In my unit, there are a few big questions that the students will be targeting, some of

which are outlined by the text and othersthatarebeingoutlinedbymyself.Ifeltthatitwouldbe

important to outline the big questions the text wants the students to know to show some ofthe
connectionbetweenwhatIwillbeteachingandwhattheregularteacherwillbeteaching.

The textoutlinestwomajorthemesandquestionsthat studentsshouldbeableto

answer or graspbytheendoftheunit. Thefirstisatheme:beingable todescribethe keyrights

protected under the Bill of Rights. The second is a question: How is the Bill of Rights like a
shield that protects individual rightsfromgovernment abuses?ThethemethatIhaveaddedfor
my own personal lessons is that students will understand the rights protected as they apply to
others as well asthemselvesand knowwhatitmeanstorespectthemandhelpprotectthemfor
not only themselves but for others as well. Some other big questions that I want them to ask
throughout the unit are: How does this impact us today? What does it take to make an
amendment to the Constitution? What does it mean to be an active citizen? What were the
problemsthatcausedtheamendmentstobewritten?
The content to be addressed in this unit is the Bill of Rights. Specifically, I will be
teaching thefouramendmentsnotoutlinedintheunitplanintheregularschedule.Thestudents
willbetestedonamendments1,2,4,5,6,and8.Iwillbeteaching amendments3,7,9,and10.
This unit is onethatwillinvoke curiosityinmany ofmystudents.Ifwetellthemthatthereare10
amendments, their first question will be What about the other 4? when they findouttheyonly
get to learn six of them.Thisgroupoflearnershastheabilitytolearnthismaterial wellandthey
are a perfect age to be learning about how the government works and what their rights are,
eveniftheyneverhavetoexerciseallofthem.

This unit is verymuchapplicabletothestudentslivesbecausetheyneedtoknowthat

the rights they have werent always inherent like they are today.They also need to recognize

what America would be like without them, since our lives would be quite different if we didnt
have them. One day, these kiddos will turn the magical 18, and they will need to know what it
takes to be an active citizen to make sure that these rights we likely take for granted are
protected.