Traits of Good Citizens and Contribution of American Leaders

Unit Topic:  Traits of Good Citizens and Contribution of American Leaders

Grade: 1^st   Grade

Standards:

Virginia Standard(s) of Learning

1.10 The student will apply the traits of a good citizen by a) focusing on fair play, exhibiting good sportsmanship, helping others, and treating others with respect; b) recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control; c) working hard in school; d) taking responsibility for one’s own actions; e) valuing honesty and truthfulness in oneself and others; f) participating in classroom decision making through voting

1.2 The student will describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Themes:

1. Civic ideals and practices
2. People, places, and environment
3. Individual development and identity
4. Individuals, groups, and institutions
5. Power, governance, and authority

Week One: Traits of Good Citizens: Rules and Responsibilities

Measurable Objectives: 

• The student will be able to understand what makes a good citizen, why we have rules, and describe why we need to follow authority.
• The student will be able to list positive behaviors of citizens given a graphic organizer with 80% accuracy.  

       Standards: 

• 1.10 The student will apply the traits of a good citizen by a) focusing on fair play, exhibiting good sportsmanship, helping others, and treating others with respect; b) recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control; c) working hard in school; d) taking responsibility for one’s own actions; e) valuing honesty and truthfulness in oneself and others;

Themes: Civic ideals and practices

Descriptions: The students will understand that good citizens show a variety of positive traits by reading books on citizenship. Lesson ideas include sharing personal stories about respect, telling a story about a time the student took responsibility for something they said or did. Students will collaborate to establish rules for the classroom and explain the reasons for rules Students will illustrate with drawings on construction paper the rules. Students will use a graphic organizer to list examples of positive behaviors of good citizens.. The lesson ideas connect with the objective by explaning the importance of rules and describing what makes a good citizen. The lesson ideas also align with the theme of civic ideals and practices and power, governance, and authority

Week Two: Traits of Good Citizens: Rules and Responsibilities

Measurable Objectives: 

• Given a worksheet the student will be able to list 4 traits of citizensip with 85% accuracy.
• The student will be able to apply the elements of fair play and good sportsmanship to everyday life situations through illustratrations. 
• Given a prompt the student will be able to write a short story about honesty and receive a 3 out of 4 on a rubric checking content knowledge, grammar and communication of idea.
• The student will be able to explain the importance of helping others. 
• Following the lesson the student will be able to create a poster that illustrates the concepts of respect and receive a 3 out of 4 on a rubric checking visual communication of idea.

Standards:   

• 1.10 The student will apply the traits of a good citizen by a) focusing on fair play, exhibiting good sportsmanship, helping others, and treating others with respect; b) recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control; c) working hard in school; d) taking responsibility for one’s own actions; e) valuing honesty and truthfulness in oneself and others; f) participating in classroom decision making through voting

SS Themes:  Civic ideals and practices

Descriptions: Lesson ideas include teaching the nine traits of a good citizen and having students engage in multiple instructional activities that focus on the following traits of citizenship: Good Sportsmanship and Fair Play, Honesty, and Helping others. Students will write a short story about a time when it was hard to be honest; Students will select two books from a variety provided and work with a partner to read the book and then list the five important ways to help others. Students will create a poster and illustrate respectful behaviors. The lesson ideas connect with the objectives by having students use different levels of Bloom’s taxonomy to demonstrate mastery of traits. 

Week Three: Traits of Good Citizens: Rules and Responsibilities 

Measurable Objectives:

• Given a worksheet students will be able to identify the nine traits of citizensip with 85% accuracy.
• Students will create a skit and include a scenario with a good and bad citizen. 
• The student will demonsrate an understanding of self-control through an experiential class exercise. 
• Students will illustrate ways to act responsibily. 

Standards:  

• 1.10 The student will apply the traits of a good citizen by a) focusing on fair play, exhibiting good sportsmanship, helping others, and treating others with respect; b) recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control; c) working hard in school; d) taking responsibility for one’s own actions; e) valuing honesty and truthfulness in oneself and others; f) participating in classroom decision making through voting

SS Themes:  Civic ideals and practices

Descriptions: Lesson ideas include students creating a list of individuals who deserve respect and explain how someone shows respect. Lesson ideas students participating in an experiential acitivy that challenges them to practice self-control by sitting still and not talking; students will go to the library and find a book about being responsible. The lesson ideas connect with the objective by using interactive exercises for students to explore the nine traits of leadership and align with the theme civic ideals and practices. 

Week Four: American Leaders: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln

Measurable Objectives: 

• Given a prompt the student will be able to summarize the important contributions of major leaders with 80% accuracy. 

Standards: 

• 1.2 The student will describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

SS Themes:  Individuals, groups, and institutions Power, governance, and authority People, places, and environment

Descriptions: Lesson ideas include learning the Abraham Lincoln song; Developing a timeline of the major events of George Washington’s life through a group activity; Students will create a class chart comparing Lincoln and Washington; Students will be assessed on key facs about Lincoln and Washington; Activities include a coloring activity and working independently to create a flip book. These lesson ideas allow students to summarize contributions of the leaders and align with social studies themes such as individuals, authority and people. 

Week Five: American Leaders:  Carver, Franklin, Roosevelt 

Measurable Objectives: 

• Given a prompt the student will be able to summarize the important contributions of major leaders with 80% accuracy.

Standards: 

• 1.2 The student will describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

SS Themes: Individuals, groups, and institutions Power, governance, and authority People, places, and environment

Descriptions: Lesson ideas include an art project on inventions and importance of George Washington Carver’s inventions; students will learn a song about Carver and sing it together as a class; students will watch a video on Frankling; and students will a virtual tour of the White House and learn fun facts about first ladies, White House traditions, and stories. The lesson ideas connect with the objective allowing students to summarize contributions of major leaders and describe stories. 

Week Six: American Holidays to Remember Leaders

Measurable Objectives: 

• Stduents will be able to identiy American Holidays to Remember Leaders and Events of the Past
• Given pictures students will be able to identify presidents with 85% accuracy.
• Students will use a calendar to find dates and sequence class birthdays 

Standards: 

• 1.3 The student will discuss the lives of people associated with Presidents’ Day, Columbus Day, and the events of Independence Day (Fourth of July).

SS  Themes:  People, places, and environment, Individual development and identity, Individuals, groups, and institutions

Descriptions: Lesson ideas include identifying pictures of presidents and important leaders such as Columbus and Washington; Students will use a calendar to find important dates; Students will collaborate and create a class birthday chart; students will compelte web acitivties to reinforce the sigifniace of American Holidays. 

B.  Propose a field trip related to your unit topic from part A and indicate which week of the unit your field trip would occur.

Week 5: Field Trip- Virtual- White House

1. The field trip aligns with the standard and objectives identified to learn more about American Leaders, specifically presidents, and their contributions to society. Students will take a virtual field trip tour of the White House.

2. The learning activity that centers on the virtual field trip will require students to research on the computer and in the library about a famous person of their interest. Students will be required to research information about the person and write a biography. Students must use a mind map to brainstorm ideas for biography and type or write the final draft. 

C.  Develop an inquiry-based, integrative lesson idea that aligns with the content for one of the weeks in your unit outline.

Week 2:

Virginia Social Studies Standard:

1.10 The student will apply the traits of a good citizen by a) focusing on fair play, exhibiting good sportsmanship, helping others, and treating others with respect; b) recognizing the purpose of rules and practicing self-control; c) working hard in school; d) taking responsibility for one’s own actions; e) valuing honesty and truthfulness in oneself and others; f) participating in classroom decision making through voting

Language Arts Standard: 

1.13 The student will write to communicate ideas for a variety of purposes.

a) Generate ideas. 

b) Focus on one topic.

Objective: The student will create art cards and write a story and accompanying illustration on a time when it was difficult to be honest. 

Materials:

Short sing along video on honesty
PowerPoint

Art Cards

SmartBoard

This lesson will use collaborative learning and incorporate the whole class as the teacher engages students with a kid-friendly video on the Smart Board about honesty.  The teacher will use direct instruction and modeling to help students explore why being honest is important. Students will contribute by offering personal examples of times when they were honest or dishonest. The teacher will record answers on a chart. 

Students will synthesize the information from the lesson and self reflect on a time when it was difficult to be honest. The student will illustrate on art cards and write a story to describe the illustration. 

D.  Write an essay to respond to the following prompts (suggested length of up to 1/2 page for each prompt):

1. Describe how your lesson idea in part C will connect both standards from C1 into an interdisciplinary learning experience that effectively incorporates the concepts and methods of inquiry of social studies (e.g., problem solving, analysis).

The lesson idea connects both standards by incorporating a citizenship trait and connecting it to a writing exercise. At this level, some students may struggle with developing sentences and understanding how to sequence ideas. Using a simple topic encourages students to want to complete the assignment. It also allows students to synthesize information and observe other’s experiences as well as self-reflect and analyze on their own. 

2. Describe the previously learned skills and/or content necessary for students to be able to participate in the planned lesson.

The previously learned skills for students to be able to participate in the planned lesson include understanding the nine traits of citizenship and being able to effectively explain them. Students should be able to connect the traits and express the significance as it relates to school, community, and home. 

3. Describe differentiated instruction accommodations for two differently abled groups of learners.

ADHD: Students will receive written instructions and extra support from the teacher when brainstorming and writing the story about honesty. 

Accelerated: Accelerated learners will have the opportunity to work with other students and help articulate the importance of honesty. 

1. Explain how the described accommodations effectively meet student needs.

These accommodations meet ADHD student needs as they must stay on task and complete assignments on time. The accommodations for the accelerated learners allow them to be helpful and not always feel isolated and bored by doing activities that are clearly designed only for them. 

E.  Describe how students will be assessed for the lesson idea in part C.

Students will be accessed via an informal assessment by writing down on task cards two ways they will practice being honest at school and two ways they will practice being honest at home. 

1. Explain you would use student outcomes on the assessment to inform your instructional decision making to support social studies education for all students.

Student outcomes on the assessment will inform instructional decision making by determining if more direct instruction is needed or more time for students to master the concepts of the nine traits of citizenship. Also, the assessment will indicate the level of comprehension and application the students demonstrate when developing their actions to practice honesty. Finally, the assessment will reveal if students need more detailed instruction or more assistance with developing ideas to practice honesty. 

Resources

History and Social Science Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools. (2008). Introduction to History and Social Science.  Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/scope_sequence/history_socialscience_scope_sequence/2008/scopeseq_histsoc1.pdf

Board of Education Commonwealth of Virginia. (2008). History and Social Science Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework. Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/frameworks/history_socialscience_framewks/2008/2008_final/framewks_virginia_studies.pdf