{"id":26595,"date":"2026-03-19T11:55:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T18:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/?post_type=teachertoolkit&#038;p=26595"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T19:26:21","slug":"keeping-power-in-check-2-the-bill-of-rights","status":"publish","type":"teachertoolkit","link":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/keeping-power-in-check-2-the-bill-of-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Power in Check #2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Bill of Rights<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Materials:<\/span> Print out the Bill of Rights Activity Sheet and cut along the dotted lines. Place the different Rights in strategic places in the room. Students should each have a pencil.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This lesson assumes that the students have some familiarity\/ background knowledge on the topic already, including:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Bill of RIghts are a set of amendments to the constitution.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They protect individual rights from overreach by the government.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They also might be familiar with some of the particular rights protected by the amendments.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>*Note: If you need to review this information for this lesson, here are two good videos to use: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vyqVs0tzRxE\">one <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xq4x84xUdpg\">two<\/a>. I recommend you do this between the \u201cWarm-Up Question\u201d and \u201cBill of Rights Activity\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Warm-Up Question<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Are there things that should never be taken away from people? Why?&nbsp;What are they?&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Recommended facilitation:<\/span> Give silent thinking time. Then, have students turn-and-talk to a student next to them about what they think, encouraging student to give reasons for their opinions. Then, invite students to share out whole-class (either their own ideas or interesting thoughts they heard from their partner).&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bill of Rights Activity&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The authors of the US constitution decided they needed to protect the people from a government that becomes too powerful, so they created the Bill of Rights! The Bill of Rights is a&nbsp;set of amendments, or additions, to the constitution that protect people from the government. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">They are rights that should never be taken away from people.<\/span>&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Purpose:<\/span> Students quickly engage and form opinions about each of their protected rights.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Split the students up into groups of 2-3, depending on the size of your class. Each group will start at a different \u201cRight\u201d placed around the room. They will have 1 minute at each station, then rotate to the next one.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At each station, the students will read the freedom, and then put a check, x, or ?&nbsp;underneath the text.&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A check mark means they think this freedom is important and should be protected from the government.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An x means they think this freedom is not important and should not be protected.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A ? means they are not sure or have questions about it.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Recommendation:<\/span> Use a timer to keep them on track at their stations.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Whole Group Discussion&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Collect the sheets at each station and briefly scan them to get an idea of what the students think about each freedom&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discuss each one as a whole class, prompting students to defend their opinions (checks or x\u2019s) with reasons, or to ask questions clearly.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Habits of discussion: Encourage students to agree or disagree respectfully: (\u201cI disagree with ____\u2019s idea because ____\u201d or \u201cI agree with _____ \u2018s idea because _____\u201d). This facilitates respect through active listening and collaborative knowledge building.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Recommendation:<\/span> After every 3 or 4 \u201crights,\u201d lead a brain\/stretch break to keep the students focused.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">To conclude content:<\/span>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If time and desire, pose some philosophy questions<em>&nbsp;<\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>What does it mean for people to have \u201crights\u201d? Why do we have them?&nbsp;<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do we only have rights because the government gives them to us in the constitution, or do we have them for some other reason? Why?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If someone violates your rights, whose responsibility is it to help? Why?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do our rights only get stronger over time, or can they weaken? Why do our rights get stronger or weaker?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Wrap-Up Question<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>(if you want to bring it back to content)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bringing it back to the Bill of Rights<em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>What is the most important right protected in the Bill of Rights? The most surprising or interesting? Why?<\/em>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bill of Rights Materials: Print out the Bill of Rights Activity Sheet and cut along the dotted lines. Place the different Rights in strategic places in the room. Students should each have a pencil.&nbsp; This lesson assumes that the students have some familiarity\/ background knowledge on the topic already, including:&nbsp; *Note: If you need <a href=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/keeping-power-in-check-2-the-bill-of-rights\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Keeping Power in Check #2<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":26596,"template":"","toolkitcategory":[29,760],"gradelevel":[48,47,46],"topics":[814,577],"class_list":["post-26595","teachertoolkit","type-teachertoolkit","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","toolkitcategory-history-social-studies","toolkitcategory-social-and-political-philosophy","gradelevel-high-school-and-beyond","gradelevel-middle-school","gradelevel-primary-elementary","topics-bill-of-rights","topics-government"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Keeping Power in Check #2 - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping Power in Check #2 - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bill of Rights Materials: Print out the Bill of Rights Activity Sheet and cut along the dotted lines. 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