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Civics - Unit 1 

Exploring Rights & Responsibilities in a Democracy

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

• What rights do I have? How does the Constitution protect those rights?
• What responsibilities do I have to our democracy and community?
• How do my rights enable me to use my power in our democracy and society? How do my responsibilities require me to use my power?

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS:

• The Constitution provides a framework for a government with limited powers and guarantees the rights of the people. But not all people’s rights have been protected throughout U.S. history.
• Individuals in a democracy have many rights that allow them to exercise their power, but these rights are limited, and some individuals’ rights are more limited than others’.

• Rights often come into conflict with one another, and resolving these conflicts can be challenging.
• Democratic responsibilities are not clearly defined, but people taking responsibility and exercising their power to work for the common good is essential to our democracy and community.

UNIT OVERVIEW

This unit focuses on the rights that make it possible for people to fulfill their role as participants in a democracy. The unit also asks students to consider their responsibilities to our democracy. In the first lesson, students brainstorm questions about the rights and responsibilities of powerful civic actors. Students then learn about the importance of the Constitution in providing rights individuals need in order to fulfill their role in a democracy. The subsequent Launch Lessons look more specifically at rights and their uses as well the responsibilities of members of a democratic community.

The Explorations engage students in analyzing primary sources that provide insight into the meaning of “We the People,” involve students in discussing if people today are becoming less responsible, simulate a Supreme Court hearing, ask students to inventory their media use and learn to use a framework for analyzing media, and build students’ skill in making an argument.

LAUNCH LESSON DESCRIPTIONS

1-1 What Should We Know about Rights and Responsibilities? 1-2 class periods

Using a case study of young people who changed policy in Chicago Public Schools as a springboard, students brainstorm questions about rights and responsibilities of powerful civic actors.

1-2 What Is the Constitution and How Does It Protect Our Rights? 2 class periods

This lesson introduces the Constitution as the foundation of our government and a protector of individual rights. The lesson opens with a challenge: If we wanted to create a new kind of school, what steps would we need to take to make it happen? Students then compare this process with what the Framers did when they wrote the Constitution. They learn that the U.S. Constitution establishes a framework for the U.S. government and puts limits on that government. They are introduced to the Bill of Rights and consider how the rights protected help individuals become powerful civic actors.

1-3 How Have Our Rights under the Constitution Changed? 3-4 class periods

In this lesson, students learn about the rights-related amendments to the Constitution--the critical Fourteenth Amendment and the various voting rights amendments (Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-sixth). They also learn that rights can be obtained or suppressed via laws. The lesson concludes with a mini inquiry activity on the status of voting rights today.

1-4 Why Are Our First Amendment Rights So Important? 2+ class periods

This lesson engages students in learning about the First Amendment in some depth. Students work in groups to investigate the six rights protected by the First Amendment--free exercise of religion, protection from establishment of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to petition, and right to assemble. The groups make presentations to the class, focusing on how their right relates to being a powerful civic actor.

1-5 Do Our Rights Have Limits? 2 class periods

This lesson focuses on several key ideas: that rights have limits, that limits often arise when rights come into conflict, and that rights may be more limited in some locations and for some groups. To pursue these ideas, students delve into the limits on their Fourth Amendment rights at school, looking first at the landmark case New Jersey v. T.L.O. and then applying what they learned to other cases involving searches at school.

1-6 What Are Our Responsibilities to Our Democracy and Community? 1 class period

After focusing on their rights, students turn to their responsibilities to our democracy and community. Because there is no “Bill of Responsibilities” in our Constitution, students begin with a broad list and narrow it down to a class list of essential civic responsibilities. Students then consider how their rights link to their responsibilities and conduct a Save the Last Word for Me conversation around a reading proposing a “Bill of Responsibilities.”

EXPLORATION DESCRIPTIONS

PS-1 Primary Sources 1-2 class periods

What Does “We the People” Mean?

This lesson introduces primary sources and asks students to consider four primary sources that may provide insight into how the meaning of the term “We the People” has changed over time. The sources are the Declaration of Sentiments from the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention, Cesar Chavez’s address to the Commonwealth Club of California, Oren Lyons’s speech to the Aboriginal Law Association of McGill University, and the Black Lives Matter statement of beliefs.

C-1 Controversial Issues Discussion 1-2 class periods

Are We Becoming Less Responsible?

In this lesson, students take part in a civil conversation focused on a reading that suggests Americans today are less committed to their civic duties than generations past.

S-1 Simulation 3-4 class periods

What Are Our Free Speech Rights at School?

This lesson begins with a human continuum activity on the limits that should be placed on students’ free speech rights at school. Students then have the opportunity to take part in a moot court on a landmark case involving young people’s First Amendment rights at school--Tinker v. Des Moines. At the end of the lesson, students confront cases that have been decided since the Tinker case, cases that have placed greater limits on students’ First Amendment rights at school.

M-1 Media 2-3 class periods plus

How Can We Assess Media Messages?

In this lesson, students take an inventory of their own use of media. They are introduced to a set of questions for analyzing media messages. The questions are then tied to five key concepts in media analysis: authorship, purpose, content, format, and audience. They use the concepts and questions as they create simple media messages.

SB-1 Skill Builder 1-2 class periods

How Can I Make an Effective Argument?

Advocating for one’s point of view is a key element of being a powerful civic actor. To advocate effectively, one must be able to construct an argument. That skill is the focus of this Exploration.