Lesson Plan August 5, 2024
The (Evolution of the) First Amendment in a Digital Landscape
Country:
Grades:
This unit was created by Kerri-Jean Furtado, an 8th grade Social Studies and Civics teacher at John J. Doran Community in Fall River, Massachusetts, as part of the 2023-2024 Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellowship program. It is designed for facilitation across three to five lessons.
For more units created by Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellows in this cohort, click here.
Objectives:
Student will be able to...
- Identify and explain the five fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment
- Understand how these rights apply to various forms of expression, including digital media.
- Analyze the impact of artificial intelligence tools on the First Amendment in the digital landscape using an article reporting on the role of Artificial Intelligence
- Construct and defend their own perspective on the health of the First Amendment in our increasingly digital world
- Create a podcast, news feature article, photojournalism project or artistic representation that conveys the impact of AI on First Amendment rights
Unit Overview:
Through this unit, students will have an opportunity to analyze the multidimensional nature of the First Amendment and the way it continues to be reshaped and applied in our modern society.
Students will have the opportunity to analyze the multidimensional nature of the First Amendment and explore how it is continuously reshaped and applied in our modern society. This unit aims to provide students with a clear understanding of the five fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment and how these rights are expressed in different contexts as shaped by our increasingly digital world. We will analyze the intersection of the First Amendment and Artificial Intelligence using a text resource from the Pulitzer Center to discuss the agency of free expression in an increasingly digitized environment.
Performance Task:
Students will create a podcast, news feature article, photojournalism project or artistic representation that conveys the impact of AI on First Amendment rights. Students will…
- Synthesize their learning in a presentation of learning
- Use information from articles researched and their own findings to convey their understanding of the impact of AI on First Amendment Rights
Assessment:
Students will be evaluated with The First Amendment and Artificial Intelligence Rubric [.docx][.pdf]
Four-lesson unit plan for teachers, including pacing, texts and multimedia resources, guiding questions for group discussions, performance task instructions, and a grading rubric for the unit.
Unit Resources:
| Reporting | Peering Into the Black Box by Arijit Douglas Sen for The Dallas Morning News “Tracked: How Colleges Use AI To Monitor Student Protests,” Peering Into the Black Box by Arijit Douglas Sen for The Dallas Morning News |
| Multimedia Resources | First Amendment from The Constitution Annotated First Amendment | Constitution 101 from The National Constitution Center (13:06) Freedom of the Press Infographic from News/Media Alliance Freedom of the Press Infographic from News/Media Alliance |
| Lesson Resources | "Freedom of the Press History & Examples | What is Freedom of the Press?" lesson from Study.com "How We Can Uphold a Free Press for a Strong Democracy," Facing History & Ourselves “First Amendment,” Civics 101 from PBS Learning Media "How We Can Uphold a Free Press for a Strong Democracy," Facing History & Ourselves "Freedom of the Press History & Examples | What is Freedom of the Press?" lesson from Study.com |
| Teaching Materials | The First Amendment and Artificial Intelligence Rubric [.docx][.pdf] The First Amendment (text) [.docx][.pdf] First Amendment Infographic [.pdf] First Amendment and AI: Lesson 1 Slide Deck [.pptx][.pdf] First Amendment - Speech & Press Slide Deck (from the National Constitution Center) [.pptx][.pdf] Lesson 1 Exit Ticket [.docx][.pdf] First Amendment and AI: Lesson 2 Slide Deck [.pptx][.pdf] Note catcher [.docx][.pdf] Lesson 2 - Exit Ticket [.docx][.pdf] First Amendment and AI: Lesson 3 [.pptx] [.pdf] Peering into the Black Box Questions [.docx][.pdf] Lesson 3 Exit Ticket [.docx][.pdf] First Amendment and AI: Lesson 4 [.pptx][.pdf] Performance Task Planning Template [.docx][.pdf] Lesson 4 Exit Ticket [.docx][.pdf] |
8.T5 - The Constitution, Amendments, and Supreme Court decisions
8.T4 - The structure of Massachusetts state and local government
- 8.T6.4: Building on knowledge from previous years, students should be able to: Compare core documents associated with the protection of individual rights, including the Bill of Rights, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article I of the Massachusetts Constitution.
- 8.T6.5: Building on knowledge from previous years, students should be able to: Explain why the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is important to state government and identify the powers granted to states by the Tenth Amendment and the limits to state government outlined in it.
- 8.T7.1: Building on knowledge from previous years, students should be able to: Explain why freedom of the press was included as a right in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and in Article 16 of the Massachusetts Constitution; explain that freedom of the press means the right to express and publish views on politics and other topics without government sponsorship, oversight, control, or censorship.
RCA-H.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
SLCA.6-8.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on discipline-specific topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
PS3: Organize information and data from multiple primary and secondary sources.
Formative Tasks:
Students demonstrated their learning through a series of graphic organizers and exit tickets:
Is the First Amendment healthy in the digital world or not? [.pptx][.pdf]
Summative Task:
Students created an artistic representation that captures the impact of AI on First Amendment rights. In this project, students...
- Synthesized their learning in a presentation of learning
- Used information from articles researched and their own findings to convey their understanding of the impact of AI on First Amendment Rights
To prepare for the task, students completed a planning template [student exemplar here]. Students were graded using The First Amendment and Artificial Intelligence Rubric [.docx][.pdf]
