SS.912.CG.2.1

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Examine how intellectual influences in primary documents contributed to the ideas in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Clarifications

Note: The following clarifications are not specific to this benchmark but were listed in the state board approved document by mistake. 

Clarification 1: Students will recognize the influence of the Judeo-Christian tradition, republicanism, the English Constitution and common Law, and the European Enlightenment in establishing the organic laws of the United States in primary documents (e.g., Magna Carta (1215); the Mayflower Compact (1620); the English Bill of Rights (1689); Common Sense (1776); Declaration of Independence (1776); the Constitution of Massachusetts (1780); the Articles of Confederation (1781); the Northwest Ordinance (1787); U.S. Constitution (1789)).

General Information
Subject Area: Social Studies
Grade: 912
Strand: Civics and Government
Standard: Evaluate the roles, rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens and determine methods of active participation in society, government and the political system.
Date Adopted or Revised: 05/24
Status: State Board Approved

Related Access Points

Alternate version of this benchmark for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Related Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Lesson Plans

The Civil War Has Ended Now What? 14th Amendment:

Students will unpack the 14th Amendment and discuss the impact of the Amendment on citizenship and guaranteed freedoms for African Americans. Then students will explore the consequences of the 14th Amendment and the creation of Jim Crow laws. Students will finish their lesson as they review the key facts of the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case and determine their ruling on the case. Students will compare their ruling on the case and Supreme Court’s ruling. This is lesson 2 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating civics and US History.

Type: Lesson Plan

The Civil War Has Ended! Now What? - 15th Amendment:

This is lesson 3 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating civics and US History. Students will unpack the 15th Amendment and discuss the impact of the amendment on citizenship and guaranteed freedoms for African Americans. Students will explore the consequences of the 15th Amendment and review connections between the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Students will review their impact on the idea of citizenship in the United States and the Freedoms these amendments guaranteed by completing a project.

Type: Lesson Plan

The Civil War Has Ended Now What? 13th Amendment:

Students will unpack the 13th Amendment and explore the black codes that were implemented because of the amendment. Students will be exposed to the black codes through a “mock simulation” and develop a plan for how the Federal Government should handle the creation of these codes.

Type: Lesson Plan

Expanding Citizenship:

In this lesson, students will learn how the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments helped to provide freedoms to African Americans and other groups in our country’s history. Students will focus on the 13th amendment during the period of Reconstruction in helping to end slavery. Students will then look at how the 13th amendment did not guarantee citizenship or freedoms to those newly freed slaves and that additional amendments were needed to help provide that. Students will be able to analyze text from the 14th and 15th amendments. Teachers will help guide students in an analysis of the text from the U.S. Constitution and apply it to the historical events during the Reconstruction Era.

Type: Lesson Plan

Data Speaks: Part 1:

Students will classify variables as numerical/categorical and univariate/bivariate. Graphs representing various data related to citizenship will be used in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

The Road To Equality:

Students will "think, pair, share" the road to African-American equality based on reading about various U.S. Supreme Court cases and constitutional amendments.

Type: Lesson Plan

Expanding the 14th Amendment :

In this lesson plan, students will read excerpts from Plessy v. Ferguson [1896], Brown v. Board of Education [1954], and Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education [1971] and explain the outcomes of each case using a graphic organizer. Students will receive direct instruction on some historical context and background information of each case to aid in understanding. Students will complete a timeline to illustrate the impact of landmark Supreme Court decisions as it relates to integration and busing. The lesson will conclude with a student analysis of the impact of the Supreme Court cases on integration and busing and how those cases have expanded rights found in the U.S. Constitution 

Type: Lesson Plan

The Reconstruction Amendments & Their Aftermath:

In this lesson, students will use a slideshow and guided notes to learn about the protections guaranteed by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.  They will also learn about Southern resistance to those new rights and how they were restored in the 20th century.  Finally, students will  complete a worksheet utilizing primary source texts.

Type: Lesson Plan

Constitution BINGO:

Students will review key terms and people behind the Constitution.

Type: Lesson Plan

Immigration Gallery Walk:

In this lesson, students will review the experiences of different groups of immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  

Type: Lesson Plan

Reconstruction and Jim Crow: Gallery Walk:

In this lesson, students will review important legislation and reactions to it during and after Reconstruction, and analyze how both impacted the lives of African Americans.

Type: Lesson Plan

Investigating New Freedoms: the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments:

In this lesson plan, students will research the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution of the United States.  Students will explore the significance of these amendments in group settings and in an invidual written reflection.

Type: Lesson Plan

Teaching Idea

Grades 9-12 Civics Family Guide: Standard 2:

This Grades 9-12 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 2 at these grade levels.

Type: Teaching Idea

Video/Audio/Animation

Portraits in Patriotism - Ivonne Blank: Middle and High School:

Ivonne Blank immigrated to the United States in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus on unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere. Ms. Blank talks about how difficult it was waiting for her parents and living in an orphanage in Denver, CO. Her parents later left the island by boat, were rescued by the Coast Guard, and resettled in the United States. After the family was reunited, they were able to rebuild their lives with support from their community. Ms. Blank went on to become a lifelong educator and U.S. citizen.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Parent Resources

Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Teaching Idea

Grades 9-12 Civics Family Guide: Standard 2:

This Grades 9-12 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 2 at these grade levels.

Type: Teaching Idea