalists Make Ethical Decisions?
In this lesson students analyze news coverage and learn about the difficult choices journalists must make in order to do their jobs.

Lesson 4: When May Speech Be Limited?
If freedom is not absolute, then what circumstances justify a limitation? This lesson introduces standards that have been used in answering this question.

Lesson 5: Do Students Have a Right to Read?
In this interdisciplinary lesson, students use several sources to learn how the First Amendment protects their access to books in the school library.

Lesson 6: You Are Free to Exercise (your religious freedoms)
This lesson provides five cases in which an individual's freedom of conscience comes into conflict with the interests of the larger society. Students will hear the arguments put forth by plaintiffs and defendants in each case, then deliberate on what limits — if any — may be placed on religious expression.

United States Government
 This lesson allows students to identify the principles of American democracy, compare American democracy and authoritarianism, and examine human rights around the world and evaluate the status of human rights in the United States.

Right to an Impartial Jury
 In this lesson, students analyze and understand the right to an impartial jury under the Sixth Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

Teaching the Amendments
 The general purpose of this unit is to teach students the amendments to the Constitution through the use of CongressLink, Internet resources, and creative activities.  In this unit students will gain a sense of their rights as United States citizens, as well as the reality that  many rights are limited and controversial.

 

 

Resources:

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention
 This site is a biographical index of the founding fathers.

Ben's
 A Guide to U.S. Government

The United States Constitution
 This site contains a search tool of the Constitution

Glencoe Publishing!
 Your textbook offers many more links, additional unit activities, web resources, current event activities, and interactive tutors that all correspond to the chapters and units that your students are studying!

 

 

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