District 11 Educational Support Services
Social Studies




Grade 3, Quarter 4: Our City Government

Overview
View the Video Introduction. Students will learn about how people in the Pikes Peak Region get and use power in city government, including the roles of city council, mayor and city manager. Rights, roles and responsibilities of city citizens, ways people interact with others, and public services are investigated and discussed. Students will learn about different roles and responsibilities of city government officials including the Mayor, Police Chief, Fire Chief, City Clerk and the City Attorney. Students will learn about service learning projects in which they can participate that are designed to demonstrate civic responsibility.

Unit Rigor & Relevance Rating: Quadrant D Adaptation - provides opportunities for higher order thinking and provides opportunities to apply in and across disciplines, and to apply in real-world unpredictable situations.
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Quarter 3  4
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Yearly Overview

Standards

Enduring Understandings - important ideas that students should carry with them years beyond the instruction received this year.

  • Individuals and groups make, enforce and apply rules and laws (government).
  • Citizens have rights, roles, and responsibilities.
  • People and nations interact politically.
  • Wise decisions must be made about the use of scarce resources.
  • The exchange of goods and services leads to trade and interdependence.

Essential Questions - most important “big picture” questions students should be able to answer after completing learning activities.

  • How do people get and use power?
  • Who works at city hall?  How are they elected/appointed?
  • What are the rights, roles and responsibilities of citizens in Colorado Springs?
  • How do people interact when dealing with problems?
  • What resources are used to provide public services in our community? How are they paid for? How, why, and for whom are services provided?
  • How does our economy work?
  • Why do prices change?

District 11 Graduate Profile Skills Addressed

Cultural Competence: the ability to understand and interpret political and cultural events from multiple perspectives in a global society, a core competency in 21st Century Skills
Vital Participation in Civic Responsibility: "share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society" Standards for the 21st-Century Learner from American Library Assoc.
Effective Communication Skills: a core competency for 21st Century Skills

State Standards and Benchmarks
Standard History 5: Students understand political institutions and theories that developed and changed over time.
Benchmark H5 C: Students know how political power has been acquired, maintained, used, and/or lost throughout history.
Standard Civics 1: Students understand the purposes of government, and the basic constitutional principles of the United States republican form of government.
Benchmark C1 A: Students know and understand what governments is and what purpose it serves.
Standard Civics 2: Students know how to use structure and function of local, state, and national government and how citizen involvement shapes public policy.
Benchmark C2 A: Students know the organization and functions of Local, State, and National Governments.
Standard Civics 3: Students know the political relationship of the United States and its citizens to other nations and to world affairs.
Benchmark C3 A: Students know and understand why governments and non-governmental agencies around the world interact politically.
Standard Civics 4: Students understand how citizens exercise the roles, rights, and responsibilities of participation in civil life at all levels.
Benchmark C4 C: Students know how citizens can exercise their rights.
Standard Economics 1: Students understand that because of the condition of scarcity, decisions must be made about the use of scarce resources.
Benchmark E1 A: Students know that economic choices are made because resources are scarce and that the act of making economic choices imposes opportunity costs (e.g., using land for farming or ranching, forests for recreation or lumber).
Standard Economics 3: Students understand the results of trade, exchange, and interdependence among individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies.
Benchmark E3 A: Students understand that the exchange of goods and services creates economic interdependence and change.

Sample Lessons

District 11 Diamond Units/Lessons Overview - includes information about the purpose, goals and structure of these sample instructional units:

Unit Final Assessment: Responding to a prompt based on one of the three essential questions and scored using the 3rd Grade Writing Rubric.

Lesson 1: Our City Government
 Duration: @ 1 class period
 

Standard Civics 2:  Students know how to use structure and function of local, state, and national government, and how citizen involvement shapes public policy.

District Indicator: Benchmark A:  Students know the organization and functions of local, state, and national governments.
Enduring Understanding: Individuals and groups make, enforce, and apply rules and laws (government).
Essential Questions:

  • How do people get and use power?
  • Who works at city hall? How are they elected/appointed?
  • What are the rights, roles and responsibilities of citizens in Colorado Springs?
     

Assessment: Review the Vocabulary Matching worksheet that prints with the Cornell Notes document.

Activities:

  • View the Video Introduction that describes the need for rules and order at home, at school, and in your local community. At the end of the video, discuss how each of us are citizens.
  • Read and discuss the section on Our Government, pp.46 - 49 in Discovering Colorado and the Pikes Peak Region.
  • Students should complete Our Government: Cornell Notes while reading the text. See the completed sample that prints with the notes.

Resources:
Class copies of Our Government: Cornell Notes and Vocabulary Matching

Differentiation:
Extension: 
Support: Teachers may decide to conduct a shared or paired reading of the materials in this lesson to accommodate students unable to read the information on their own.

Lesson 2: What Do City Officials Do?
Duration: @ 1 class period
     

Standard Civics 2:  Students know how to use structure and function of local, state, and national government, and how citizen involvement shapes public policy.

District Indicator: Benchmark A:  Students know the organization and functions of local, state, and national governments.
Enduring Understanding: Individuals and groups make, enforce, and apply rules and laws (government).
Essential Questions:

  • How do people get and use power?
  • Who works at city hall? How are they elected or appointed?
  • What are the rights, roles and responsibilities of citizens in Colorado Springs?
     

Assessment: Discuss the most important reasons for choosing a person to fill an important city position.

Introduction: As your group reads about the following five city officials, listen for the one that is most interesting to you. You will read your campaign speech composition to the class and listen while others read their campaign speeches. After all speeches have been read, you will use a voting ballot to write in the name of the student you choose for each city official position. Your teacher will tally the results and announce the winners of each city official position. Your teacher will send in the speeches of the winners for each position to the district. One Mayor, one Fire Chief, one Chief of Police, one City Attorney, and one City Clerk will be chosen from the district to star in a video interviewing the actual Colorado Springs City Official. The video will be created in June 2008, shown on Channels 16 and 18, and posted here on this webpage for future third graders to see when they complete this unit.

Activities:

  • Organize the class into five groups representing the top five city jobs: Mayor, Chief of Police, Fire Chief, City Clerk, City Attorney
  • Print  6 copies of the Top Five City Jobs. Each job is listed in the table below. Each group or table will receive 6 printed copies of the same information about one of the top five city jobs. Students will rotate from table to table reading and discussing the job of that specific city official. Advise students to listen for the things that sound interesting to them in each city official's job description.
Table 1
Mayor of the City
Job Description 		Table 2
 Chief of Police
Job Description 		Table 3
Fire Chief
Job Description 		 Table 4
City Clerk
Job Description 		Table 5
 City Attorney
Job Description
  • Each group will spend 1 - 3 minutes reading the provided information about the city official. Each group member will receive a copy of the same job description.
  • After each group seems to have completed reading and discussing, each group should leave their papers behind and move to the next table and read about the next city official. Groups will continue moving to tables and reading until they have read about all five city officials' jobs. When all groups have read about each of the five city officials, students will choose the one that is the most interesting to them.
  • Show the City Kidders Video which includes an interview with Colorado Springs Councilwoman, Jan Martin.
  • Explain that the class is going hold an election to choose a class Mayor, Chief of Police, Fire Chief, City Clerk, and City Attorney. Each student must decide which position he/she would like to run for based on what interests him/her. Each student will write his/her first, second, and third choice on a piece of paper including his or her name, will fold it, and will turn it in to the teacher. The teacher should shuffle the papers and draw them one at a time. The first five papers to list Mayor as first choice should be the candidates for Mayor. Continue with each of the other positions giving students the closest to their first choice until all positions are filled with candidates. Help students understand that everyone can't be Mayor, and there are excellent reasons why.

    Discuss the following questions:

    • What if everyone ran for Mayor and voted for themselves? Would anyone get enough votes to win?
    • Is one job more important than another? Why or why not?
    • Who elects each of the city officials?
    • Why do you think these city officials need to be elected and voted into office? If someone is going to be in charge of your safety, fire prevention, and deciding who goes to jail, why is it important for all citizens to be able to choose that person by voting for them?
    • Is an election the fairest way to choose city leaders? Is there a better way? How can elections be used to solve problems when several people want the same job? If someone wants to be the leader of your neighborhood or street, why can't they just start telling everyone what to do?
    • What makes a good leader?  
    • How do people get and use power in Colorado Springs?
  • Now that each student knows which city official he/she is running for, they should discuss it with three adults in the family or neighborhood. Students can ask adults what problems they think should be solved by that city official. Students will gather information from the interviews using the City Official Citizen Interview Form.
  • Complete the City Official Citizen Interview Form for homework. Instruct students to bring it back tomorrow so they can begin writing their campaign speeches.

Resources:

Differentiation:
Extension: 
Support: Students that may need help reading the articles can use a computer and click on each box in the colored table above. the text will be read to the student. Students unable to interview adults at home could complete the City Official Citizen Interview Form with adults at school.

Lesson 3: Writing My Campaign Speech
 Duration: @ 1 class period
     

Standard Civics 2:  Students know how to use structure and function of local, state, and national government, and how citizen involvement shapes public policy.
 Writing: Writes for a Variety of Purposes   3rd Grade Writing Rubric
Write in a variety of modes such as personal narrative, friendly letters, and expository pieces.
 Write summaries demonstrating understanding of main idea and supporting details.
 When given a prompt, use the writing process from prewriting through final editing.
 Write short constructed responses.
 

District Indicator: Benchmark A:  Students know the organization and functions of local, state, and national governments.
Enduring Understanding: Individuals and groups make, enforce, and apply rules and laws (government).
Essential Questions:

  • How do people get and use power?
  • Who works at city hall?  How are they elected/appointed?
  • What are the rights, roles and responsibilities of citizens in Colorado Springs?
     

Assessment: Student composition about a city official and what he or she would do in that position scored using the 3rd Grade Writing Rubric.

Activities: Short Constructed Responses to Two Prompts

  1. Write about the first writing prompt: Tell what your city official does in his or her job. Use at least three details.
  2. Write about the second prompt: Tell what you would do to make our city better if you were that city official. You may include the suggestions from the adults you interviewed.

Resources:

Differentiation:
Extension: Students can add additional information by answering a third prompt: Explain why people should vote for you. Write about things that you have done that make you proud and show that you know how to provide a service to others. It can be as simple as taking care of a younger brother or sister, or helping out at home with chores. 
Support: Students with difficulty answering the writing prompts can dictate their response to an adult or another student to write for them during a writing conference.

Lesson 4: Editing and Sharing My Campaign Speech
 Duration: @ 1 class period
 

Standard Civics 2:  Students know how to use structure and function of local, state, and national government, and how citizen involvement shapes public policy.

Writing: Writes for a Variety of Purposes   3rd Grade Writing Rubric
Write in a variety of modes such as personal narrative, friendly letters, and expository pieces.
 Write summaries demonstrating understanding of main idea and supporting details.
 When given a prompt, use the writing process from prewriting through final editing.
 Summarize a variety of texts. (poetry, fiction, non-fiction)
 Write short constructed responses.

District Indicator: Benchmark A:  Students know the organization and functions of local, state, and national governments.
Enduring Understanding: Individuals and groups make, enforce, and apply rules and laws (government).
Essential Questions:

  • How do people get and use power?
  • Who works at city hall? How are they elected/appointed?
  • What are the rights, roles and responsibilities of citizens in Colorado Springs?

Final Unit Assessment: Student composition about a city official and what he or she would do in that position scored using the 3rd Grade Writing Rubric.

Activities:

  • Students will use the 3rd Grade Writing Rubric and the Writing Checklist to edit their campaign speeches so they will be ready to read to the class.
  • Have students read the two paragraphs of their speeches to the class and have them listen while others read their campaign speeches. Students will read about their chosen official's job and what they would do as their chosen government official.
  • Tomorrow, after every speech has been heard, each student will vote for city official of Mayor, Fire Chief, Chief of Police, City Attorney, and City Clerk.

Resources:

Differentiation:
Extension: 
Support:

Lesson 5: Sharing My Campaign Speech and Voting
Duration: @ 1 class period
 

Standard Civics 2:  Students know how to use structure and function of local, state, and national government, and how citizen involvement shapes public policy.

Writing: Writes for a Variety of Purposes  3rd Grade Writing Rubric
Write in a variety of modes such as personal narrative, friendly letters, and expository pieces.
 Write summaries demonstrating understanding of main idea and supporting details.
 When given a prompt, use the writing process from prewriting through final editing.
 Write short constructed responses.
 Fluency

Adjust reading pace to accommodate purpose and difficulty of text.
Read grade-level material attending to phrasing, intonation, and punctuation.

District Indicator: Benchmark A:  Students know the organization and functions of local, state, and national governments.
Enduring Understanding: Individuals and groups make, enforce, and apply rules and laws (government).
Essential Questions:

  • How do people get and use power?
  • Who works at city hall? How are they elected or appointed?
  • What are the rights, roles and responsibilities of citizens in Colorado Springs?

Final Unit Assessment: Student composition about a city official and what he or she would do in that position scored using the 3rd Grade Writing Rubric.

Activities:

  • Students read their speeches to the class and listen while others read their campaign speeches.
  • After all speeches have been read, students may use the Voting Ballot for City Official Positions to circle the name of the student they choose for each city official position.
  • Teachers will tally the results and announce the winners of each city official position. Teachers will send in the speeches of the winners for each position to the CSSD11 Office of Curriculum and Instruction. One Mayor, one Fire Chief, one Chief of Police, one City Attorney, and one City Clerk will be chosen to star in a video interviewing the actual Colorado Springs City Official. The video will be created and shown on Channels 16 and 18, and posted here on this webpage for future third graders to see when they complete this unit.

Resources:
Print copies of the completed Voting Ballot for City Official Positions including class names. The teacher can write in the names and print for students to circle, or show a list of names on the video projector for each student to choose from. Teachers may choose to use this template as a voting ballot. Teachers will need to write or type in the names of the candidates in each city official category before making copies of the ballots for students to use in voting.

Differentiation:
Extension: Students may want to record their speech as an audio or video file and e-mail it to the teacher. Excellent examples can be e-mailed to the Social Studies Coordinator and could, with parent permission, be posted to this site as an exemplary sample. 
Support: 

Parent Resources

If you have not yet taken your child to any of the government buildings in Colorado Springs, this is a perfect time to do so. Your child will see many of the offices of people who work in our city's government. You may even be able to talk to several of these people about the services provided by the city. Talking with your child about the rights, roles and responsibilities of citizens and future citizens would also be a good learning experience.

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