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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 10

Rights & Responsibilities

The Bill of Rights and citizens' duties

What your child practices

Practices the rights in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and later amendments, their limits, and the responsibilities and duties of people in a republic.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 9.1.3.1; 9.1.3.6 · rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and a citizen's duties

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Bill of Rights protects freedoms like speech, so you can criticize the government.
  2. Rights come with duties (paying taxes, obeying laws) and responsibilities (voting, staying informed).
  3. Rights can be at risk in fear, as in Korematsu; the civil rights movement used courts to strike down unfair laws.

Example: Paying taxes is a legal duty. Is voting a duty or a civic responsibility? The law doesn’t force people to vote. But citizens should, so it is a responsibility. Answer: a civic responsibility

Rights & Responsibilities in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 10 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Three Branches and before Landmark Supreme Court Cases.

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 right lets you criticize the government without being punished?

    • Freedom from quartering
    • Freedom of speech
    • The right to a jury
    • The right to bear arms

  2. Question 2

    In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court ruled that…

    • Racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional
    • Students have no rights
    • Schools must charge fees
    • Segregation was legal

  3. Question 3

    Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) ruled that…

    • Only judges can marry
    • Same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry
    • States can ban all marriages
    • Marriage is a federal job

  4. Question 4

    Miranda v. Arizona (1966) requires police to tell arrested people…

    • Nothing
    • Their favorite food
    • Their bail amount only
    • Their right to remain silent and to have a lawyer

  5. Question 5

    The 26th Amendment (1971)…

    • Gave women the vote
    • Lowered the voting age to 18
    • Ended slavery
    • Created the Senate

  6. Question 6

    Which case shows that rights can expand over time?

    • Dred Scott v. Sandford
    • Brown v. Board of Education overturning Plessy v. Ferguson
    • Plessy v. Ferguson
    • Korematsu v. United States

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