We the Kids - The Three Branches and Me
What is a citizen's responsibility to participate in civil society?
Photo Credit: United States Capitol Building, The National Mall, Washington, DC by Jeffrey Zeldman is licensed under CC by 2.0
Students investigate the rights and responsibilities that are built into the fabric that formed the United States. They explore the roles of the three branches of government, the importance of having a public voice, the issues in the “Bill of Rights” and the essential qualities of the Core Democratic Values. The unit motivates individual students via cartooning, singing, and dancing.
This lesson explores the U.S. Constitution and investigates the responsibilities of living in a civil society. Students learn the roles of the three branches of government, especially the structure and responsibilities of our judicial system. Students learn about the importance of conflict resolution in a civil society.
Through comparing different cartoons, the learner will discover cartooning as a means of public voice about political and social issues. Students create cartoons with their own social or political messages.
In this lesson, students analyze the Bill of Rights and explore the importance of the issues involved. The students employ their musical and kinesthetic intelligences in a creative performance singing and dancing to learn and teach the Bill of Rights. They perform the Bill of Rights in familiar vocabulary to their parents and members of the community (senior citizens).
Students analyze the essential qualities of the Core Democratic Values and how these values are evident in relationships and behavior at school and in the community/nation.