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The Exhibit Decision and the Bill of Rights

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The Exhibit Decision and the Bill of Rights

Study how the Constitution guides government and protects freedoms.

Read about the class decision

Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

A Choice for the School Exhibit

Westlake is a busy neighborhood in a large city. At Alder Street School, Ms. Rivera's fifth-grade class was asked to recommend a theme for an empty display case in the school's front hall. The exhibit would be seen by families and visitors. Students suggested three ideas: the history of city buses, the work of neighborhood artists, and ways residents care for nearby trees.

The class did not choose a theme right away. Students made a short set of discussion rules. Each person could speak for two minutes, ask questions, and explain an idea without being laughed at. The class recorded every proposal. After the discussion, students voted. Some students preferred the bus exhibit even though they had first supported another idea. They said hearing more information helped them make their choice.

Ms. Rivera connected the class activity to the U.S. Constitution. Written in 1787, the Constitution set up the national government. It gave different jobs to three branches: the legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch carries out laws, and the judicial branch interprets laws and decides cases. It also gave the government powers while placing limits on those powers. The branches can check one another so that no single part of government controls everything.

The first ten amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, the press, peaceful assembly, and petition. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fifth Amendment promises due process. The Sixth Amendment gives people accused of crimes the right to a speedy, public trial and a lawyer. These rules describe actions the government may not take against people.

The students noticed a connection between their meeting and these constitutional ideas. The class let people share different views and gather to discuss a public choice. A group could also write to the city council and ask it to improve a neighborhood rule. Still, constitutional freedoms do not promise that every person's proposal will win. They help make sure people can take part in decisions and that government power has boundaries.

1.
What is one main purpose of the U.S. Constitution?
Question 1 options
2.
Match each branch of government to its job in the passage.
3.

The Bill of Rights is the name for the first amendments.

4.
Why was it important for the class to hear an idea that some students did not support?
Question 4 options
5.
Underline the sentence that best shows the class used a fair decision process instead of letting one person decide.

Connect examples to constitutional protections

Use the passage and what you know about the Bill of Rights.

6.
Sort each example into the correct group.
7.
City officers want to enter a person's home and search it. Which choice best follows the protection described in the passage?
Question 7 options
8.
Match each amendment to the protection it is known for in the passage.
9.
Sort each statement by whether it describes a purpose of the Constitution.
10.
A neighborhood group collects signatures and sends a written request to the city council to change an exhibit rule. Which First Amendment freedom is most directly involved?
Question 10 options
11.
A city rule says residents may practice only one religion. Which freedom in the Bill of Rights does this rule conflict with?
Question 11 options
12.
Underline the sentence that best supports the idea that the Bill of Rights was meant to limit government power.

Explain your thinking

Write complete answers. Use details from the passage.

13.
Explain the purpose of the U.S. Constitution. Name two freedoms or protections in the Bill of Rights, and explain how each one limits government power.
14.
The class voted for the bus exhibit, but one student wanted the neighborhood artists exhibit. Explain one way the class decision reflected a constitutional freedom and one thing the Constitution did not promise that student.