Kids can co-create their classroom constitution

Young children have both responsibilities and rights in school – a place where they can develop socially, emotionally and intellectually the most (ie 8 hours a day, 5 days a week).

But do your students know what their rights and responsibilities are in school? 

In New York City our DoE has published a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for K-12. It was clearly not written for elementary school. We fixed this by interpreting the Bill for 3-5th grade (while editing out inappropriate content). 

Your students can co-create their own social contract – a bill rights and responsibilities – that they then agree to follow during the school year. The lesson we are providing here can help upper elementary classrooms become more harmonious plus better acquaint students, in unique ways, with the concepts of cooperation, community, collaboration in school. It was indeed created by our student team (with the help of

During the lesson the teacher can encourage kids to read all the student rights and responsibilities and then debate how they want others to act and how they themselves agree to act in their classroom. They can assess what is fair, what makes them happy and how much freedom they can expect in school, what are obstacles they face, as they start to learn the basic concepts of democracy.

This 2-3 period lesson helps children develop communication and critical thinking skills in the process. It can have a ripple effect through the entire school. 

Included here (for free) is:

Note: the teacher and school may edit the Student Rights and Responsibilities we provide as they see fit by emailing us for permission and access.

This lesson works best in states with developed civic education standards.

Civic Jeopardy Board with categories Freedom, Fairness, Happiness and dollar amounts from $100 to $400. Decorative leaves are in the upper right corner and dried flowers and leaves are on the lower left.

Miles, 17, came up with the Civic Jeopardy Game which Raquel designed above. Its included in the slideshow.

Screenshot of a Zoom meeting with six students and DK Holland some smiling and showing thumbs-up, in various indoor settings.

Here’s our team of 8-17 year olds in NYC, including David, Lizzy, Raquel, Bilal, Dina and Miles (missing is Livi) was facilitated by DK Holland of Inquiring Minds, this interactive project works well in states that acknowledge student rights. 

Also helping out were several educators not pictured here.

A poster that says "All students have rights..." with a yellow background, torn paper accents, green leaves, and images of historic buildings.

Go directly to the complete slideshow, and the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities to see this lesson – created by kids for kids – with the help of adult classroom education experts.

Raquel, 16, designed the slideshow, Bilal, 15 was in charge of the Teacher’s Guide. David and Miles both 17 both worked on the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities below. Our advisors, ages 8-14 helped make these tools kid friendly. .

Informational poster titled "All students have the right to..." listing student rights including choosing what they wear, going to school for free, being in a safe place, respecting everyone, knowing the rules, understanding expectations and promotion criteria, good teaching, knowing how they are doing, and open communication.
A hallway bulletin board with a list of responsibilities for students, including attending school regularly, being kind, being prepared, following rules, staying safe, contributing to a positive environment, sharing information, respecting others, showing respect, being polite, behaving cooperatively, and acting with integrity.