The learner will:

• identify key elements of communities.
• explain what makes a school community.
• identify key elements of community governments and describe how they work.
• demonstrate concepts of civic responsibility, civic virtue and common good.
  
  

  Civic engagement	(n) A person's connections with the life of their communities - Robert Putnam
  Civic responsibility	(n) A person's duty or obligation to their community as a citizen
  Common good	(n) Resources shared for the collective benefit of the whole group of people.
  Community	(n, pl. -ies) A group of people living in the same area and under the same government; a class or group having common interests and likes
  Constitution	(n) The set of fundamental rules governing the politics of a nation or sub national body. In 1787, at a Constitutional Convention the United States constitution was written
  Empower	(v) To authorize; to delegate; to license

Anticipatory Set:
Write on the board or overhead the word "community" scrambled . Inform students that when this word is unscrambled it creates another name for our classroom. Ask them if they can figure out what the word is.


• Read selections of either book listed in Materials section and in Bibliographical References to the class.
  
  
• Define " community " (a place where people live and work together).
  
  
• Develop the concepts of: civic engagement, civic responsibility, common good.
  
  
• List different types of communities . (school, fire station, camp, towns, cities, etc.)
  
  
• Pose this question to the students, "How is our classroom like a community?" Don't have them answer it yet. Give them one minute to think about their response before eliciting thrm from your learners.
  
• Make a classroom list of what makes up a community. Here are some examples of responses that you might receive: sharing, fairness, laws/rules, houses, neighborhoods, people, police, schools, traffic, families, firemen and parks.
  
  
• Now return to the question and use responses to connect the classroom with the concept of community. Lead to the conclusions that:

  Sharing is important in communities : In communities people share water, electricity, roads, parks, postal system, emergency system, etc. In our classroom we share water, electricity, glue, crayons, paper, principals, janitors, etc.
  Rules, Laws and Procedures are important to communities : We have rules, laws and procedures that we create and follow. Identify the stakeholders who make these rules and procedures in the school community and the local community at large.

• Have learners give examples of laws and procedures. Examples:

  Laws and Rules : Traffic laws, laws about theft are legislated

  Procedures: Forms to fill out before taking a field trip, putting all waste in specified containers

• Why do we have rules in our community? (To keep us safe) Why do we have rules in our classroom/school? (To keep us safe) Why do we have procedures that we follow? (To create a consistent way of doing things, reduce confusion)
  
  
• How do we make rules or procedures? (The principal, superintendent develop rules that they feel are necessary to make a safe and educational environment for the students. They are developed through needs based on prior experiences and concerns. These concerns could be brought up through parents, staff or students. The principal would take his/her concerns to the superintendent and he would in turn take them to the school board, who runs the school. Then they would decide whether or not they feel that it is important enough to make it a rule or have a procedure developed or law for the school, by voting.)
  
  
• How do communities make rules? (Different sized communities have different procedures to make laws. Very small communities have "town meetings" where local issues are discussed, like should they fix the old fire truck or buy a new one. Cities may have a "city council," which would run similarly to the school board. They are representatives of the city that vote for all. They might vote on an issue to build a new fire station for a growing community. States have Representatives and Senate members that vote for the people of the state on individual state issues, like highway speed limits. Countries also have Representatives and Senate members who are sent from each state to vote on issues that affect the entire country, like the legal age to drive, and there are also international laws and procedures.)
  
  
• Cooperation is important to communities . Discuss with learners the importance of cooperating for the common good .

  Explain how a law is made in your community . Use the example of a neighborhood that has a very high rate of traffic accidents and the people want a traffic light placed at an intersection.

• Have learners draw a diagram that shows how a community government is organized. Go over it with students to assure accuracy.
  Additional activity if time permits
  
• Form small groups and re-enact the process involved in making a law in community government.
  
  
• Have learners write a short paragraph with illustrations depicting two activities they discovered and could participate in from hearing the story, The Kid's Guide to Social Action .

Ask learners to talk with their parents/guardians and write down three rules or procedures that all members of the family community must follow and three rules or procedures that apply only to children 18 years or younger in the family community.