Citizenship:
Rights, Responsibilities and Liberties
Session 2: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Materials

• Copy of the Bill of Rights
• Internet access

Instructional Activities

1. Review with students the content covered to this point in the unit.
   
   
2. Help the students create on the board a comparison chart to distinguish the differences between civil liberties (freedoms) and civil rights (government actions to secure freedoms). Have the students generate examples to foster understanding. Explain that these rights are not absolute.
   
   
3. Internet research: Divide the class into groups of three or four students. Have each group go to <http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Judicial_Branch/Supreme_Court> and research Supreme Court cases related to the 1st Amendment. Have each group identify the following information on their cases:
   •    Case name
   •    Specific 1st Amendment freedom
   •    Significance of case
   
   
4. Have each group report their findings to the class.