Apr. 19, 2006: The Bill of Rights

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. Make a set of First Amendment trading cards. Write one of the five freedoms -- speech, press, assembly (meeting), petition (talking to the government), and religion on the back of a card. Write a sentence telling why you think that freedom is important. On the front of the card, draw a picture that shows that freedom.

2. Share the Bill of Rights with family members and friends. Ask each person to name the amendment he/she thinks is most important. Ask that person to explain his/her choice. Share your findings with your friends.

3. Which amendment in the Bill of Rights (a) lets you own a gun, (b) makes sure you can have an attorney at a trial, (c) says that you don't have to testify against yourself at a trial, and (d) says the police can't search your home without a good reason and without permission from a court.

4. Find newspaper stories that demonstrate each of these freedoms: (a) the right to a trial, (b) the right to criticize a decision made by the government, and (c) the right to have an attorney. Explain how each story shows one of our rights.

5. Select one of the freedoms or rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Now imagine what life would be like if citizens did not have that right. Write a story about your family living in a country without that guaranteed right. Describe how life would be different. Describe how the government would be different.

This week's standards:

• Students identify key ideals of the United States' democratic republican form of government. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals & Practices)
• Students identify examples of rights and responsibilities of citizens. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals & Practices)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)