Constitution 101 Curriculum
Module 10: The First Amendment
Overview
The First Amendment protects some of our most cherished rights, including religious liberty, free speech, a free press, the right to assemble, and the right to petition our government for a redress of grievances. Together, these essential rights are connected to the freedom of conscience—protecting our ability to think as we will and speak as we think. As we examine the First Amendment’s text and history, we will explore debates over the First Amendment’s five freedoms, analyze landmark Supreme Court cases, and examine how the First Amendment has been used by groups of all perspectives to promote their vision of a more perfect Union.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment.
- Discuss the First Amendment’s speech-protective rule.
- Examine contexts in which the government has some additional leeway to regulate speech.
- Analyze the First Amendment’s religion clauses and explore how the Supreme Court has interpreted them over time.
- Explore landmark free speech and press cases and examine famous quotes.
- Examine historical examples of different people and groups asserting their petition and assembly rights and reflect on the methods available to you today.
10.1 Activity: Five Freedoms
Purpose
In this activity, you will discuss the five freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment.
Process
As a class, list the first words that come to mind when you hear the words “First Amendment.” What freedoms are enshrined in it?
Read the text of the Primary Source: First Amendment as a class and identify the five freedoms. Highlight, circle, and label the key freedoms and key information along with your classmates.
Your teacher will lead you through a discussion on the First Amendment as a group.
In small groups answer the following questions:
- Why do you think that these five freedoms were included in the First Amendment? Why are they important? Why might the Founding generation have valued them? Are there any principles (or broader theories) that connect the First Amendment’s five freedoms?
- How does each freedom offer something distinct?
- How do these freedoms overlap and/or reinforce one another?
- What are some ways that you might exercise your First Amendment freedoms today?
Be prepared to discuss your answer as a class.
Launch
Begin by asking students what they know about the First Amendment and what freedoms are in it. Next, display the First Amendment’s text or provide copies for all students to view. Read the words out loud.
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
As a class, have the students identify the five freedoms, circle them, and label them for the whole group.
Guiding Question:
- What freedoms are in the First Amendment?
Discuss examples of how someone might exercise their First Amendment rights. This does not have to be exact, and some informal examples are great, as well. Possible examples:
- I don’t agree with the time my school starts, and I speak up at a school board meeting.
- I have a different place to worship than my friends do, or I don’t go to a place of worship at all.
- I am going to start my own blog to discuss changes I want to see in Congress.
- Our courthouse does not allow skateboarders. I am going to write a letter and then protest.
Activity Synthesis
In small groups, have students reflect on why the First Amendment’s five freedoms are grouped together. Highlight any comments that identify the freedom of belief, expression, or conscience. Talk about how these five freedoms give us all the right to develop our own ideas (and cultivate our own beliefs); worship (or not) freely; communicate our ideas to other people; get together with others to discuss issues, plan activities, and engage in expressive acts like protests and parades; and petition the government. Throughout American history, many of these First Amendment rights have often been important to unpopular groups, those representing minority groups with little political power or voice from all perspectives.
Guiding Questions:
- Why do you think that these five freedoms were included in the First Amendment? Why are they important? Why might the Founding generation have valued them? Are there any principles (or broader theories) that connect the First Amendment’s five freedoms?
- How does each freedom offer something distinct?
- How do these freedoms overlap and/or reinforce one another?
- What are some ways that you might exercise your First Amendment freedoms today?
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment, ask them what would happen if these freedoms were not protected by the Constitution? What are some of the dangers?
10.1 Primary Source: First Amendment
This activity is part of Module 10: The First Amendment from the Constitution 101 Curriculum
10.2 Video Activity: Big Ideas Behind the First Amendment
Purpose
In this activity, you will learn more about the big ideas behind the First Amendment.
Process
Watch the following video about the First Amendment.
Then, complete the Video Reflection: The First Amendment worksheet.
Identify any areas that are unclear to you or where you would like further explanation. Be prepared to discuss your answers in a group and to ask your teacher any remaining questions.
Launch
Have students watch the video, answer the questions, and complete the Video Reflection: The First Amendment worksheet.
The goal is to make sure the students understand these four key principles of the First Amendment:
- Freedom of conscience is an unalienable right because people have the right and duty to think for themselves.
- Free speech makes representatives accountable to “We the People.”
- Free speech is necessary for the discovery of truth and the rejection of falsehood.
- Free speech allows the public discussion necessary for democratic self-government.
Activity Synthesis
Engage in a classroom discussion on how free speech and religion, assembly and petition are all connected to the overarching idea of the Freedom of Conscience. Why is it so important for us to exercise our freedom to think? How are we as members of this democracy engaging in this practice in our lives? How do we stretch our perspectives by exposing ourselves to others' ideas and other viewpoints?
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of the freedom of conscience, ask the students to examine your own school or community. How much diversity of thought is in your after school clubs, community centers, or even in the choices of books in your local library. Write a short review of our community’s freedom of conscience.
10.3 Activity: Religion Clauses
Purpose
The First Amendment has two clauses related to religion: one preventing the government establishment of religion (the Establishment Clause) and the other protecting the ability to freely exercise religious beliefs (the Free Exercise Clause). In this activity, you will review these clauses, why they were included in the Bill of Rights, the issues they address, and how the Supreme Court has interpreted them over time.
Process
Read your assigned interpretations:
- Text of the Constitution
- Common Interpretation: The Establishment Clause
- Common Interpretation: Free Exercise Clause
Complete the Activity Guide: Religion Clauses worksheet. Your teacher will lead you in a group, explain your assigned clause, and build a deeper understanding of both clauses and how they work together or in conflict with one another.
Finally, as a class read Info Brief: Kennedy v. Bremerton School District Case then join in a group discussion on modern cases today and constitutional hypotheticals.
Launch
Divide the class into small groups of 3-4 and assign half the groups to read the Establishment Clause Common Interpretation Essay and the other half of the groups will read the Free Exercise Clause Common Interpretation Essay. Students will work in groups to complete the worksheet and prepare to share a summary.
Activity Synthesis
Jigsaw the groups, have them share their summaries and collectively identify the big idea behind each clause, then discuss as a class. Questions include:
- How do the big ideas found in the essays connect or compare to one or all of the four big ideas from the video?
- How are these two clauses in the Constitution at odds? Can you give examples?
- What modern cases have come to light that are testing one or both of these clauses?
Large Group Discussion: Hypos
This is a great class to engage in hypotheticals and a civil dialogue. After students complete the sections up to this part, engage in a large class discussion on the following constitutional question presented in the Kennedy case. Assign students to read about Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. Then lead a discussion with the following hypothetical questions. This is a great opportunity to explore discussion methods that allow for student voice and agency with techniques like the Fishbowl method or the Harkness method. See the Civil Dialogue Toolkit for more tools to build this skill.
Kennedy Case Scenario(s):
- Under this ruling, can a teacher give a brief, silent prayer before eating a snack at the front of the classroom?
- What if the teacher prays aloud?
- What if the students are not in the classroom?
- What if a group of students stopped back in the classroom during recess?
- What if the teacher invites students to join the teacher in prayer on a voluntary basis?
- What if students join the teacher voluntarily without the teacher asking them? Can they join the teacher? Does the teacher have a constitutional obligation to tell them not to join?
- What if the teacher prays in the teachers lounge?
- Does the age of the students and/or audience affect how you consider these hypotheticals?
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of the religion clauses of the First Amendment, answer the following questions:
- Why did the Founding generation include the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause in the Bill of Rights?
- How have the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause shaped the role of religion in our government and society over time?
10.4 Activity: Speech Quotation Analysis
Purpose
In this activity, you will examine free speech quotes from landmark Supreme Court cases and compare them to the big ideas shared in the video.
Process
For background on the legal framework for analyzing First Amendment Speech and Press Clauses, read the following interpretation:
First Amendment: Speech Clause and the Press Clause
Analyze the First Amendment Quotes provided to you and explore longer excerpts in the Founders’ Library to better understand the context for them and the development of free speech and a free press in America.
In your group, complete the following tasks on the Activity Guide: Speech Quotation Analysis worksheet.
- Define any words that you do not understand.
- Summarize each quotation and write one to two sentences explaining it in your own words.
- Explain how the quote connects to the broader conclusion that the Supreme Court reached in the case.
Think about the big ideas from the First Amendment instructional video. Draw any connections to the four First Amendment principles highlighted in the video. Explain the connections.
As a reminder, here are the four big ideas:
- Freedom of conscience is an unalienable right because people have the right and duty to think for themselves.
- Free speech makes representatives accountable to “We the People.”
- Free speech is necessary for the discovery of truth and the rejection of falsehood.
- Free speech allows the public discussion necessary for democratic self-government.
Be prepared to share key point(s) and draw connections to what you explored in the videos and primary sources.
Launch
Divide the class into groups prior to class and have them complete the readings.
Students will analyze the quotations supplied and explore longer excerpts in the Founders’ Library to better understand it in the context of free speech over time in America. Teachers can project the quote on the board for all to view and/or provide students with a copy of the First Amendment Quotes handout. Using the provided Activity Guide: Speech Quotation Analysis worksheet, students will share key points of the longer excerpts with their classmates and draw connections to what they explored in the videos and primary sources from each group that were examined.
- Schenck v. United States (1919)
- Abrams v. United States (1919)
- West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
- New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
- Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
- Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
- New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) (The Pentagon Papers Case)
- Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
- Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Activity Synthesis
The Founding generation believed that
“freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them, discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.”
Justice Brandeis, Whitney v. California
Ask students the following questions:
- Why does the First Amendment protect free speech and a free press?
- How does free speech ensure democratic self-governance?
- How does this quote relate to Justice Holmes’s account of a “marketplace of ideas” and its importance to free speech?
- Are you persuaded by Brandeis and Holmes? What are the strengths of their visions? What are the weaknesses?
- Does free speech promote tolerance? Why or why not?
- How does social media influence your assessment of the First Amendment visions of Holmes and Brandeis?
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of the First Amendment’s protections for free speech and a free press, ask the following question:
- When does the government have greater leeway to regulate speech? Hint: Check out the Common Interpretation essay on Freedom of Speech and Press.
10.5 Activity: Assembly and Petition
Purpose
But wait, there is more in the First Amendment! The First Amendment also protects the right to assemble and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. These are two distinct rights. First, the right to assemble protects our right to gather together with others in groups—whether as part of a political meeting, religious gathering, street protest, or parade. And second, the right to petition goes to our right to join together with others to share our collective views with the government—often by highlighting problems and suggesting ways of fixing them.
Process
Examine the primary source assigned to you and your partner, and complete the Activity Guide: Assembly and Petition worksheet.
Review your responses with a classmate who examined the same primary source and be prepared to share with your class the connection to assembly and petition.
Launch
Break students into pairs and assign each team a primary source. Have each student examine the primary source and then discuss with their partner and complete the worksheet.
Information Sheet With All Excerpts:
- Petition from the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery to the First Congress (1790).
- The Gag Rules Debate (1835-1840).
- Seneca Falls Declaration (1848).
- Proceedings of the State Convention of Colored People, Held at Albany, New York (1851).
- Frederick Douglass, Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston (1860).
Activity Synthesis
Once each team has completed the worksheet, have them share with the larger group some key concepts from the reading.
- Identify the author(s) and year.
- Answer how the author(s) use assembly or petition rights to promote change.
- Describe the types of changes the author(s) advocate.
- Cite 1-2 quotes as evidence for the argument. Why did you pick these two?
Note for the class when there are similarities between groups that had the same primary source and differences.
Ask students if they can find any connections between these sources and a modern day debate in our country.
Activity Extension (optional)
Now that students have a better understanding of assembly and petition, ask students to explore news articles or segments in media that present the Assembly Clause in action. Is it presented as negative or positive? What was the group and what was their main message? What part of the government were they appealing to?
10.6 Activity: Exit Ticket Reflection
Process
To complete this module, write a short paragraph about free speech as it relates to social media and be prepared to share it in class.
Remember the rule from Brandenburg v. Ohio: Generally speaking, the government may punish if it is intended to and likely to cause imminent lawless action. In this activity, you will reflect on whether such a speech-protective rule works in the age of social media.
Read this article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Rosen: Elon Musk Is Right That Twitter Should Follow the First Amendment.
Write a short paragraph in response to the following question: Do you think that social media companies should follow the same guidelines of the First Amendment as the government does? As a reminder, social media companies do not have to follow standard First Amendment rules because the First Amendment only applies to the government, not to private companies, which can create their own guidelines or policies with respect to how their platform is used and how their business is run. List three pros and three cons as part of your short paragraph response.
10.7 Test Your Knowledge
Purpose
Congratulations for completing the activities in this module! Now it’s time to apply what you have learned about the basic ideas and concepts covered.
Process
Complete the questions to test your knowledge.
Launch
This activity will help students determine their overall understanding of module concepts. It is recommended that questions are completed electronically so immediate feedback is provided, but a downloadable copy of the questions (with answer key) is also available.
Up Next
Module 11: The Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable search and seizures of our person, our house, our papers, and our effects. In many cases, this amendment governs our interactions with the police. Before the government—including police officers—can search your home or seize your property, it needs a good reason. This is the big idea behind the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. The government needs particularized suspicion—a reason that’s specific to each suspect—before it can get a warrant. Broadly speaking, our Constitution says that the police s...
