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7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 4 of 10

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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 7.1.3.1 · the Bill of Rights and the protections it gives

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, press, religion, assembly and petition.
  2. Others protect people accused of crimes, such as the Sixth: a speedy, public trial with a lawyer.
  3. Rights have limits: your rights can’t harm others’ rights or safety.

Example: People gather peacefully to protest a law. Which right are they using? They are meeting together as a group. The First Amendment protects peaceful assembly. Answer: freedom of assembly

Rights & Amendments in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 4 of 10 in 7th grade Social Studies, after Factories & Reformers and before World War I.

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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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 you don't have to testify against yourself?

    • The Ninth Amendment
    • The Third Amendment
    • The Second Amendment
    • The Fifth Amendment

  2. Question 2

    Which amendment says soldiers can't be housed in people's homes in peacetime without consent?

    • The First Amendment
    • The Eighth Amendment
    • The Third Amendment
    • The Tenth Amendment

  3. Question 3

    Which amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures?

    • The First Amendment
    • The Sixth Amendment
    • The Fourth Amendment
    • The Eighth Amendment

  4. Question 4

    Police want to search a home. What does the Fourth Amendment usually require?

    • The owner's birthday
    • A tax payment
    • Nothing
    • A warrant based on probable cause

  5. Question 5

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

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

  6. Question 6

    Which group was not covered by the Fifteenth Amendment's voting rights?

    • White men
    • Women
    • Formerly enslaved men
    • Black men

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