PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ACTION
State Standards for this Lesson
- The State of Missouri Standards for Social Sciences:
- Concept 1, Standards A & B
- Concept 7, Standards A, B. C, & D
- This
lesson is designed to assist students with understanding principles,
values, rules, and laws as they relate to personal responsibility,
- While
encouraging knowledge of and how to use technological tools to find and
identify appropriate subject-related documents and graphics,
- And finally,
allowing the student to understand copyright laws by creating a personal project to demonstrate acquisition of the concepts involved.
- State Standards Links for parents, teachers and assistants
Introduction
- This
lesson can be adapted to any grade K-12 and can be as basic or detailed
as the student or teacher desires, depending upon the prior knowledge and
behavior standards students already exhibit concerning personal
responsibility and why it is important.
- The lesson follows state
standards and allows students to explore the topic over a week’s time
using technology to find answers to the questions asked while completing
the final project, which includes an original cover designed and published by the student.
Resources
- You
will need a computer, a printer, document software, scanning software, access
to the Internet, a personal e-mail account,
at least one page of art paper and colored pencils, markers, crayons or water colors to complete this lesson and associated project.
- When compiling your lists of
rules be sure to ask your parents and family what they think about rules to follow with family, at home, school, on the playground and in your neighborhood
- You may search the Internet to find local, county, state, nation and world rules/laws
- You may watch videos about
rules and laws. Add these links at the end of the appropriate list if you
think they would make your document more interesting
Suggested Order for this Week’s Tasks
- This week students will review the lesson on Principles and Personal Responsibility and create projects to lock in the lesson’s principal concepts
- Day One: Review slide/PowerPoint presentation below, Principles and Personal Responsibility, which is linked to this lesson:
- Day Two: Using the keyboard
and document software, list and save on a separate page at least 5 rules
each (more is just fine, too) for how you personally should act
1. with family, friends and people, and at
2. home, 3. school, 4. playground,
5. neighborhood, 6. community, 7. city,
8. county, 9. state, 10. nation, and 11. world.
If you think of more places with rules that you want to add, that’s just great.Start with a title page – space down from the top to the center of the page and type in a title of your choice for this project – be creative.
Insert a page break for each new list.
Your document now should have at least 12 pages, including the title page with a separate subtitle at the top of each page for each list of rules, such as “Home Rules,” “Community Rules,” or “Five National Laws.”
You can make the document either vertical or landscape – you choose.
- Day Three: Using the
Internet, find appropriate graphics to illustrate each page of these
rules and insert at least one graphic into each page.
On a final page at the very end, copy/paste and save the link to each graphic you used to complete this project. Make a separate line for each link.
You should now have at least 13 pages; the title for the last page could be “Graphics Links” or “Links to Graphics” or something similar – be creative.
- Day Four: Using the art paper, markers or colored pencils, draw and color/paint
a cover page using your own ideas for the picture and word graphics you
design.
Be sure to sign your name and put the date somewhere on this personal page.
The discussion for this day’s lesson should include the student’s ability to copyright personal original work once it is created.
This is why you should sign your name and put the date on this page. - Day Five: Scan your finished
original personal cover page and save it onto your computer hard drive as a jpg file.
Be sure to remember which folder you used for this save.
Open the document you created on Day Two and Day Three that lists all the rules with associated graphics.Put your curser at the top of the first page at very beginning.
Insert the original jpg document you created, scanned and saved.
You now should have at least 14 pages.
This includes the original signed image you created as page one.
Do NOT put a header or a footer on your document.When you think this project is finished, save it and then do a “save as” to make it a pdf document. Use your “Last name, First name and Rules” as the title of your finished project.
Attach it to an e-mail and send it to me by the end of the week (Saturday midnight (your time) at the latest).
- This assignment will be graded with extra points awarded for creativity.
Process
- Parents or teachers should guide
the students through the PowerPoint on Day One and allow for discussion
with each slide so the concepts of Personal Responsibility are
understood.
Additional daily tasks can be guided but by the end of the week the student should be able to do independent and specific searches to find information and graphics appropriate to whatever lesson is being discussed.
- Students are expected to have
access to a computer and the Internet to complete this lesson
- Students should understand
how to use search engines, how to download graphics from the Internet,
and the use of document and scanning software and e-mail.
- Students can move as quickly as they desire through the tasks, adding the graphics and links as they complete each list if they choose, as long as they understand the purpose for each set of rules and why rules and laws are important at each level.
Additional Resources
- Suggestions and links to help with this week’s discussion on rules and laws
- Below are questions to Ask and Answer
as Tasks are completed
- Additional ideas for questions can be found on the education links available under State Standards Section at the top of this week's lesson
- Why does the state have
educational standards/rules? Click on the picture to find one answer to this question.
- Why do
communities, cities, counties, states, nations, and people all around the world have laws? How do
we find out what they are? Click on the picture below for one answer to these questions.
- What would it be like if
there were no rules or laws? Click on the word below to learn one answer to this question.
- Older students could be
assigned to read the book or watch the movie Lord
of the Flies, by William Golding, for an example of this scenario. The following is a link for a pdf of this book:
- Here are video links that could help with this lesson’s concepts about rules
Grading Rubric
Rubric
for Rules/Laws Project
|
Points
Available
|
Title Page
|
10
|
Separate
page for each list of rules
|
10
|
At least 5
rules on each list
|
10
|
At least
one graphic on each list
|
10
|
Links page
at end of the project
|
10
|
Original
signed & dated art cover page
|
25
|
At least 14
pages total
|
10
|
Document
saved as pdf & e-mailed on time
|
15
|
Total Points
|
100
|
Total Creativity Extra Points Possible
|
25
|
Conclusion
- This lesson is to encourage
students to be aware of how personal behavior affects those around them.
Parents/Teachers are encouraged to assist the student in printing out the finished project.
Post it in your room or classroom so you can admire your creativity while reviewing the rules at least weekly.
Final Note to Parents/Teachers:
If necessary, a follow-up lesson could be to add more rules to the original lists students made this week so they understand that laws are an ongoing process within government, which is good preparation for future lessons on how government within a republic operates.
