Introduction
Introduction:
Your state has just acquired a new territory, and guess what? You are in charge of its development! Your state has chosen you to lead this new territory under
their watchful eye, unfortunately, there currently is no communication with your state, and for the first 6 months, you and your group of 50 volunteers are on your own. It is your job to ensure that the new land is run properly, and that citizenship is encouraged and that your new society will flourish.
Essential Question:
What are the things that you will instill in your new citizens to create a functional society? What roles need to be filled, what responsibilities to society do members of it need to uphold?
Evaluation:
Refer to the rubric under the "evaluations" tab throughout each day to ensure you are meeting expectations.
Materials/ Resources:
This assignment requires access to a library for student research, as well as access to the internet. It also requires use of Microsoft Word, or Powerpoint for student presentation and may require use of a printer as well.
Students are encouraged to use Laptops, Ipads, or other internet capable devices to research as well as any in-class textbooks for basics of government, character traits, etc.
Task
Day One:
Today you will create a list of character traits that you think your citizens should try to strive for. You will develop a list of these traits with reasons why they are good to have in your community.
You will research such traits and find examples of a person, or persons who have exhibited these traits to serve as role models for your community.
Day Two
Today you will be focusing on the more concrete ideas behind how people should act. Today you will develop a list of laws that your citizens will need to follow. These laws should follow your ideas of character traits, and should involve botht the Dos and the Don'ts of citizenship.
You will be researching laws that already exist in your state, and that are being talked about currently in your state and decide whether or not these laws are important to your society.
Day Three
Day Four
Today you will deal with the functions of your government. Will you follow your states example and be democratic with three branches? Will the citizens hold the power or the government? Who is in charge here!
This day you will be required to find an example of a government you would like to follow.
Day Five
Today, you will focus on the backbone of any society, its constitution.
Your constitution should follow some themes; citizenship, law making, separations of power, and characteristics of citizens.
Your constitution should also outline goals for the new society. For example, will your society aim to expand, live sustainably, trade with others, go global, grow exponentially etc.
The previous days will all inform your decisions within the constitution you provide, and remember, consitutions last a very long time, make sure you put detail into your work!
Process
Day One:
Today you will create a list of character traits yout think are important to society to hold. Think of people you know who are role models; what makes them good role models? What types of things do people do that help society as a whole?
Once you have created your list of traits, go out and find a well known person who could stand as an example for the citizens of your new territory.
You will present this list of character traits, as well as the person who will stand for an example as if it will be built as a statue in your new territory. There should be a photo of your example as well as a description of what traits they represent, and a short story or description of how they have shown these traits in the past.
Day Two:
Today is all about the laws. After researching and brainstorming laws you think should be enacted in your new territory, you are responsible for presenting these laws to your citizens for review.
This presentation should consist of 5 or more laws that every person must follow, as well as one to two laws that your current state are discussing, and whether or not you will have it as a law in your new territory. This should be a list with notes to why each law is in place, as well as what the penalty for not following the law will be for your citizen.
Day Three:
Today you will compile a set of books, stories, songs, poems, or other form of literature which will represent or back up the reasons behind the laws and character traits that you deemed important in your new society.
This set should consist of 3 or more examples of literature that you can use to teach the people of your community the lessons that they need to learn to follow your laws, and live up to your idea of a good citizen. These books, or other materials should promote citizenship as well as the other character traits presented in day One of this project. Each title or work should be accompanied by a justification and summary of how it fits into your new society.
Day Four:
After researching different forms of government; democratic, dictatorship, socialist, You will be tasked with deciding which type of government your new society will live by. This decision should take into accound the decisions of day one and two of this project, and should be described in a short essay. The essay should describe the type of government, as well as explaining why you chose it for your new society.
Day Five:
Today is the day your new society is really born. Using the information from day one, two, and four, develop a consitution for your new society. Your constitution should cover the following ideas:
Character Traits: An introduction to your constitution should begin by giving the desired character traits as well as the reasons behind them that you wish ever citizen to have. It should reference the role model chosen on day one of the project, as well as one of the stories from day three of the project.
Type of Government: here you should input your decision of the type of government used, as well as the parts of this government, and a description of how they will interact with the laws and character traits decided on in day one and two.
Laws: Here you should outline the basic laws of the new land your society will be part of. The list of laws should include the reactions if laws are not followed, as well as who in the government is in charge of enforcing these laws.
Evaluation
The following rubric will be used to evaluate your work. Refer to this rubric throughout the project to ensure you are meeting the requirements of each day.
| Scoring Guide/ Percentage | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|
Day One 15% |
List has 1-3 traits listed with no role model provided. | List has 2-4 traits listed with a role model but no picture or description/story to show how the role model shows these traits. | List has 4-6 traits listed, with a role model identified, and a picture of the role model. Story/description is present but does not show traits clearly. | List has 4-6 traits listed with a role model identified, and a picture of the role model. Story/description clearly shoes why this role model was chosen in connection to the character traits provided. |
|
Day Two 15% |
A list of laws is provided but no connection to the current law debates in state are made. 1-4 laws are on the list. A description of why each law was chosen was not present. | The list of laws consists of 4 or more laws though no connection is made to the laws in current state. A description of why each law is used is present but lacking detail. | The list of laws has 5 or more examples as well as a connection to a law in student's current state with a description of whether or not to adapt the new law. The description of why laws were chosen is present and clear. | The list of laws has more than five examples and two laws from the student's current state are discussed. The description of the laws and the reason why they were chosen is clear and informative. |
|
Day Three 15% |
Less than 3 examples were chosen and no description was present | 3 examples were chosen but not description was present. | 3 examples were chosen with a desciption present to why each choice was made. | More than three examples were chosen with a full description of why they represent the aspects from day one and two. |
|
Day Four 15% |
A choice was made about which type of government but no rationale was provided. | Choice of government was provided with limited description of the type of government and limited description of why this choice was made. | Choice of government was provided with a solid description of the type of government as well as a description of why it was chosen for the society. | Choice of government was provided with a clear description of the type of government and conncections made to why it was chosen for the new society based on previous days' work. |
|
Day Five 25% |
Constitution only cover one of the three aspects required. | Constitution covers only two of the required aspects or three required aspects with limited description. | Constitution covers all three aspects required with limited connection to previous days. | Constitution covers all three aspects required with descriptions of how they connect with previous work and will be enacted. |
|
Clarity, Connections Throughout 10% |
Limited connections are made between days. | Connections are made between days but are not clear in presentation | Connection between days are clear and in each section. | Connections are shown and addressed throughout and detail to these connections are clear to reader. |
|
Writing Mechanics 5% |
Errors are evident in every part of the assignment. (more than 5 a day) | Errors are evident but less than 5 a day. | Less than 3 errors a day are evident. | 0-2 errors a day throughout the assignment. |
Conclusion
Conclusion:
Through your hardwork and planning, your new society can be a success. Just imagine the work that the founding fathers of our country put in to making these same types of decisions.
Can you think of some of the things that you did that our founding fathers did at the beginning of the United States' life?
What parts of this did you like best?
How do you think the information you learned could be used in your own life? What about in our classroom?
Do you think that your new society will last the six months until you can reconnect with America?
I hope you enjoyed this assignment!
Credits
Authors Notes:
This assignment is made to make students think beyond a textbook and apply specific content knowledge in a way to prove subject mastery. It was designed in a way that each teacher can modify it to their own design needs.
The teachers page contains more information about standards, differentiated instruction, technology integration and more.
This project was created in an effort to fulfill requirements of a Bachelors in Education from Grand Canyon University on June the 12th of 2015.
The Author is Alex Crosby.
Teacher Page
A Presentation by Alex Crosby for Grand Canyon University.
Standards:
Grade Level:
Grade 4
Arizona Strand:
Strand 3: Civics and Government
Specific Concept:
Concept 4: Rights, Responsibilities, and Roles of Citizenship
PO 1. Discuss ways an individual can contribute to a school or community.
PO 2. Identify traits of character (e.g., responsibility, respect, perseverance, loyalty, integrity, involvement, justice and tolerance) that are important to the preservation and improvement of democracy.
PO 3. Describe the importance of citizens being actively involved in the democratic process (e.g., voting, campaigning, civil and community service, jury duty, etc.)
Differentiation:
This assignment can be modified to meet the needs of any learner.
For learners with English language proficiency problems, the teacher can break down each piece of vocabulary to allow for student engagement and understanding.
This assignment was designed in a way that will engage most learning styles due to the presentation styles of the assessment, as well as the exploratory approach to student instruction. Students were encouraged to seek the answers the the essential question on their own.
Technology Integration:
This assignment allows for use of the internet in presentation by the teacher, as well as use of the internet for student research and presentation.
Interdisciplinary:
This assignment incorporates literature and writing as sources of assessment. Student comprehsion is tested through the work on Day Three, and the evaluation of each day is determined by writing.