Why Are Rules Important?

First Grade Social Studies

Unit: Identifying and Understanding the Importance of Rules.

Issue: Why do we have rules and why are they important?

Driving Question: What rules should we have in our classroom to make the best learning community?

Grabber:

Lesson/Day 1: Introduction

30 minutes

https://www.schooltube.com/video/d8b60f69d1994b7fa8f2/The%20Importance%20of%20Rules

Grabber: Instructor begins by showing video to students about different types of rules. After viewing the video, have a discussion and ask the students to reflect on the video. What different types of rules did they see in the video? What was the purpose for the different rules? What happened when the rules did not get followed? Allow the students to share stories of different rules that they have at home and what happens if they don’t follow them.

Introduce Driving Question: Instructor will begin by asking the students why they think rules are important and why they think we have rules in place. Instructor will then pass out handout (Handout 1, attached below) introducing the Culminating Activity. Read over the handout with students and address any student questions. Students should then be split up into groups, with no more than 4 students in each group.

Activity: With anytime remaining in today’s lesson, have students brainstorm a list of rules that they commonly follow on a daily basis. These rules can include rules they have at home, rules they follow at school, or rules they follow within the community. The purpose of this activity is just to get students thinking and should not be collected or graded.

Culminating Activity:

Overview: This project will last over a span of 6 days. Day 1 will be the introduction. Days 2 and 3 will consist of mini lessons to prepare students for the creation of their projects. Day 4 will be an overview of what their projects should look like. Day 5 will be a work day and day 6 will be presentation day. The end result will be a video, poster, or skit made by the students representing what our classroom rules should be. Each group is required to come up with 3 unique rules (must check them with teacher to avoid duplicates). In their project, students must state what the rule is, why the rule is important, and what might happen if the rule does not get followed. Activity will be assessed by the rubric attached to the bottom of this file.

Lesson/Day 2: Lecture 1 School Rules

30 minutes

Introduction: Show students linked video about school rules.

Back to School Rules: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyLzsQKFpB0

Lecture: Instructor will discuss with the class what school rules are important and why, such as playground rules, library rules, cafeteria rules etc. This will show students why rules are important and necessary in order for the school to run properly. In order to keep students engaged, the instructor should ask students to come up with a list of rules they believe are appropriate for the school (this should be done before beginning the lecture). With this list, the students should be able to explain why these rules are important and then after discussing their rules, they should compare them to the actual school rules the instructor will provide during the lecture.

Lesson/Day 3: Lecture 2 Community Rules

30 minutes

Introduction: Show students linked video about community rules.

Exploring Communities Rules and Laws: https://youtu.be/uIcGIwgPg-g

Lecture: Instructor will lead this discussion about community rules the same way as school rules: students should create a list of rules they feel are necessary in order for their community to run properly. After sharing their lists, the instructor will share their list of rules so students can compare. These rules should follow along the lines of no littering, following speed limits etc. This will continue students to think about why rules are important and necessary which will help them when they create rules for the classroom.

Lesson/Day 4: Preparation for Project

30 minutes

Introduction: Show students example video of what they can make for their project.

Rules of the Classroom Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWXPCP8t00M

The instructor will give a brief summary of what was discussed the past two days about how rules are important. Then the instructor will discuss what makes a “good rule” as in why that rule is relevant, how it affects the classroom/school/community, why the rule is necessary etc. After discussing what makes a “good rule”, students should get in their groups and begin creating rules they believe are relevant for the classroom. From their lists, they will get ideas for their project and begin to brainstorm project ideas.

Lesson/Day 5: Preparation for Project

30 minutes

Students will use class time to work in their groups and discuss what rules they will be using in their projects.

Students will also take this time to ask the instructor any questions about the rules, presentation or the project itself.

Lesson/Day 6: Presentations

Students will present their movies, posters, skits etc. about what their rules are, why they are important and how they affect the classroom. Instructor will grade students with rubric listed below to see if students comprehended the lesson.

Assessment of Project:

Handout 1: