What Makes a Good Citizen?
Integrated Subjects: Language Arts, Art Objectives: The student will: • define the word “citizen”. • produce a coherent paragraph explaining what he/she can do to exhibit good citizenship. • create a picture that depicts an act of good citizenship. TEKS: Social Studies: 3.10A, D Rationale: It is important for students to realize that they have a responsibility as a citizen to exhibit good citizenship. Students must also understand that their actions and choices affect others in the community. Focus: The teacher will ask students to tell what kinds of people qualify as citizens. The teacher will write the suggestions on the board, and then define the word “citizen” on the board (A citizen is a resident of a city, school, or classroom). The teacher will explain to students that, although everyone is a citizen, there are traits that make someone a good citizen. Materials: • Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney • Index cards with pre-written examples of good and bad citizenship • Manila paper •
” Lyuba could list the responsibilities of a citizen and the rights our government guarantees. Understanding the discrepancies between our constitution’s words and its implementation came less easily for both of us. On a hot summer day, I drove Lyuba downtown. She wore a brown velvet dress. We sat in a large, warm box of a waiting room under a poster of a grinning Ronald Reagan. She was called into the examiner’s office and returned minutes later, smiling. That afternoon I watched as she became a U.S. citizen, along with people who called China, Mexico, Colombia, England, Iran and Ukraine their native countries. Since that summer day, I get unexpected phone calls from Lyuba. On the 4th of July Lyuba phoned, “I’m a citizen now,” she said “and I called to wish you a happy independence.” Now it is time to vote. A month before the ballots were due, she phoned me. “I don’t have my ballot yet,” she said. For a new citizen, or a new voter, registration doesn’t end the process of learning or r
Through our survey, we found that many Minnesotans think a good citizen is involved, informed, concerned, and honest. While good citizens vote, pay taxes, and obey laws, they also think beyond their own needs to community needs and take actions to advance the common good. But what do you think makes a good citizen? Join the Conversation and add your response to this question below.
What would your community look like if more people did those things? And what can be done to encourage people to be good citizens? Though unscientific, the results of this survey are telling. Hundreds of Minnesotans took the time to provide thoughtful, detailed answers to these purposefully broad, open-ended questions. Ideas about what makes a “good citizen” ran the gamut from simply “obeying laws and paying taxes” to describing a person who “shows up to help build the barn.” Some people feel that most Minnesotans already do fulfill their vision of what a “good citizen” should be, while others wish that they and their neighbors had — or took advantage of — more opportunities for their voices to be heard. Advertisement. Article continues below. –> -1) { var az=””; document.write(az); } } function OA_adpop(z,n) { if (z>-1) { var az=””; document.write(az); } } // ]]> –> –> [1] How would you answer these questions? What would your community look like if we thought more actively about ou
