Introduction

The ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights are the cornerstone of American freedoms. Because of their significance to the development of our nation and their continuing significance on our daily lives, the Bill of Rights are included in essentially all U.S. History elementary, middle, and secondary social studies curricula. Social studies teachers, however, often struggle to develop activities that teach the Bill of Rights in a meaningful way. Too often, we find teachers requiring their students to memorize these ten amendments rather than prompting their students to examine the influence of these rights through both a historical and modern day lens.

The teacher in this case study, Julia, is faced with this same dilemma. You will meet Julia during the beginning months of her first year of teaching. Julia has tried to design a lesson that will not only introduce her middle school students to the Bill of Rights, but will also encourage them to investigate the continuing significance of these essential freedoms. The project she has developed takes advantage of the computer technology in her school to allow her students to learn in a way that was not possible before the advent of the Internet.

As you work through each of the case study’s scenes you will experience the problems and successes that Julia is faced with as a middle school social studies teacher. You will have the opportunity to discuss the educational issues with colleagues both in your class and in a remote social studies education class. Additionally, you will be able to use an asynchronous discussion group to continue the classroom conversation with classmates and current social studies classroom teachers.