A template for a project explaining the Bill of Rights in laymen's terms.

2. Project Objective: Analyze historical influences on the development of political ideas and practices as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. This is a performance task in which the student paraphrases and illustrates American history’s most important document. Either clip art or photographs may be used, but all must clearly exemplify an in-depth understanding of the Amendment’s clause to be dissected. All slides with this plain background can be excised from the final presentation.

3. Template This slide is a template , which means you will cut it out of the presentation completely after you have read these instructions. Throughout this presentation, the words written thusly in white are instructive; they are to be read, then removed and replaced with your original writing. Drop out all slides you do not develop. All slides with this plain background can be excised from the final presentation.

4. Introduction - Word Art headers are not advisable. They take up too much time. Save your writing of this page until the end. Sometimes you need to know what you have done before you can introduce it.

5. Amendment I – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” Replace all pictures and clip art with your own. Then erase this text and write your interpretation of this part of the First Amendment.

6. Amendment I – “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise [of religion].” A minimum of sixteen slides including the title page and introduction are mandatory for this project.. To raise your grade, include more slides giving examples such as the next one (optional).

7. Supreme Court Case (extra credit-extension slide) SCOTUS Getting an “A” on this project requires you to find a Supreme Court case that addresses your issue of civil rights and summarize it in a sentence or two. There are several ways to extend on this. Slides with this plain yellow background can be excised from the final presentation.

9. Can one be jailed for thinking about a crime? (extension idea; not required) Does Hate Crimes legislation go too far? Does motivation matter? (give examples of current hate crime legislation) All slides with this plain background can be excised from the final presentation.

10. Amendment I - “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of press…” Use Microsoft Word to save all the words you don’t clearly understand and use “Tools” , “Language”, and the thesaurus to understand their meanings and save these difficult words into a file to be submitted with the project.

12. Amendment I – “ “Congress shall make no law respecting [the right of the people] … to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Three words in this section are likely to give most students trouble. Copy-paste them onto a Word file, find their definitions or synonyms, and rewrite this passage so that even a fifth-grader can understand it.

13. Be very clear on your definition of militia even if it takes the whole slide. Don’t settle for the obvious picture of a handgun. Amendment II - “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, … This slide is optional and can be excised from the final presentation.

14. Amendment 2 - “… the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The gun control issue is much-discussed and a supplemental slide can discuss: ‘ NRA , HOME DEFENSE: more dangerous to family members than the “bad guys”

16. Amendment IV - “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, house, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. You can raise your score by using up to ten hyperlinks . One good use for these is to further explain your point in greater depth or to include music or alternate text. Big Brother is watching you!

17. Amendment IV – “… and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized.” Send me the entire project or just a few slides periodically to guard against crashes or to ask for personalized help. [email_address] ; [email_address] (Unwarranted post)

18. Amendment V - “ No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury, Exactly what is a grand jury ?

19. Amendment V - “…except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger…” Extension hint: Guantanamo Bay All slides with this plain background can be excised from the final presentation.

20. Amendment V - “…nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb;...” Do not use this meaning of the word, “jeopardy.”

21. Amendment V - “…nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself or herself,…” If you “steal” a direct quote, you shall be found guilty of plagiarism and summarily punished without a trial. If you “borrow” a quote, give proper attribution and paste it as a graphic. Frequent plagiarism (cut and paste) will result in a failing grade.

22. 6 th Amendment - “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, …” "For too long, Washington's speedy trial rule has been out of balance. This was never meant to be a rule to allow criminals to escape justice. It was meant to ensure timeliness in the trial process.“ - Rep. Roger Bush, R-Graham In legal matters, precise definitions matter. What exactly is meant by a speedy trial? A quote (like the one at left) may be used as a graphic illustration.

23. Amendment VI – “… the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been previously ascertained by law,…” Eschew homonyms: A paraphrase of this clause should include an explanation of the terms impartial and jury .

25. Amendment VI – “…and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation;…” When enlarging pictures or graphics, pull only from the corners, not the sides. Distortion caused thusly will be penalized.

26. Amendment VI - “…to be confronted with the witness against him;…” I saw what you did.

27. Amendment VI - “… and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.” President George W. Bush shakes hands with White House legal counsel Alberto Gonzales after naming him his choice for new attorney general, November 10, 2004.

29. Amendment VII - “… and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined by any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.” You may change backgrounds, but if you do, re- check all fonts to see that they’ll have enough contrast to maintain adequate contrast.

30. Amendment 8 - “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fine imposed,…” Not the kind of “bail” they had in mind here.

31. Amendment VII - “…nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. Experiment with your fonts, but when you have find a single application, stay with it throughout. The font above is virtually unreadable. This one simply stinks. Comic sans should also be avoided.

32. Amendment IX – “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” If you have no idea what this amendment means, then you’re in good company. Neither do some politicians. You’re not required to do a slide on this one. You may delete this slide and declare yourself “finished” if al the other slides are done. Slides with this plain yellow background can be excised from the final presentation.