Unit Title: Citizens rights and responsibilities

Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings.

Citizens have basic rights and responsibilities that determine how our nation works.
Citizens should be informed, speak up, and act on decisions that impact their lives
(and communities)
Social and political action from the past has shaped and continues to shape the lives
of today
The constitution protects our basic rights
Essential Questions:
Why are rights and responsibilities important?
How does the constitution protect our basic rights?
How has the right to vote been expanded since the constitution?
Why is it important to be be informed about decisions and problems facing your
community?
How can learning about past social and political actions impact your thinking
today?
Key Concepts : Bill of Rights: The first 10 amendments to the Constitution. These
amendments specifically protect citizens from government power.
Discrimination: treating a group of people unfairly because of their age, gender, age,
and other characteristics.
Equality: Having equal opportunities and/or being treated as equals.
U.S Constitution: Document which states the rules the country has to follow.
Freedom of expression: The ability to speak and think freely without being punished.
Suffrage: The right to vote
Segregation: Separating groups of people based on race
Jim Crow Laws: Laws that allowed and enforce racial segregation.
Due process: Right to be treated fairly by the government
Rationale:
This unit will focus on what it means to be a citizen and the rights and responsibilities that
come with it. For example, the right to freely express ones opinions is a Constitutional
right of American citizens. Citizens also have the right to vote and the right to be treated
fairly by the government. This unit is being taught because it is important for students to
understand and be aware of their freedoms that come with living in the United States. As
students grow up it is important that they are able to make decisions that will better
themselves and their communities. In order to do this, they need to be knowledgeable about
how our country has gotten to the position it is in today. Having the right to vote was once
only allowed by white property owners and voicing an unpopular opinion of how the

government ran could was once considered illegal. Freedoms, rights, responsibilities, and
laws have been developed by informed citizens who spoke up and acted on what they felt
was right. Great strides have been made to gain basic rights for citizens in America,
however, there is always room for improvement. Becoming informed citizens allows our
future decision makers the ability to continue making the United States a better place for
all of its citizens.
f). Unit Objectives
1. Explain what the constitution is and why it was created.
2. Explain why rights are important to have and protect.
3. Explain what the freedom of expression is
3. Identify with groups of people who were denied basic rights
5. Participate in a mock vote replicated from different suffrage eras.
4. Analyze pictures and political cartoons from the early 1900s.
5. Write from the point of view of people from the Jim Crow era
6. Interpret fair treatment through the due process
7. Debate decisions made through interpretation of amendments
8. Present skits based on certain amendments to the constitution.
CPS Social Science Content Framework/ Illinois Learning Standards, and Anti-Bias
Standards

EnduringUnderstandings3.Civics:Individualscanmakeadifferenceintheircommunities
throughserviceandcivicaction.
EnduringUnderstandings1.Civicsisaprocesstodeterminewhoparticipatesinbetteringsociety
andforwhatpurposes.
RI.4.3Explainevents,procedures,ideas,orconceptsinahistorical,scientific,ortechnicaltext,
includingwhathappenedandwhy,basedonspecificinformationinthetext.
W.4.2Writeinformative/explanatorytextstoexamineatopicandconveyideasandinformation
clearly.
W.4.1Writeopinionpiecesontopicsortexts,supportingapointofviewwithreasonsand
information.
SL.5.1cPoseandrespondtospecificquestionsbymakingcommentsthatcontributetothe
discussionandelaborateontheremarksofothers.
EnduringUnderstandings3.Civics:Individualinteractions,includingconflict,negotiation,and
compromise,createandstructurecommunitiesinvariousways.
EnduringUnderstandings3.History:Knowledgeofthepasthelpsusunderstandtheworldand
makebetterdecisionsaboutthefuture.

Classroom Resources: What books, materials, artifacts, objects, websites, and other resources
do you need for each of the lessons? What do you need to prepare ahead of time? These should
be provided in a bulleted list. You should also list resources needed for individual students who
need modifications. 2 points.

1. I Could Do That!: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote .by Linda Arms White
2. Marsh, Carole. Illinoise Experience for Fourth Grade. Section 1: Political System
3. Excerpt from Declaration of Independence
4. Excerpts from Bill of Rights
5. First Amendment in Public Schools Freedoms around the world handouts.
Assessments:
1. Assessment: freedom of expression handout
Objective: Explain what the freedom of expression is
2. Informal observation: Table group discussion analyzing the lack of basic freedoms around the
world.
Objective: Identify with groups of people who were denied basic rights
3. Assessment: Photo analysis worksheet from Jim Crow Era
Objective: Analyze pictures and political cartoons from the early 1900s.
4. Informal Assessment: Participation in turn and talk/whole group discussion during read-aloud
Objective: Identify with groups of people who were denied basic rights
5. Assessment: Due process survey and handout
Objective: Due process: Right to be treated fairly by the government
6. Assessment: Group skits based on constitutional amendment
Objective: Present skits based on certain amendments to the constitution.

Your Name: Brad Stewart

Grade Level: 4th/5th
CT: Mrs. Turley
School: Bret Hart
Date:
Overall lesson topic/title: How the constitution expanded the right to vote
Duration of time: 40 min
Objectives for todays lesson:
Replicate voting procedures from eras that limited citizens voting rights
Standards:

Enduring Understandings 1. Civics is a process to determine who participates in bettering

society and for what purposes.

SL.5.1c Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to
the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.

Materials & supplies needed:

Ballot Box
Voting cards (Whole class)
Literacy Test (whole class)
Procedures and approximate time allocated for each event
LAUNCH (BEFORE)
-

Why is it important to be able to vote?

What types of things do people vote for?
Today we are going to exercise one of our rights by
voting on whether tables 1-3 will be able to eat lunch
with the teacher.

( 5-7) minutes)
EXPLORE (DURING)
- After passing out voting cards to every student: I
encourage every student to vote on whether tables 1-3
should be able to eat lunch with the teacher by either
writing YES if you think they should eat lunch with the
teacher and NO if you do not think they should.
- Once students had a minute to write their vote I will
have them line up to cast their vote in the ballot box. I
will kindly send some members from tables 4-6 back to
their seats without allowing them to cast their vote.
- Once everyone is back in their seats I will read the
results and begin our discussion.
- Was anyone happy with how the vote turned out?
- Was it fair that some students did not get to vote?
- Would it have changed the vote everyone was able to
vote?
- The right to vote has been something that citizens of the
united states has been fighting for since we became a
country.
- In 1776: Only white males who owned land could vote.

Academic, Social and

Linguistic Support during
each event for my focus
students:
Need to ask about this

Nearly 100 years later (the 14th amendment allowed

black males were allowed to vote.)
Some states still didnt allow blacks to vote so 2 years
later the 15th amendment said that the right to vote
could not be denied because of race.
However, even with the 14th and 15 amendment, states
started making literacy tests that restricted African
Americans ability to register to vote.
Students will be handed a Louisiana Literacy Test to see
if they would be able to register to vote during this time
period.

(25-30 minutes)

SUMMARIZE (AFTER)
- What did you think about the test?
- Was it fair?
- Did it violate the amendments put in place within the
constitution?
- Are there any groups of people that still were not
allowed to vote?
- Students will be informed that women were fighting for
their right to vote and that we will explore their fight
next time.
(5-7 minutes)

Assessment Students will be informally assessed during the

participation on the vote as well as in attempting the literacy
test. Students will also be assessed on their contributions to the
whole group discussions.

Academic, Social, and

Linguistic Support during
assessment
And here to