Learning Links
Voting / Bill of Rights / Jury Duty / Amnesty International / ACLU / Labor Unions / Sound Bites / Community Service / NAACP / Student Council / Supreme Court / Local Government / Civil Disobedience / PTA / United Nations
Related Concepts
Civic Action / Power / Authority / Comparative Governments / Political Philosophy / Rights & Responsibilities
Demonstrators should be read from bottom to top, but need not be demonstrated sequentially.
Elementary Demonstrators
• Recognize oneself as part of a group and demonstrate cooperation with others.
• Recognize the existence of and the need to follow rules.
• Demonstrate democratic behavior (e.g., treating others justly, recognizing authority, and respecting the rights and privacy of others).
• Make informed decisions about school or community concerns.
• Determine rights and responsibilities in real-life situations.
• Recognize and demonstrate respect for different viewpoints.
Middle School Demonstrators
• Analyze issues from multiple perspectives.
• Recognize and use appropriate means of resolving conflict.
• Analyze the relationship between rights and responsibilities of individuals/groups and the needs of society.
• Demonstrate rights and responsibilities of citizenship in real-life situations.
High School Demonstrators
• Evaluate the roles of conflict and consensus.
• Predict and evaluate consequences of particular actions or behaviors related to democratic principles.
• Predict and evaluate consequences of particular actions or behaviors related to democratic principles.
Sample Teaching/Assessment Strategies
Collaborative Process: Cooperative Learning / Community-Based Instruction: Field Studies, Service Learning / Continuous Progress Assessment: Observation, Portfolio Development, Self-assessment, Performance Events / Graphic Organizers: Graphic Representations, Time Line / Problem Solving: Inquiry, Case Studies, Creative Problem Solving, Future Problem Solving, Debate Oral History, Simulation / Technology/Tools: Computers, Games, Multimedia, Puppets, Video/Videotaping / Whole Language Approach / Writing Process
These sample strategies offer ideas and are not meant to limit teacher resourcefulness. More strategies are found in the resource section.
Ideas for Incorporating Community Resources
• Invite a local politician, attorney, or policeman to speak to the class.
• Ask Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, YMCA, and other local youth organizations to share the rules they follow.
• Participate in a field study at the courthouse. Visit the courtroom, jail, and/or offices of the judge executive, sheriff, and circuit judge to witness the justice system in action.
• Invite representatives of different groups (e.g., ethnic, gender, religious) to discuss democratic principles relative to their status within society.
• Select and participate in a community service project.
Core Concept - Democratic Principles
Sample Elementary Activities
• Develop and implement a plan to create class rules, conduct elections, and hold periodic class meetings according to parliamentary procedure. PE, P
• Create a wall poster for the school which shows the importance of the First Amendment in your life. PE, OE
• Survey class members to determine their household responsibilities. Discuss how this contributes to the operation of the total family structure. Discuss the results if one member fails to carry out his/her responsibility. P
• Discuss the story of "The Three Little Pigs." Conduct a mock trial where the wolf describes his side of the story and the pigs describe their side. PE
Applications Across the Curriculum
Language Arts
• Explore several children's rights issues prominent in the news. Discuss concerns and questions which are raised. Develop a statement of children's rights and responsibilities. PE, P
Science
• Explore an animal rights issue (e.g., medical experimentation, fur coats, vegetarianism). Develop a presentation which explains what rights you believe animals have in our modern world. PE, OE, P
Mathematics
• Establish a rating scale which measures student opinions about favorite foods in the cafeteria. Present your findings to the cafeteria manager. PE, P
Arts and Humanities
• Read the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Write a play which represents the points of view of the bears and Goldilocks. Determine if the rights of any were violated. PE, P
Practical Living
• Create and illustrate a poster which displays the rights and responsibilities of each member of your home. PE, P
Vocational Education
• Watch a television show from the 1960s to examine the household responsibilities of family members. Contrast the image portrayed with modern households. OE
Sample Middle School Activities
• Role-play a discussion about democracy between historical personalities (e.g., Plato, King George III, Thomas Paine, John Locke, Frederick Douglas, Susan B. Anthony). Create a chart which represents each person's views about democracy. PE, OE
• Create an exhibit in the school which addresses important issues in a democracy. Develop oral and written explanations and select appropriate background music to accompany the exhibit. PE, OE, P
• Create a multimedia presentation, using slides and the lyrics of popular songs, which reflects democratic principles. PE, P
• Debate whether or not parents should be free to choose their children's school. Analyze all positions stated and prepare a position paper to present to the class. PE, P
Applications Across the Curriculum
Variations on a theme: Rights
Language Arts
• Read a book about lights. Consider an important message in the book (e.g., Animal Farm -"All animals are created equal but some animals are more equal than others.") and examine whether or not the message applies to real-life situations. OE, P
Science
• Consider issues of justice involved in a scenario where the military is disposing of chemical waste near a community without the residents' consent. OE
Mathematics
• Create a set of pie charts which shows the relationship between ethnicity and clubs in your school. Examine reasons for your findings. Make suggestions to increase ethnic diversity in school clubs. PE, P
Arts and Humanities
• View, study, and discuss the statue entitled "Blind Justice." Create your own artistic representation of justice. Present it to the class with appropriate background music. PE, P
Practical Living
• Examine different situations involving smokers' rights and non-smokers' rights. Apply principles of justice in developing a solution to the conflict. PE, OE, P
Vocational Education
• Examine the history of child labor laws. Prepare an illustrated time line of significant events. PE, P
Sample High School Activities
• Establish a student judiciary board to conduct trials for cases which involve student violations of school rules. PE
• Prepare for and participate in a debate with a rights" theme (e.g., right to die, animal rights). Record ideas, changes in opinion, and reflections in a journal. PE, OE, P
• Produce a "how-to" video on the voting process. Have the video shown on local access television stations. PE, P
• Determine your position on gun control and design a campaign to persuade other students to adopt your viewpoint. PE, OE, P
Applications Across the Curriculum
Language Arts
• Investigate the issues surrounding the censoring of books in America. Conduct a debate concerning the reasons for censoring books. PE, OE
Science
• Research examples of the involvement of government in
Science
and ethical issues. Consider why the government might want to censor some scientific and medical knowledge. Analyze the compatibility of this view with democratic principles (e.g., freedom of expression, freedom of thought). OE
Mathematics
• Conduct a survey to determine your communities general view about the issue of censorship and the selling of specific controversial publications. Compare the responses given about both issues. Develop an article for the school newspaper which draws conclusions. OE, P
Arts and Humanities
• Examine the use of federal funds for support of controversial art projects. Debate your position on this issue. PE, OE
Practical Living
• Review the Bill of Rights as a cooperative learning activity and examine how it protects your rights to communicate with others. Determine if the "rights" are outdated and, if so, revise and amend them for today's society. PE, OE
Vocational Education
• Investigate a labor-management conflict. Write an opinion on the issue as it relates to the rights of freedom, privacy, and choice of the individual. OE, P