Lesson Title: We the Kids: Establishing Classroom Rules

By: Denise Thayne and Annie Robertson, Teacher Consultant, Wasatch Range Writing Project

Burning Question: Can students discover the importance of having rule in a classroom and link that discovery to the importance of having rules in our society?

Objectives:
  • Students will identify the important rules for regulating a community or society.
  • Students will identify three categories that rules fall under: respect, responsibility, and safety.
  • Students will apply the rules for regulating a community to their own classroom.
  • Students will connect classroom rules to the nation’s constitution.

Context:

This is a K-6 lesson that can be done near the beginning of the school year to establish classroom rules. This would work well as an introduction to the constitution and would be a lesson to use on Constitution Day (September 16, 2011).

Materials:

  • We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States by David Catrow
  • White board or chart paper with markers
  • Constitution poster board or plain poster board

Time Span:  1 or 2 days, 30 min to 1 hour each (depending on discussion allowed)

Procedures:

  • Have a class discussion/brainstorm about why we have classroom rules and what our classroom rules should be. List those rules on the white board or chart paper.
  • Have students categorize their list. They should discover three types of rules. There are rules for respect, responsibility, and safety.
  • Have a class discussion about how our nation needs rules to keep everyone healthy and happy. These rules also help us all get along. Read We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States and look for things that are similar to the classroom and school rules. Discuss briefly how people everywhere need rules to help them stay safe and happy.
  • Create a class constitution on Constitution Poster board. Begin with “"We the students of the Kindergarten class of name or initials of school, in order to form a more perfect union, etc. List the main categories identified in procedure #2 as well as an example for each one. Discuss how the class rules go along with the classroom constitution. Discuss what it means sign your name to something and what it meant for the founders to sign their names to the U. S. Constitution. Have students agree to sign the classroom constitution and then hang up in classroom for the entire year.

Adaptations/Extensions:

  • Type the class constitution up into a smaller document that the students can sign and keep in a folder for reference throughout the year.
  • Have students identified some different rules that are in the school or in the community and then have the students classify those rules under the different categories discussed.

Rationale: Students need to be able to relate historical concepts to something they are familiar with. Picture books are enjoyed by students of all ages. Teachers have the flexibility to discuss the concepts with their students in a way their students can understand. By using a variety of learning strategies, students will become familiar with the Preamble and its importance. Creating a document that applies to the classroom community will help students understand the importance and the need for national laws.

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