South Bronx High School

English 10th Grade Honors Webquest – Mr. Packer

A Students’ Rights Pamphlet

Introduction

Take the following survey by circling correct or incorrect for each of the statements below:

1. In school. a student has the right to wear anything that he or she wants.

correct incorrect

2. A student is suspended for cursing at another student. Schools have a right to do this.

correct incorrect

3. Because of her religion, a student wears a head covering in school. She has a right to do this.

correct incorrect

4. A student criticizes the school lunch in the school newspaper. The principal is allowed to discipline her.

correct incorrect

5. A student refuses to change his seat in class because the teacher didn’t ask anyone else to do so. The student is within his rights to refuse to change his seat.

correct incorrect

Student rights are an important concern for parents, teachers, administrators, and, most of all, students themselves. This project will enable you to find out just what rights students have, based on the final arbiter, the Supreme Court, and then help out other students and their parents by publishing a guide to student rights.

Task

Publish a pamphlet containing a summary of students’ rights. The pamphlet should be informative, interesting, well-designed, accurate and comprehensive. It should be written for an audience of entering ninth grade students and their parents. It should also contain real-life situations which illustrate the student right being exercised and give explanations for why the right was restricted by the Court or not.

Process

1. Form groups of four
2. Each member of the group will select a right to research on the Internet (ex: speech, expression, religion, dress, press)
3. Undertake your research and write an outline of what you found

(Situation, Court decision, Court’s reasoning)

4. Orally present your findings to your group and revise your outline based on their comments
5. Write out a first draft of your contribution to the pamphlet
6. Groups should select a designer, writer of an introduction, editor, and typist
7. Present first drafts to the editor, write an introduction, begin typing final draft, and design pamphlet
8. Produce pamphlet and present for evaluation

Resources

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html

Freedom of the Press

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Religion

http://www.aclu.org/issues/student/hmes.html

http://www.tentler.com/StudentsRights.htm

Evaluation

Each group member will be given an individual grade as well as a group grade.

Group members will be graded individually based on:

· the fulfillment of his/her job

· the quality of material included in the pamphlet

· the content, organization, and mechanics of the writing

· the creativity executed to complete the work

· the neatness exhibited in the final product

Group grades will be based on:

· the overall appearance of the final product

· the editing done on the pieces

· the collaborative effort exhibited to complete the pamphlet

· the fulfillment of the project criteria

Conclusion

The Internet can be a very valuable source to all people, particularly when they need to get information quickly and successfully. By completing this webquest, you have cooperated with your peers to gain knowledge about student rights and you’ve given yourself technological skills to create electronic products, and to improve your expository writing skills. Congratulations!!