Learning to Give, Philanthropy education resources that teach giving and civic engagement

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We Are a Comm-un-it-y.
I've Got All My Classmates with Me-Part II
Lesson 2:
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Lesson
Handouts
Academic Standards
Philanthropy Framework
3rd-5th Grade
Subjects:

Language Arts, Library / Technology, Philanthropy and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view
ELA: Communicate; Group Discussions
PHIL: Community; Conflict Resolution
SOC: Democracy; Government; Laws; Rules

Purpose:

Learners will build their own community in the classroom based on knowledge and skills acquired in Lesson One . They will practice conflict resolution through making laws and rules, and adopting procedures in our "community."

Duration:

One 60-Minute Class Period

Objectives:

The learner will:

  • resolve conflicts in the classroom by making laws, rules and procedures for our community .
  • describe the benefits of group cooperation .
  • practice and develop skills necessary to resolve differences.

Materials:

Pencil, paper

Handout 1
Take a Stand
Handout 2
Toma una Posición

Instructional Procedure(s):

    Anticipatory Set:
    Have the learners arrange their desks wherever they would like them to be in the classroom. The teacher will observe the chaos and bring the learners back to attention to discuss what happened. Allow no more than three minutes for this chair, desk or seat movement. Write their responses on a sheet of paper or board.
     
  • Discuss how that process worked. Were there any problems or issues that occurred that upset people in the community? (For example, who got to sit where, who got to move the desks, who was making the decisions?) How were individual rights compromised?

  • Make a list of problems that occurred.

  • Lead learners to conclude that these problems occurred because they didn't have any rules, organized plan or developed procedures to help them. Communities have rules that help them get along. Since we didn't have any of those, moving around in our "community" didn't work very well. Discuss the role of law in local, state and the national government.

  • Explain that when communities can't make things work themselves, a leader will step in and make decisions for them. Explain that in a representative democracy there are two types of decision-making. One view is that the representative actively reflects the views of the people he/she represents. The other type of representative votes according to what he/she believes is best. Explain the concept of direct democracy . For now the teacher will make the groups. Let learners know that they will have an opportunity to change these groups after our community is organized.

Teacher Note: This discussion about types of representation is very important to Attachment One.

  • Begin a discussion on how they want their community to be (lights on/off, doors and windows open/closed, when to use the pencil sharpener, music yes/no, what type of music, communication with each other, the teacher, how they will make rules, laws or develop procedures, i.e. government, trash collection, etc.

  • Explain that this classroom is made up of "neighborhoods." How is this possible?

  • Add issues to the "list of problems," then develop a plan to resolve them. Have "neighborhoods" vote on possible solutions. They will have to develop a voting system. Perhaps a delegate from their neighborhood will send their vote in to the teacher. Rules/laws will be written on chart paper and learners of the new community will sign the bottom.

  • Review what happened and how the process went. Propose the questions:
    1. What would have happened if we worked as individuals instead of working as a group?
    2. How would things have worked then?
    3. Would things have worked out as well?
    4. Would things have worked out at all?
    5. What about the time factor?

Assessment:

  • With a partner, develop a list (at least three items) that explains the benefits from working together as a group.
  • Write a paragraph that gives at least three reasons why rules/laws are important for our community.
  • Evaluate the school/home connection, Attachment One: Take a Stand
  • Evaluate individual and group cooperation.

School/Home Connection:

Attachment One

Bibliographical References:

Berry, Joy. Every Kid's Guide to Laws That Relate to Kids in the Community (Living Skills). Children's Press, February, 1988. ISBN 0516014234

Lesson Developed By:

Jennifer Black
Watervliet Public Schools
North Elementary School
Watervliet, MI 49098

Handouts:

Handout 1Print Handout 1

Take a Stand

1. One person who represents me in my community is:


2.  My State Representative is:


     My State Senator is:


3.  My United States House of Representative is:


     One of my two United States Senators is:


4. Two ways my representatives can do to the best job for my family and me are:


5. Two things we can do to help them are:


 
Dear Parent/Guardians,

In class today, we talked about representatives. We are going to find out who represents us in our community, our State and our nation.

We are going to give our ideas about how our representatives can do the best job for us.

Please give us your ideas, too.

Handout 2Print Handout 2

Toma una Posición

  1. Una persona que me representa en mi comunidad es:
  2. El Representante de mi Estado es:
  3. El Senador de mi Estado es:
  4. Mi representante en la Cámara de Representantes de los Estados Unidos es:
  5. Uno de los dos senadores de mi estado es:
  6. Dos maneras en que mis representantes pueden hacer lo mejor para mi familia y para mí son:
  7. Dos cosas que podemos hacer para ayudarles son:
 
Estimados Padres/Guardianes,

En la clase hoy hablamos de respresentantes.  Vamos a aprender quién nos representa en nuestra comunidad, nuestro estado y nuestra nación.

Vamos a dar nuestras ideas de cómo nuestros representantes pueden hacer lo mejor por nosotros.

Por favor, dénos sus ideas también.
 

Philanthropy Framework:

Comments

Jenny, Teacher – Adelaide, Australia11/9/2006 3:58:08 AM

Thanks for an easy to follow lesson that my class really enjoyed. This is a hard area to make interesting and fun for the kids - but they enjoyed this.

Susan, Teacher – Manistee, MI9/20/2007 3:12:48 PM

The positive aspect of using this lesson is it points out that all rules are for their safety and not just to "control" or be rude to students.

Tracy, Teacher – Manistee, MI9/20/2007 3:14:13 PM

Students had to use HOTS (higher-order thinking skills) throughout this lesson. I liked how the lesson incorporated representative and direct democracy. It was very worthwhile to have the students do the school/home connection (attachment 1). I liked how the attachment involved the help of parents and gave the students a sense of knowledge about their state's senators, representatives, and their civic responsibilities.

Tricia, Teacher – Ada, MI9/20/2007 3:16:56 PM

The positive aspect of this lesson was the tie-in to the Legislative Branch of government and separation of powers - national/state/local.

Jason, Teacher – Ypsilanti, MI9/20/2007 3:18:09 PM

This lesson was useful for teaching students about how a community works. Again, life experiences could be easily incorporated.

Nicole, Teacher – Michigan Center, MI9/23/2007 10:05:23 AM

(The positive aspect of this lesson was) the students were quite engaged and enthused about volunteering to make soldiers happy.

Tracy, Teacher – Manistee, MI9/23/2007 10:06:29 AM

The students were very involved in the discussions of this lesson. They liked being able to give their input on how they wanted their community to be. The lesson introduces and implies representative and direct democracy which is something they begin to learn about in 4th grade.

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