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8th grade · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 8

Rights & Amendments

The Bill of Rights and beyond

What your child practices

What the first ten amendments protect, the Reconstruction Amendments, and why rights come with limits and responsibilities.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Civics & Government 2 · the rights the Constitution and the Bill of Rights protect, and how government power is limited

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments: the First protects speech, religion, press, assembly and petition; the Second is about keeping and bearing arms.
  2. Later amendments added rights: the 13th ended slavery, the 14th made people born in the US citizens, the 15th protected voting regardless of race.
  3. Match each amendment by its number and the right it protects.

Example: Which amendment protects freedom of speech? Freedom of speech is in the Bill of Rights. It is listed with religion, press and assembly. That is the First Amendment. Answer: the First Amendment

Rights & Amendments in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 2 of 8 in 8th grade Social Studies, after Founding Ideas and before Factories & Reformers.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which amendment says powers not given to the national government belong to the states or the people?

    • The First Amendment
    • The Sixth Amendment
    • The Thirteenth Amendment
    • The Tenth Amendment

  2. Question 2

    The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in…

    • 1791
    • 1776
    • 1920
    • 1865

  3. Question 3

    Which amendment bans cruel and unusual punishment?

    • The Eighth Amendment
    • The Second Amendment
    • The First Amendment
    • The Fifth Amendment

  4. Question 4

    A citizen sends a letter asking Congress to change a law. Which right is this?

    • The right to a lawyer
    • The right to petition
    • Freedom from cruel punishment
    • The right to bear arms

  5. Question 5

    The Fourteenth Amendment (1868)…

    • Gave 18-year-olds the vote
    • Ended slavery
    • Created the Senate
    • Made people born in the US citizens and promised equal protection of the laws

  6. Question 6

    How is a right different from a responsibility?

    • A right is a freedom you have; a responsibility is a duty you owe
    • Rights are only for adults
    • Responsibilities are optional for everyone
    • They are the same

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