Indiana Citizen Rights and Responsibilities
Overview
This lesson is about the rights and responsibilities that come with being a citizen of Indiana. It also gives a break down over how citizens participate within their government.
Compelling Question
What responsibilities and rights do you do as a citizen of Indiana and how can you impact the government?
Standards and Practices
Grade: 4th
Duration: 2-3 days
Standard: 4.C.5- Give examples of how citizens can participate in their state government and explain the right and responsibilites of voting.
Domain: Civics and government
Subject: Social Studies
Goal: The goal of this lesson is to have students gain an understanding of how citizens have a role to play in the fuctions of the government and how they have responsibilities and how they can impact their government and their own personal lives.
Prerequisite skills and knowledge: The students should have an understanding of the government and how it might work, and they should have a knowledge of how citizens have duties and what citizens are. They should understand how citizens in each state have different roles in their own state and how your decisions only impact the state that they live in. The students should understand how their role of being a citizen can impact the government and what parts they cannot impact.
Objective: Students will be able to describe the functions of citizens and how what their rights and responsibilites are by doing a project about it with 80% accuracy.
Staging the Question
How can citizens of Indiana participate in the government and what are the rights and responsibilites they have as a citizen once they are able to vote?
Supporting Question 1
What are the steps and responsibilities voters should take before they go in to vote?
The teacher will read the book "V is for Voting" by Kate Farrell.
Formative Performance Task: The students will go through a voting simulation that gets them prepared to vote in the in-state election and has them research and become familiar with the voting process and preparation.
Engagement: Students will ahve optimized individual choice and automony.
Action and Expression: Vary the methods for response and navigation.
Featured Sources: https://www.icivics.org/games/cast-your-vote?utm_term=election%20games&utm_campaign=Games+%7C+2023&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=1547271970&hsa_cam=19735565257&hsa_grp=148885601400&hsa_ad=649193160468&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-259737301&hsa_kw=election%20games&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAjrarBhAWEiwA2qWdCByIU6OkX92SDFvt5aDjg3nm1Oa-EmtozKGPpAbCUZZUD3zjNC9MLBoCIKgQAvD_BwE
Supporting Question 2
What are some of the ways that citizens of a state can represent their government?
Formative Performance Task: The students will write notes following a powerpoint about the branches of government, have the class split into three groups (the three different branches) and have them act out what they do in that branch and how they could give their say within this branch.
Representation: Offer ways of customizing the display of information
Action and Expression: Use multiple tools for construction and compostition.
Featured Sources: The attached powerpoint.
Supporting Question 3
What are different ways that citizens can vote within their state?
Formative Performance Task: Explain to the class a little bit about what a democracy is and how that can effect voting. Have the students watch a video about American Democracy and how every vote matters. During the video, the students should be taking notes and recalling information about the video. After the video, the students should get into groups and pick one other way that the democratic system is used besides in the government. They will present this in any way that they feel is necessary to the class.
Primary Source: https://www.loc.gov/item/2021689402/
Representation: Illustrate through multiple media
Action and Expression: Use multiple tools for construction and composition
Featured Sources: https://www.loc.gov/item/2021689402/
Summative Performance Task
Argument- The students will take a stance over which one of the three branches of government us as citizens can participate the most in. They will have a live debate against another pair that has a different stance with them.
Extension: The high ability students will debate against each other to engage them in deeper, more intense debates.
Taking Informed Action
The students can become more aware of the voting happening around their community and explain to their parents or adults around them on reasons they need to vote and their importance with voting.