A notable feature of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts is the attention given to the teaching of reading and writing in history/social studies, science and technical subjects. The Standards for Reading Informational Text that are included in the Common Core State Standards require students to read texts in depth, understand their principal ideas, identify their purpose and point of view, and trace and evaluate their main arguments. These requirements are also among the objectives of social studies education. In recent years, the analysis of documents has been an important focus of social studies. Important historical documents can be a good starting point for social studies instruction that aims to advance the Common Core State Standards. This article presents a document-based approach to implementing both the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) national social studies standards and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. It introduces the Bill of Rights to students in a way that takes them deeply into the text, and leads them to a greater understanding of the content and purposes of the Bill of Rights. (Contains 1 table and 6 notes.)