Responsibilities of Citizenship
Session 1: The Responsibilities of a Good Citizen

Materials

• Teacher-selected book on good citizenship

Instructional Activities

1. Pose the following questions to the class:
   - What is a citizen?
   - What is a responsibility?
   
   
2. Brainstorm with students to develop a list of the responsibilities of a good citizen. Include the following:
   - Respect and protect the rights and property of others
   - Take part in the voting process when making classroom decisions
   - Describe actions that can improve the school and community
   - Demonstrate self-discipline and self-reliance
   - Practice honesty and trustworthiness
   
   
3. Read a teacher-selected book on good citizenship. Discuss how the character(s) exemplified the traits of a good citizen.
   
   
4. Have each student write about or illustrate one of the responsibilities of a good citizen.
   
   
5. Encourage students to share their writing and illustrations and talk about ways these responsibilities might help their school and community.
   
   
6. Publish student writing and illustrations into a class book.
   
   
7. Use the list of responsibilities of a good citizen to guide the students in creating a list of classroom rules. Discuss each rule, and identify the need for the rule (to protect rights, to practice good behavior, or to practice safety). State rules in positive language.
   
   
8. Post the class rules in a central location.
   
   
9. Reference the following Web site for additional information:
   - Teaching Citizenship’s Five Themes <http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr008.shtml>