Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans

Teaching Citizenship Unit

The “Teaching Citizenship Unit” provides some structure and materials for parents and teachers interested in teaching young Americans how to be involved and effective citizens. Specifically, getting young Americans used to doing the small things which, when done on a day-to-day basis, keep our democracy strong.

The Unit has 4 Lessons. Each Lesson has multiple topics. In time, the Lessons and supporting materials and activities will be grade-level specific. Currently, they are general in nature but can be used as a starter-kit and modified.

Lesson Plan 1 - Terms & U.S. Democracy Basics

Lesson 1 – Terms & U.S. Democracy Basics

Objective

Ensure students learn the basic terms needed to understand the material in the rest of the Teaching Citizenship Unit.

Topics

1 – Terms and Definitions

Materials

2 – Democracy versus Autocracy

Materials

  • Democracy versus Autocracy Worksheet.

3 – U.S. Constitution Basics

Materials

4 – Public Officials – Roles & Responsibilities

Teaching Points

  1. Handout the Responsibilities of Elected Offficials.
  2. Remind the kids that the country is run on a daily basis by those we elect and and by those who are appointed and hired by those we elect.
  3. Discuss some of the powers and decisions our public officials make and the importance to the country.
  4. Homework – Handout the Elected Officials Worksheet

KEY POINT – Elected officials and the individuals they appoint have a great deal of influence over the laws and direction of the country.
Materials

5 – Citizens – Rights and Responsibilities

Teaching Points

Specifically citizens responsible for

  • Understanding heritage of country
  • Staying involved in democratic process
  • Promoting a sense of community
  • Supporting individuals with special responsibility for keeping country strong
  • Keeping themselves and their families strong
  • Understanding how our government works

6 – Special Interest Groups

Teaching Point

  1. Ask the kids to identify other organizations they believe might be SIGs. Clarify what their cause is and ask what things each of the SIGs might do that was in their best interest but not in the best interest of the country overall.

KEY POINT – Special interest groups are concerned about their cause and not necessarily the country.

Materials

Lesson Plan 2 - Importance of Being Involved in our Democracy

Teaching Citizenship Unit
Lesson 2 – Importance of Being Involved in Our Democracy

Objective

Help students recognize that:

  1. they are citizens in a democracy,
  2. our democracy is worth keeping, and
  3. their active involvement in our democracy is critical for it to survive.

 

Topics

1 – Appreciating the U.S. Democracy

Teaching Points

  1. Ask kids to make a list of the nice things about the United States.
  2. Organize their points under categories such as:
    1. freedoms
    2. opportunities,
    3. conveniences and comforts,
    4. goods, and services
    5. diverse, generous, and hard-working people
    6. diverse land
  3. Discuss what each category means and add new points. Contrast what we have against other societies.KEY POINT – We are fortunate to live in the United States

Materials

Things To Appreciate About the U.S. Worksheet – Ask the kids to pick 1-3 things from the list they particularly appreciate and explain why they are important to them.

2 – Impact of Not Staying Involved

Teaching Points

If citizens don’t pay attention to their responsibilities, special interest groups will fill the void.

We make uninformed decision, we don’t elect individuals who have our interests at heart – special interest groups fill the void – they influence our elected and public officials. Elected officials don’t actin our interest, we become disillusioned and less involved and the cycle continues.

In a democracy, the citizens choose those to govern them.

Materials

Lesson Plan 3 - How to Be An Effective Citizen

Teaching Citizenship Unit
Lesson 3 – How to be An Effective Citizen

Objective

Have students:

  • recognize that taking care of things that are important requires constant vigilance,
  • understand what a citizen action is and the six types of citizen actions, and
  • believe in, the impact of a single positive action.

Topics

1 – How to appreciate things we value

Teaching Points

  1. Ask the kids how one should/can appreciate something they value and make a list of their answers on the board. Then explain/summarize that the way to appreciate things is to “Take Care of Them.
  2. Then for each item they listed, have them describe:
    a) how to take care of it and
    b) what happens to it if they don’t take care of it.KEY POINT – One appreciates something by taking care of it.

Materials

  • Pass out the “Things I Appreciate Worksheet” and ask the kids to list 5-8 things that are important to them. For example:
    parents, a bike, their eyes, a sibling or friend, their bedroom, a pet, a special place, etc.

2 – Citizen Actions

Teaching Points

  1. Ask students who they think is responsible for keeping the country strong and free. For each group they mention like president, law enforcement, etc. ask them what each group’s role is in keeping the country strong.
  2. If “citizens” didn’t come up in #1, ask the students what each citizen’s role is in keeping the country strong.
  3. Introduce notion of a citizen action using content of the “100 Citizen Actions” section of the site and review 4-6 citizen actions as examples and ask the students to explain how each of the examples helps keep the country strong..
  4. Have the students identify other examples of citizen actions.KEY POINTS – Each citizen is ultimately responsible for the strength of a democracy. Citizens take care of the country by doing small things, called citizen actions, on a day-to-day basis.

Materials

3 – Citizen Action Categories

Teaching Points

  1. List and explain each of the 6 Citizen Action Categories. Specifically, why the citizen actions in each of the categories help keep the country strong and free.
  2. Help the students organize the various examples of citizen actions into these categories.
  3. Have each student identify 1 or 2 new citizen actions and the citizen action category they fit into..
  4. For each of those citizen actions, have them explain why that action would help keep the country strong.
  5. Email any creative new citizen actions to Good Citizen for possible inclusion on their site.

Homework

Complete the “Heritage” and “Democratic Process” Actions Matching Worksheet. Worksheet Answer Key.

Complete the “Special Groups” and “Government” Actions Matching Worksheet. Worksheet Answer Key

Complete the “Sense of Community” and “Individuals and Families” Actions Matching Worksheet. Worksheet Answer Key.

 

4 – The Impact of a Single Act

Teaching Points

  1. Have the kids pick a citizen action (either one from the developed list or a personal one) and write an essay on why and how that action act can make a difference to the country. Have them use a personal story or observation if possible.
  2. Show the kids the movie “Pay It Forward”, if time permits and/or read a few stories from the Individual Stories page in the Pay It Forward website – http://www.payitforwardmovement.org/individuals.html . If computers are available have the kids read them. Another alternative would be to print out a packet of 4-6 of these stories. The stories are inspiring and wonderful!

Homework

  1. Complete the “Matching Citizen Actions to Categories” worksheet.

Lesson Plan 4 - Performing Citizen Actions

Teaching Citizenship Unit
Lesson 4 – Performing Citizen Actions

Objective

To give students an opportunity to perform a few citizen reactions and share their experiences with the class.

Topic

1 – Identify Citizen Actions to Performed

Teaching Points

  1. Have each student choose 2-3 citizen actions that they will perform. Do this by going to the Citizen Actions page and selecting the appropriate grade level under “By Grade Level For Younger Americans.”
  2. Read the descriptions of each citizen action to the students.
  3. Discuss each one and ensure the students are clear on how to perform each of these.
  4. Discuss that they will be writing a brief summary of their experiences performing each of the citizen actions. Suggest that they keep notes each time they perform the citizen actions. Suggest that they discuss their assignment with their parents.
  5. Homework: Give the kids a few weeks to complete this assignment – the time should depend on the citizen actions selected.

2 – Write About Each Citizen Action Performed

Teaching Points

Materials

 

3 – Share Experiences with Class

Teaching Points

Materials