Active Use of the First Amendment

CITIZEN ADVOCACY CENTER

ACTIVE USE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT

LESSONS AND ACTIVITIES

Grade Level: 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject(s):

Social Studies: Government
Language Arts: Reading, Writing

Duration: 6 class sessions

Description: This lesson will teach students the content of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, and how students can use the First Amendment Freedoms to become active in their communities to create change.

Goals:

ISBE Standards:

1. Social Science

· 14A: Understand and explain basic principles of the United States government.

· 14F: Understand the development of United States political ideas and traditions.

English/Language Arts

· 1A: Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.

· 3B: Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences.

· 3C: Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes.

· 4A: Listen effectively in formal and informal situation.

· 4B: Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

Objectives:

1. Understand the provisions of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

2. Explain the different provisions of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

3. Evaluate the usefulness of the First Amendment in real life through evaluating techniques of grassroots organizing.

Materials:

1. Notebook paper/pen

2. Blank overhead or chalkboard

3. As a reference, teachers may want to review the Citizen Advocacy Center’s Guide to the First Amendment, available at www.citizenadvocacycenter.org

Instruction and Activities:

1. Start off with a simple activity illustrating how important the voice of young people can be – in an election, for example:

I. Ask students how old do you have to be to vote:

A: 18 years old

II. Ask students who they votes in most elections?

a. Have all the students stand up. Tell them that they represent all of the people in the United States who are eligible to vote.

b. Now have half of them sit down. The people left standing represent the percentage of the eligible population who are actually registered to vote (50%).

c. Now, have half of the standing people sit down. The people left standing represent the percentage of the registered population who actually vote in major (presidential) elections (50% of those who are registered).

d. 2/3 of the people are now sitting down. The people left standing represent the amount of young voters (18-24 years old) who actually vote (1/3).

e. Ask the group that is still standing what they like to eat for lunch.

- get list of three things

- have the 1/3 standing vote on one item.

- Tell students sitting down that the whole school is going to have that food for lunch everyday for the rest of the week/month/year.

f. Ask the sitting group what they like to eat, then disregard their suggestions. What they like to eat doesn’t matter because they don’t vote anyway!

g. Who votes? 72% of people aged 68-74 vote (your grandparents’ age). Do you think that people your grandparents’ age can accurately represent your views/concerns? Why? Why not? Do your grandparents have the same concerns that you do? List some of your concerns, and some of your grandparents concerns. Where is the overlap, if they overlap at all?

We will come back to voting issue

III. Go over the First Amendment freedoms quickly:

· Speech

· Press

· Religion

· Association

· Petition

Ask students what these freedoms mean to them. Are they absolute? Can you do/say whatever you want whenever you want? No, each freedom is yours, but it is limited in certain ways so that you don’t interfere with other people’s freedoms. The government can limit your 1^st Amendment freedoms through time, place, and manner restrictions. For example, if you don’t like the decision of the voting group about what you are having for lunch for the next week/month/year, you can have a protest outside of the school. The police and school officials can limit your protest to:

Time: during the day so as not to disturb people while they are sleeping;

Place: on the sidewalk so that you don’t block traffic or get hurt by a car;

Manner: only using a megaphone that gets to a certain degree of loudness – so that you don’t disturb other students in the school who are trying to learn.

Do students think they have these freedoms when they are at school?

A: Yes, you have these freedoms even when you come into school, but the school has the right to limit them to a certain degree so that they don’t interfere with the educational process. School is a special place that way.

Activity

How can 1^st Amendment freedoms be used in school and in your community.

Brainstorm a list of things that aren’t fair at school.
Pick one or two issues off of that list that are “manageable” for activism purposes.
Ask the class: Who is in charge of that issue? Who makes the ultimate decision on that issue?

The teacher?
The principal?
The school board?
Using the 1^st Amendment Freedoms, how would students bring this/these issue(s) to the decision-makers’ attention? List some ideas, and what freedoms they use.

Suggestions:

Make some noise! – use your voice to express your pleasure/displeasure (speech);
Make an appointment to talk with the decision-maker about your concerns (speech);
join or create a coalition of students who think the way you do on the issue (speech, association);

· Draft a petition and present it to the decision-makers with signatures of people who agree with you (petition);

Protest (speech, assembly);

· Write letters to the editor (the most popular section of the newspaper is the Op-Ed section) (speech);

· Write a letter to your representatives (your representatives don’t hear from people very often. When they do, they think that it is important because you actually took the time to write to them.) (Petition, speech);

· Volunteer your time for an individual or a cause in which you believe. It doesn’t matter how old you are. People want your help! (Speech, association);

Give your time, money, and ideas to an organization or a cause. Often, your time and your ideas are the most valuable things that you can give (speech, association);

· Organize – if it is not being done well, do it better. You can do it. (speech, association/assembly);

· Testify – your input is invaluable to the decision-makers. At most public meetings, the public has the right to give a public comment, and all school board meetings have public comment. Public comment usually lasts for 3 minutes per person, and is either at the beginning or the end of the meeting. This is an excellent way to let your representatives on the school board know how you feel about a particular subject (speech);

· Get media coverage – contact the reporters who regularly cover the subject about which you are concerned. Call, write, or email them, and ask them to write a story about you, your involvement in the cause, and the cause itself (speech);

· Start a letter-writing campaign, fax , or email campaign to local leaders on your issue. Also consider creating an on-line discussion group (speech, petition, association);

Create a voter guide. Let the people who vote know about how the candidates feel about your issue. Call candidates and ask for their opinions, and then create a voter guide to publicize their answers (speech).

Bottom line: Your opinion matters! No matter how old you are, you have 1^st Amendment rights, and you can use those rights to make serious change in your community.

Bill of Rights

(First 10 Amendments to the US Constitution)

1. Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Press

Right of people to gather together

Right to Petition the government

2. Right to own a gun.

3. Right not to have soldiers live in your house.

4. Right to not have the police search you or your stuff unreasonably or without cause.

5. Right not to incriminate yourself.

Right not to be charged with the same offense twice.

Right to have due process.

6. Right to have a speedy criminal trial

Right to have a jury in a criminal trial

Right to have a lawyer in a criminal trial

7. Right to have a jury in a civil trial.

8. Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.

9. Rights specifically listed in the Constitution (federal) shall not limit the rights not listed in the Constitution (state).

Powers not specifically listed in the Constitution for the federal government are given to the states.

©Copyright 2005 Citizen Advocacy Center. All rights reserved. No part of this lesson plan may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior, written permission of the Citizen Advocacy Center. The Citizen Advocacy Center is a 501(c)(3) non-pofit, non-partisan community based legal organization. For information about the Center, or to make a tax deductible contribution, visit www.citizenadvocacycenter.org, call 630.833.4080. The Center is located at 238 N. York Rd., Elmhurst IL 60126