Title of Unit: The Foundations of Our Government Title of Lesson: Laws and Rules Submitted By: Mary Wood

A. Summary of the Lesson Plan: This is a 4th grade civics lesson is an extension of a previous day's work on rules and laws that takes the concept of classroom, school, and home rules and links it to state laws. Using the Houghton Miller 4th grade textbook. B. Target Population: Grade Level: 4th Grade Skill Level: Students at all learning levels. Grouping: Whole Group: Discussions, homework review Small Group: Research activity Individual Work: Class warm-up C. Materials: Smartboard Reference books Computers Houghton Miller 4th grade textbook (p. 308)

D. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards o C13.4.1 Identify and discuss examples of rules, laws, and authorities that keep people safe and property secure in the state of Nevada.

Student-Friendly Standards I can give examples of laws and rules that keep people safe and secure in Nevada.

E. Procedure: 1. Individual work: Warm-up: give each student a note card. Ask them to think about our social studies lesson from yesterday and write what a rule is and what a law is on their note card. 2. Whole Group: Ask a student to volunteer to read the definition they wrote on their note card and write it on the board in a section with the title "Rules" and have a another student do the same for laws in a section with the title "Laws." o Explain that laws are a stricter set of rules in each state and also across the nation.

3. Whole Group: Explain that we are all students in our class and school but we are all also citizens of the United States and of Nevada. o Citizen a person who is an official member of a state or country.
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2013 Karen Powell- Instructor page 1

Title of Unit: The Foundations of Our Government Title of Lesson: Laws and Rules Submitted By: Mary Wood

o o

Federal - pertaining to a union of states under a central government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states, Explain that, just like we discussed yesterday, as students at our school, or as children in our homes, there are rules we must follow. As citizens there are state and federal laws we must follow.

4. Whole Group: Students will take out their Social Studies Homework. Using the Smartboard students will come up and take turns writing down a law that their parents said they must follow. o o Ask students what the consequences are for breaking some of the laws they listed. Consequences will vary greatly; some may be a speeding ticket, some an arrest, and some might result in jail time.

5. Small Group: Students will work in groups (of 3 or 4) and research two local laws, using library computers and reference books. Each group will learn about two laws that they will present to the class. They will find out: what the law is, how it is enforced and what the consequences are if it is broken. 6. Whole Group: Have each group briefly present their laws. 7. CLOSURE: Whole Group: Ask students to write a reflection in their social studies journals on why it is important to follow rules and laws. F. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? The objective in this lesson is for my students to be able to identify and discuss examples of rules, laws, and authorities that keep people safe and property secure in the state of Nevada. I will assess my students' understanding of this concept by their ability to explain the laws their parents must follow. I will also be assessing their small group work. Are they on the right track in their researching and are they about to correctly present two local laws, telling the class why they are important and what happens if they do not follow them? Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. I will know my students understand this lesson based on their ability to participate in our class discussions, complete their small group research and present to the class. G. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach?

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 2

Title of Unit: The Foundations of Our Government Title of Lesson: Laws and Rules Submitted By: Mary Wood

I think the easiest part of this lesson to teach will be the section when my students are explaining what laws their parents have to follow. I think it will be fun for most of them to talk and share what their parents said and to also get a chance to write on the Smartboard. 2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? I think the research part of this lesson will be by far the most challenging part of this lesson. But I think it is important for them to get a chance to get hands-on with the material and not just be instructed the whole time. Doing research is also a very important skill I would want my students to start to develop. I will have to provide books and websites for the students to use that have easy explanations of specific laws. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? I will extend this lesson by starting to talk about laws on a national level and how laws are passed. 4. What will you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? For students that do not grasp this concept I would work with them during the small group activity and try to help them more fully understand what rules and laws are. They may need more explanation on the difference between local laws and some of the federal laws their parents told them about. I would also go from group to group during the small group activity and make sure they are all on target and not struggling to do the research. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? I might have to change the entire small group activity. The whole research part is based on my class being able to go to the library for an extended period of time so it really depends on if that is okay with the school and librarian or not. If I were unable to take my class to the library I would bring as many related books as I could to our class and also hopefully have a computer or two in my room that my students could use for research. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? I had the same problem with this lesson as I did on the previous one. I did not feel that the 4th grade civics standards were very will reflected in the Houghton Miller Text so I barely used it for this lesson. I also tried to go on "teachertube" and find a video on laws to show my students, but the videos actually showed some images I would not be comfortable showing in my class so I skipped adding a video to this lesson.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 3