ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Social Studies: 4. Government and Citizenship.

Needs Assessment/Rational

In analyzing data from the March 2003 8th grade North Dakota State Assessment, I recognized that our weakest area in the Language Arts was listed as Standard 4: Engage in the Writing Process. Students scored in the 65 percentile in the benchmark 8.4.4: Edit to Improve Comprehension. This coincides with the observations I have made in class where students struggle with editing a piece of writing in order to prove the quality of their work. In order to improve comprehension of their writing, the students are in need of editing skills. These skills will enable both them as students and their audience to understand what they are trying to express through the writing process.
6th grade Social Studies results showed a 59% in a selected response item relating to Civics and Government: Democratic Processes/Structure. Based on this finding, I feel there is a need to expand on the students knowledge of a democracy. I have observed that, when questioning and discussing democracy students are unclear on aspects relating to our Bill of Rights, along with rights and responsibilities that we have as Americans.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: 1. I want the students to understand and implement their rights and responsibilities as American Citizens.
Goal(s):Students will analyze what it means to be a responsible American citizen.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: 1. What are our rights as American citizens? 2. How do we attain the rights given to American citizens? 3. What are our responsibilities as citizens of the United States of America? 4. How are you going to play a part in being a good citizen?
Objectives: 1. Given citizenship to research, students will be able to identify at least five characteristics that make a person a citizen of the United States. 2. Students will generate a list of four ideals on how Americans can develop democratic values. 3. Students will research citizenship and show how they are active citizens by creating a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two. 4. Students will show a clear understanding of citizenship rights and responsibilities by producing an explanation of their findings.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding?
Students will be assessed with quizzes, assuring their understanding of the following terms: country, naturalization,loyalty, oath, laws, penalty, trial, volunteer, immigrant, resident alien, civic virtue, patriotism, voting, and jury duty.
What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance)will provide evidence of understanding?
Students will write a paragraph analyzing how rights and responsibilities help define our identity as American citizens.
What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding?
1. Students will assess citizenship rights and responsibilities and demonstrate their results by comparing and contrasting their roles in a Venn diagram. 2. Once their diagram is completed, they will share their results with the class. 3. I will communicate my expectations with them on this project before they begin, and ask them to assist in creating a rubric to record their work and presentation. I often use rubrics on projects, so the students will have an understanding of my expectations.
What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect?
1. Students will assess themselves daily on their work ethic, recording their score on expectations on a rubric that they helped develop. 2. Students will create a presentation assisting resident aliens that have decided to apply for citizenship. 3. This presentation will aid the alien residents in helping to explain to family members in their native country why they have reached the decision to become a United States resident.

Instructional Strategies

Inquiry-based strategies will be used when students are researching American rights and responsibilities. They will be using research to aid them in analyzing how rights and responsibilities help define our identity as American citizens. The students will be utilizing project-based strategies when working on their presentations of their Venn Diagrams comparing and contrasting American’s rights and responsibilities with their own. Students will also apply this strategy in preparing a presentation showing family members why alien residents have chosen to become a citizen of the United States.