First Amendment

Master First Amendment rights! Match scenarios to freedoms of speech, press, petition, assembly, & religion.

Match the situation to the correct freedom given under the First Amendment. Freedom of Speech Abigail wants to spread the word about how important it is to vote in elections. At home, Abigail paints a large mural showing people voting. She paints the sentence, “Everyone should vote!” across the top. She takes a picture of her painting and posts the picture to instagram Mikaila Ulmer uses her art to express and explain how and why people should save the bees from extinction. Laila feels passionate about physical health. She writes a poem about how fun it is to exercise. Her teacher loves her poem so much that she helps Laila get the poem published on a children’s literary website. Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist, made a speech telling a crowd about the dangers of climate change. Freedom of Press Luna has been researching the different people running for Congress in her area. She finds out that one of the candidates wants to close down elementary schools. Luna writes an article about why this candidate should not become a senator. She publishes the article in the newspaper. Dylan notices that some of the students at his school are not wearing their helmets when they are riding their bikes. Dylan and his dad call the local radio news station and talk about how important it is to wear your helmet. You have a choice to watch CBS, ABC, FOX, MSNBC, or CNN news programs at night or read any newspaper. Freedom of Petition Tyler thinks that students should be able to play educational video games at school to help them learn. He creates a petition and walks around the school asking students to sign it. When he has 500 signatures, he takes the petition to the principal to show her how many students want the educational video games. Maiya and Leo are Buddhist. Sometimes they burn incense at home while they meditate. The incense burning is considered an offering to the Buddha, the teachings, and the community. You leave a Walmart and are asked to sign a petition that will be sent to your congress person to encourage them to vote for environmental protections. Gabriella is a peaceful person. She wants to stop all wars around the planet. She puts together an online form that leaders can sign, promising not to go to war. She signs it herself and tweets a link on her twitter account. Freedom to Assemble You and a friend, along with a large group of other students, go to a demonstration at the Suwanee Town Green. You organize a new club at school that wants to increase student voice and say in the school. Destinee is a social justice activist. She wants everyone in her community to treat people of different colors equally and fairly. She asks her teacher to help her start a club called the Justice League. The Justice League meets every Thursday after school to make sure students are treated equally at their school. Freedom of Religion Josh and Shira do not come to school on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. It’s a day of forgiveness and reflection. Josh and Shira will participate in fasting and prayer at their local synagogue. Omar practices Islam. In the middle of the day, at the end of reading time, Omar leaves the classroom to go to another room to pray. On the weekend, Devan goes to his local temple, called a Mandir, to pray and spend time with his community. His sisters, Kruti and Neeti, go with him and help him learn the Hindu practices. Not Protected by the First Amendment Ashley is speaking a rally at the state capital building. She is angry about a new law that was passed. This new law has made her life more difficult. Her speech is passionate and detailed. At the end of her speech, she tells the crowd that they need to break into the state capital building and spray paint the senator’s office. Leslie and Aniah find out that a local company is polluting the air in their community. They make signs and protest in front of the company headquarters. The police arrest them and take them to jail. The mayor of Suwanee insists that citizens must be a member of a local church to serve on the town council.