SHORT

 LESSON  PLAN  
 
Name:  Alexandra  Huss             Date:  November  18  ,2016  
Subject:  Communities  –  Rules  and  Laws  (review)       Grade  Level:  3     Co-­‐Op  Initials:    

Standards   Standard  –  5.1.3.B:  Explain  rules  and  laws  for  the  classroom,  school,  and  
community  
Objectives   Given  index  cards,  students  will  be  able  to  distinguish  between  rules,  laws,  
and  characteristics  of  a  good  citizen.    
Materials   Teacher  Materials  
•   White  Board  
•   Dry  Erase  Markers  
•   Index  Cards  
•   Tape    
Student  Materials  –  N/A  
Motivation   •   Review  what  we  have  learned  about  communities  so  far  
(Introduction/Hook)   o   What  is  a  community?  
o   Who  are  the  people  that  live  in  the  community?  
o   Why  do  we  have  rules  and  laws?  
Body   •   Yesterday  we  did  an  activity  where  we  compared  school  rules  to  
(Procedures/Activities)   community  laws.  Does  anybody  know  the  difference  between  a  
rule  and  a  law?  
o   The  difference  is  mostly  in  the  consequences  
o   Rules  are  used  frequently  at  home  or  in  school.  There  are  
consequences  for  breaking  rules,  but  they  might  be  as  
simple  as  losing  a  privilege  (enforced  by  teachers  and  
parents)    
o   Laws  are  created  by  governments.  There  are  very  severe  
consequences  for  breaking  laws  (fines,  community  service,  
jail  à  enforced  by  police  officers)    
•   Characteristics  of  a  good  citizen:  things  that  you  should  do  to  keep  
yourself  and  others  safe,  but  there  are  no  real  consequences  if  
you  don’t  do  them    
•   Tell  students  that  we  will  be  doing  an  activity  that  will  help  us  
learn  the  difference  between  rules,  laws,  and  characteristics  of  a  
good  citizen    
•   Divide  the  board  into  three  sections:  rules,  laws,  characteristics  of  
a  good  citizen  
•   Pass  out  an  index  card  and  a  piece  of  tape  to  each  student.  
Provide  them  with  a  few  seconds  to  read  their  card,  and  then  have  
them  tape  their  card  to  the  board  in  the  correct  column  
Closure   •   Once  all  students  have  taped  their  card  to  the  board,  read  the  
rules,  laws,  and  characteristics  of  a  good  citizen  and  determine  if  
the  students  put  their  cards  in  the  right  categories.  How  do  you  
know?    
 •   Review,  once  again,  the  definitions  of  rules,  laws,  and  
characteristics  of  a  good  citizen  
•   Why  do  we  have  rules  and  laws?  To  keep  the  people  in  the  
community  safe    
•   If  time  permits,  ask  students  to  think  of  some  more  rules,  laws,  
and  characteristics  of  a  good  citizen  that  we  could  add  to  our  chart  
Accommodations   •   Students  will  receive  teacher  assistance  as  needed  in  order  to  
complete  this  assignment  successfully    
Assessment     •   Students  will  be  observed  as  they  add  their  cards  to  the  board  and  
as  they  contribute  to  the  whole  class  discussion.  Notes  will  be  
made  of  any  students  who  are  still  struggling  to  differentiate  
between  rules,  laws,  and  characteristics  of  a  good  citizen    
 
Evaluation  
I  could  tell  from  the  previous  lesson  that  the  students  did  not  really  understand  the  difference  
between  a  rule,  a  law,  and  a  characteristic  of  a  good  citizen  (something  that  you  should  just  do  to  be  a  
good  person  and  keep  yourself  and  others  safe),  so  I  used  this  lesson  to  help  them  more  easily  
distinguish  between  the  three  categories.    
The  students  were  engaged  form  the  minute  this  lesson  began!  I  first  reviewed  with  them  what  
the  difference  was  between  a  rule,  a  law,  and  a  characteristic  of  a  good  citizen,  and  the  students  were  
very  quick  to  provide  their  own  examples  of  each.  Once  I  felt  that  they  had  a  pretty  good  understanding  
of  each  of  the  terms,  I  introduced  the  activity.  I  originally  planned  to  hand  out  a  card  to  each  student,  
but  after  thinking  about  it  for  a  bit,  realized  that  this  could  be  a  time  consuming  and  boring  process.  
Instead,  I  decided  to  tape  the  cards  around  the  room  so  that  the  students  were  able  to  get  up  and  move  
around  to  find  them.  The  students  loved  this,  and  got  really  excited  about  find  the  cards.  After  all  of  the  
students  taped  their  cards  to  the  category  that  they  felt  it  belonged  in,  we  went  through  and  discussed  
each  and  every  one.  Students  explained  why  they  put  it  where  they  did,  and  we  talked  about  whether  or  
not  we  thought  it  was  right,  or  if  this  particular  card  could  possibly  fit  in  more  than  one  category.  After  
we  finished  discussing  each  of  the  cards,  so  many  students  raised  their  hands  to  eagerly  share  another  
rule/law/characteristic  of  a  good  citizen,  or  to  tell  a  story  that  related  to  the  lesson!