Molly

Rockefeller
Grade 4

Childrens Literature Assignment

Educ 128

1. Name of Childrens Book: D is for Democracy
Grodin, Elissa, 2004, D is for Democracy, Chlesea, MI; Thomson Gale

2. Summary of Childrens Book
Elissa Grodins D is for Democracy is a fantastic alphabet book type story that
gives facts about Americas government. Along with the government, this picture
book highlights various individuals who have accomplished something amazing in
our nation, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, George Washington, and some of our
founding fathers.
This picture book has a very interesting format. On each page there is a short
blurb about the letter and the word that it describes in a rhyming pattern that
makes it fun for kids to read or listen to. Then on the sides of the book there are a
few short paragraphs that dive deeper into the topic that is at hand on that page.
This allows children (and adults) to learn more about that word and how it affects
our nations government. At the end of the book there is a section on how kids can
get involved and become an active, engaged citizen.

3. Questions
Pre-Reading: These questions should engage students to think about their
background knowledge and share with the teacher what they already know
about the topic. It also gives students an idea of what we will be learning
about today.
1. Whats something that comes to mind when you think of our
government?
2. How can you be involved as a citizen?
3. Who are some important people in Americas history?
During Reading: These questions will ensure that the students are paying
attention while the teacher is reading the book out loud. They will engage the
class to guide their thinking about the topics at hand and encourage them to
critically think while listening.
4. On the K page, Who is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr? (students learned about
him earlier in the year, it will show them that they already know things
about the government)
5. E is for Elections: What kinds of things have you voted on? How can you
relate to the students on this page?
6. Q is for Questions: you all are great at asking questions. What types of
questions would you ask one of our political leaders?
Post-Reading: Questions that will reflect the students thinking about what
they just read.
7. Whats one new thing you learned about the government after reading
this book?

8. How does understanding how our government works, help us become

better citizens?
9. What questions does this leave in your mind that you want to find out
more?
10. Ask your partner what their favorite word was and why?

4. Activities to follow the Book

ACTIVITY ONE: Reference:
http://blog.richmond.edu/openwidelookinside/archives/2007
a) Content Discipline: Arts and Creative Writing

b) NCSS Strand(s):
Civic Ideals & Practices and Individuals, Groups, & Institutions, activity fits in
these two strands because students will be constructing a Class Citizen Tree
that shows how students can be involved in their community to make it
better and make a difference. Also shows how they are becoming aware and
involved with our nations government.

c) Objectives:
After reading D is for Democracy and accumulating a list of things an
active citizen does, each fourth grade student will independently write
two sentences about an action on how they will be a better citizen using
the sentence starting I can help others by doing. Students will
complete this sentence twice.

d) Description of the Activity:
Today we read D is for Democracy. This alphabet book gave us an insight of
what aspects there are in the government and what citizens like you and me
do in the nation to be actively involved.
What were some examples of the things that good citizens do in the book?
o Vote
o Know what the government is up to
o Understand the different aspects of your country
What does it mean to be a good citizen that is engaged in their community?
o This is a critical thinking question that should be discussed in
small groups. Think Pair Share.
Give students time to answer your question by letting them work in pairs
to start coming up with things that good citizens do to contribute to their
community and to be an engaged citizen.
Compile a list of things that might look like below
o Vote
o Create awareness
o Read the Bill of Rights
o Three Rs of being a good citizen

Right to have and express your own opinion

Respect for other peoples rights
Responsibility to protect the rights of every citizen
o Stay current on what is going on in the world
o Know your history
o Look at what is needed in your community
o Do service
o Know both sides of an issue
o Use your voice
o ETC
After compiling this list with your students give them each two leaves
(template below) and have them write in their answer independently.
After the students write in their answer, they should add color to their
leaf by coloring or painting it to truly make it their own.
Students who finish early or love being artistic will make the tree trunk to
put on the classroom wall. This way at the end of the lesson the students
will have made a beautiful colorful tree that is full of the different things
you can do that make you a great citizen.
TAG kids will be given a blank leaf without a sentence starter so that they
can be as creative as they want with their sentences. SPED kids will be
given the list that was compiled in class so that they can refer back to the
list for help.

Student Name

2 sentences
completed

Sentence shows
understanding of
actions of good
citizens

e) Checklist that teacher sees as an informal assessment

I c
a

he
lp
o

th
er
s

b
y d

oi

ng

Leaf is colored


ACTIVITY 2
a. Content Discipline: Art and creative writing

b. NCSS Strand(s): Time, continuity, & change and Power, Authority, and
Governance. My activity meets these strands because students will be
constructing their own Carpenter Hall and writing a journal entry from
one of the members of congress at the first congress meeting.

c. Objective:
After reading D is for Democracy and researching the first Congress
meeting, fourth grade students will be able to construct carpenter
hall, and write a one page journal entry acting like a member of
congress who went to the meeting.
d. Describe the activity:
Students will have learned about members of congress and where
the first meeting took place.
Fourth graders, today you will be researching the Carpenter Hall. Why
is Carpenter Hall so important to US History? Give students time to
respond. Guide them to be thinking about the fist congress meeting.
On laptops/ reading, students will conduct research about the first
congress meeting in groups and then independently research about a
particular member of congress. Students will go up to teacher and get
approval.
Students will write a one-page journal entry from the perspective of
a member of congress.
Students will then construct a mini carpenter hall using a template,
scissors, and glue. (Reference
http://www.socialstudies.com/pdf/SPL114A.pdf)
o Template Below
Now as an exit slip, students will write 3 things that they have
learned about the first congress meeting that they found intriguing.

e. Assess through checklist that students fill out themselves.

Did I

YES

Construct my
mini
Carpenter Hall
Write my

journal entry
Do I still have
questions? If
so write in the
YES column

NO

Teacher
Comments

Rubric for Journal Entry:
Student Name:

CATEGORY

________________________________________

Format

Complies with all the

requirements for a
journal entry.

Complies with almost all the

requirements for a journal entry.

Complies with several

of the requirements for
a journal entry

Ideas

Ideas were expressed Ideas were expressed in a pretty

in a clear and
clear manner, but the organization
organized fashion. It
could have been better.
was easy to figure out
what the journal entry
was about.

Ideas were somewhat

organized, but were not very
clear. It took more than one
reading to figure out what
the journal entry was about.

The letter seemed

to be a collection
of unrelated
sentences. It was
very difficult to
figure out what the
journal entry was
about.

Grammar & spelling

(conventions)

Writer makes no
errors in grammar or
spelling.

Writer makes 3-4 errors in

grammar and/or spelling

Writer makes
more than 4 errors
in grammar and/or
spelling.

Salutation and
Closing

Salutation and closing Salutation and closing have 1-2

have no errors in
errors in capitalization and
capitalization and
punctuation.
punctuation.

Salutation and closing have

3 or more errors in
capitalization and
punctuation.

Salutation and/or
closing are
missing.

Writer makes 1-2 errors in

grammar and/or spelling.

1
Complies with little to
none of the
requirements of journal
entry

ACTIVITY 3
a) Content Discipline: Geography

b) NCSS Strand(s): People, Places, and Environments
-Students meet this strand because they will be using a map to label the states by
region and what they are known for/offer the nation.

c) Objective:
After reading the D is for Democracy fourth grade students will work in
groups to fill out a map based on region about what they are best known for

and a history fact. Students will present the information to the class in their
groups.

d) Describe the Activity:
Students will be sorted out into four groups and given the different regions of
the United States. In these groups, students will research for 3 days finding
information about their particular region.
o Students will be looking for activist movements that started there
o Various important history information: IE Louisiana purchase and
the Oregon trail
o This is more of a free choice assignment where students are
choosing what exactly to research and find depending on their
groups interest level
After students have researched and put together a presentation, they will
give a 5-10 min presentation to the class about what they learned about
in their region
Students will need to include a map in their presentation
Students will be grading their classmates and their group to ensure that
everyone is accountable for contributing to the group.

e) Assessment: Rubric for Presentation

Student Name:

CATEGORY

________________________________________

Stays on Topic Stays on topic all

Stays on topic most (9990%) of the time.

Stays on topic some

It was hard to tell what the
(89%-75%) of the time. topic was.

Speaks
Clearly

Speaks clearly and

distinctly all (100-95%)
the time, and
mispronounces no
words.

Speaks clearly and

distinctly all (100-95%) the
time, but mispronounces
one word.

Speaks clearly and

distinctly most ( 9485%) of the time.
Mispronounces no
more than one word.

Often mumbles or can not

be understood OR
mispronounces more than
one word.

Enthusiasm

Facial expressions and

body language
generate a strong
interest and
enthusiasm about the
topic in others.

Facial expressions and

body language sometimes
generate a strong interest
and enthusiasm about the
topic in others.

Facial expressions and

body language are
used to try to generate
enthusiasm, but seem
somewhat faked.

Very little use of facial

expressions or body
language. Did not generate
much interest in topic being
presented.

Preparedness

Student is completely
prepared and has
obviously rehearsed.

Student seems pretty

prepared but might have
needed a couple more
rehearsals.

The student is
somewhat prepared,
but it is clear that
rehearsal was lacking.

Student does not seem at all

prepared to present.

Evaluates
Peers

Fills out peer

evaluation completely
and always gives
scores based on the
presentation rather
than other factors (e.g.,
person is a close
friend).

Fills out almost all of the

peer evaluation and always
gives scores based on the
presentation rather than
other factors (e.g., person
is a close friend).

Fills out most of the

Fills out most of the peer
peer evaluation and
evaluation but scoring
always gives scores
appears to be biased.
based on the
presentation rather
than other factors (e.g.,
person is a close
friend).

(100%) of the time.

Reference: Rubistar