There is no way to know for sure, but when James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights in 1789, he most likely was not thinking about eating candy or being nice to bees – but clearly these two items are very important to third graders.
With Sept. 17 being Constitution Day, students around the district participated in some hands-on lessons to commemorate the Sept. 17, 1787 signing of the United States Constitution. Students engaged in discussions about how the Constitution is important because it established the foundation of the American system of government, based on the principles of democracy, checks and balances and the separation of powers.
Stephanie Sykes’s third graders at Hanahan Elementary did a fun activity where the students themselves came up with their own laws they would want everyone to abide by if they ran the country.
The lesson started off with students watching School House Rock’s “The Constitution” music video. Sykes followed up with a class discussion about the difference between a right and a privilege.
Sykes used the class’s prize box as an example; good behavior in class results in students being able to select a small token from the prize box. Since this has to be earned, the prize box is a privilege, not a right.
Sykes explained to students that Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to address fears regarding the government holding too much unchecked power.
“The Constitution was more focused on how the country should be governed, the Bill of Rights came out to focus more on the citizens,” she said.
The original Bill of Rights had 12 amendments, though 10 of them ended up being ratified. Students watched another video about the Bill of Rights so Sykes could introduce their assignment.
“What kind of laws should you have as a kid?” she asked the class.
Students then worked to come up with their own laws and regulations to instill if they were put in charge of running the country. Some were silly, some were serious – all were thrown out emphatically.
Just as the Bill of Rights contained 10 ratified amendments when added to the Constitution, here are 10 “amendments” students came up with during their class discussion. It should be noted there was no voting involved, so not all of these were necessarily agreed upon, but it did provoke some good conversation.
Children should be able to eat candy until bedtime.
You need to pick a number to enter school.
You can have rights to pick your teacher by voting.
You have to go to bed on time so you can be ready for school in the morning (Sykes piggybacked off students to remind them they have a right to an education).
Children should definitely not drive until they are 18 (because you could get into a wreck if you don’t know how to drive).
Young children should be equipped with emergency response wrist watches (if they don’t have cell phones yet) to call for help if need be.
Don’t pick flowers; bees need them. This applies to all flowers.
It is unlawful to harm animals.
School should start later so that parents and children can sleep in later.
Students should not have to wear uniforms; they should be allowed to wear whatever they want.
