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Lesson Plan: Government and the Necessity of Laws

Grade Level: 2nd grade Curricular Area: Social Studies NGSSS standards: Learning objectives A-Audience: The learners are the 2nd grade students. B-Behavior: By the end of the week, students should have a firm grasp on why government is needed and the general concept that government makes necessary laws. They will by evaluated by their ability to assess the Declaration of Independance through a newspaper article assignment that they will plan and design themselves. In the article, they will prove their comprehension by explaining what the Declaration was and what it provided for Americans. C-Conditions: The students will be able to complete these objectives with the help of their book, computers (computer lab), class discussions, wiki instruction, approved websites, power point, microsoft word, and articles provided in class. D-Degree: The students should be able to explain what they have learned about the Declaration of Independance with an 85% accuracy.
 * SS.2.C.1.1: Explain why people form governments.
 * SS.2.C.1.2: Explain the consequences of an absence of rules and laws.
 * SS.2.C.2.3: Explain why United States citizens have guaranteed rights and identity rights

Student Activities: Day One: Day Two: Day Three: Day Four: Day Five:
 * Focus for class discussion: What are the rules we have in the classroom? In the school? In your house?; Why do we need them?; What would happen if we didn't have these rules?
 * Activity (50 minute block): The students will get into groups of five and create a 10 slide powerpoint. They can either write the 10 most important rules that the classroom, school, or families should have in their homes. The students must collaborate and each student has to be responsible for 2 of their own rules. The students should make the power point colorful and interesting. They also have to write a sentence per rule explaining why this rule would be important
 * Focus for class discussion: What is a law?; Why does our country have laws?; What would happen if we didn't have laws?; What happens if you break a law?
 * Activity (50 minute block): The students will spend this 50 minutes finishing their power point with their groups. They will then go around the class and share what their 10 rules were and why.
 * Focus for class discussion: Who is in charge of making laws?; Why does our country need a government?
 * Activity (50 minute block): The students will go to the student activity page to direct them to a word search activity about the government to broaden their vocabulary and understanding on the subject.
 * Focus for class discussion: Who made the first set of laws?; What was it called?; When was it made?; Why did we need them?; Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?; What did it say?
 * Activity (50 minute block): The student's final project will be to create a newspaper article. They will pretend that they are writing the newspaper article that came out the day after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Their goal is to explain to the people in the town of their choice what the Declaration said and why it was necessary. This activity will show whether they have grasped the concept of the purpose of laws and rules in society. They will need to spend some of this time researching some more details to include in their articles. These projects should be factual as well as creative and should display their knowledge of the week's lesson.
 * Focus for class discussion: Did the Declaration of Independence work?
 * Activity (50 minute block): The students will spend this 50 minutes finishing their newspaper articles and submitting them.

Evaluation:
 * The power point project will be graded as a group and individually. The students will receive a 50 points for their group grade for following directions and then each individual will be given a 20 point grade for their two rules and explanations for the rules.
 * The newspaper article will be graded according to a rubric:

Rubric: 5 (Excellent)- Firmly grasps the concept of the Declaration of Independence and the effects it had on America. Exceptional insight on the purpose of government. Shows understanding of the need for rules and laws in society. Excellent sentence structure and grammar used in article. Shows a unique, creative perspective. 4 (Satisfactory)- Understands the Declaration of Independence and its effects. Shows good insight on the purpose of government and why laws are needed. Uses very good sentence structure and grammar, with a few errors. Has an original perspective. 3 (Good)- Knows what the Declaration of Independence said and that it made rules in America, but does not fully grasp the concept. Has an average use of sentence structure and grammar. Uses a somewhat unique perspective. 2 (Fair)- Recognizes the Declaration of Independence, but does not fully understand what it did and why America needed it. Uses poor sentence structure and grammar. Does not have a unique perspective in the article. 1 (Unsatisfactory)- Fails to understand what the Declaration of Independence is or show it in the article. Article is poorly written, with little to no effort put forth.