The Bill of Rights: Alive and Well?

After the Revolutionary War, the states faced the fourfold problem of creating, organizing, implementing, and running a strong national government. They needed a way to make the states work together beyond the way that they functioned under the Articles of Confederation. A group of leaders, relying heavily on their background, prestige, experience, and their ability to compromise, became delegates to a constitutional convention and created a new government under a new Constitution. However, history documents that the Constitution would never have been ratified without the addition of a series of controversial amendments that became known as the Bill of Rights. Today, issues and opinions surrounding many of these amendments are as controversial as they were then.

The Bill of Rights: Alive and Well? is an interdisciplinary project that uses technology to broaden your students’ learning experiences. The project is designed to provide students with a better understanding of the Bill of Rights and other amendments, as they develop research, questioning, and listening skills. Designed for high school students, the project is driven by the national standards of several disciplines including social studies, language arts, mathematics, and the arts.

Over the next few weeks, your class will research original documents, historical accounts, and writings by the leaders of the period, ultimately preparing them to participate in a series of debates concerning “hot topic” constitutional issues. Over the course of the project, students will work cooperatively to conduct general research relative to the Constitution and its framers as well as focus more specifically on one or more amendments.

The project begins with a comprehensive introduction to the documents that had a major influence on the writers of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, including the Magna Carta, Rousseau’s Social Contract, the Articles of Confederation, and many others. This is followed by three distinct, yet interrelated learning phases, including a culminating activity in which students stage a debate to demonstrate learning.

• Phase I – The Framers and The Compromise: Students will research various amendments and the individuals who influenced their creation. They will work cooperatively to explore the intent and controversy surrounding the creation of the Bill of Rights and other amendments. Each cooperative group will conduct in-depth research of an amendment or group of amendments and present its findings to the class. They will create a diary that demonstrates an understanding of the thoughts and deeds of the framers of the Constitution.

•  Phase II – The Documents: Students will conduct meaningful interviews to gain modern perspectives of issues surrounding the amendments. Students will learn about significant Supreme Court interpretations of these amendments.

•  Phase III – The Debate: Finally, students will participate in a debate of constitutional issues that reflect the learning that has taken place in this project. This will be an opportunity to celebrate student achievement.

It should be noted that Canadian teachers can implement this project in a similar fashion by linking the project to the Canadian Bill of Rights and researching the background, development and relevant current issues.

To download a copy of this project, you will need a userid and password. Please go to the Terms of Use page for more information. If you have a userid and password, click here.