Project-Pathfinder

Subject: Social Studies Grade Level: 5th Grade Unit: Bill of Rights __Activity:__ Students will be participating in learning activities in the classroom to develop a background knowledge of the Bill of Rights and how they relate to our democracy. Students will then research each of the 10 amendments of the Constitution. Partners will be assigned an amendment and will be asked to create a poster, play, or report on the importance of the amendment to our Civil Rights. They would also be allowed to create a Glog, Voicethread, or Prezi to present their information.

__Missouri Social Studies GLE:__ 1.A.5 Identify important principles in the Bill of Rights, such as basic rights and freedoms (for rights listed, see Amendments 1-8; for rights not listed, see Amendment 9) []

eThemes [] 1.) Center for Civic Education [] - Small group activity on Responsibilities with our Rights. The first five amendments are discussed and questions are asked. Four to five members per group will each take an amendment. 2.) ﻿Charters of Freedom [] - Includes original documents of our government, with transcripts of text. Also includes a narrative of each step of how the Constitution and Bill of Rights came about. **Includes primary sources.** 3.) ﻿HotChalk Lesson Plans Page [] - Song for Bill of Rights, sung to the tune of The 12 days of Christmas.

IPL2 (Internet Public Library and Librarians’ Internet Index) 1.) Constitution Center﻿ [][] - Includes current global, national, and local news stories about the Constitution's relevance to our lives. 2.) US Constitution [] - Students' Rights - Includes specific cases and implications for public schools. Rights of students that have been upheld in court cases are included as well, along with the amendments they coincide with in the Bill of Rights. 3.) Bill of Rights Defense Committee [] - Site dedicated to follow current issues about civil rights. It also has links to local government to contact about issues you want to voice your opinion about. Contains blog for updates on current issues and monthly awards for people who are activists for protecting our rights.

Kathy Shrock’s Guide for Educators [] 1.) Interactive Constitution [] - Lists articles and amendments in constitution. It has the full-text as well as a complete explanation of what each means. 2.) Discovery Education [] - 3 min. video clip of an overview of the Bill of Rights. 3.) History Net [] - Contains links to historical situations that link to Civil Rights and the Bill of Rights.

netTrekker d.i. (JCKL database) 1.) McCormick Foundation [] - Contains 10 point quiz over the first five amendments using real-life scenarios. 2.) HippoCampus: The Exclusionary Rule [] - Includes a 2-3 page explanation of topic, with a video explaining earlier real-life lawsuits that represented rulings based on the Bill of Rights. 3.) HippoCampus: Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists: Bill of Rights [] - Includes 2-3 page explanantion of topic, with a video explaining more. Also includes copy of Bill of Rights text.

**Reflection:** I really thought the best one for activities was eThemes. However, this review site is geared for the teacher﻿ to create lessons and activities. For students to research information on topics and to do their own learning, I felt IPL2 and netTrekker were the best. They were definitely more for fact finding and would be suitable for students. NetTrekker sites seemed to choose higher level sites (readability), but did have a readability level on them. Most all of the review tools included sites with primary resources. As far as my least favorite, I found Kathy Schrock's guide to be difficult to find information on my topic. I don't think her site is set up very well for this. There are links to search engines and very specific topics, but not all curriculum topics are listed. There are a lot of great teaching tool sites, but not a lot devoted to curriculum content.