What is a Good Citizen?

Kindergarten, First Grade Social Studies, ESL,

by Natalie Chari September 10, 2015

Aid your students in becoming the best citizens they can be with this lesson that teaches students how to be,
and what makes, a good citizen.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to understand what makes a good citizen, why we have rules, and why we need to follow
authority.

Materials and Preparation Key Terms

Pens, markers, or color pencils

Paper
I'm a Good Citizen worksheets #1, #2, and #3

Attachments

PDF
I'm a Good Citizen #1
PDF
I'm a Good Citizen #2
PDF
I'm a Good Citizen #3

Introduction (10 minutes)

Ask students what they think it means to be a good citizen.

Ask them for examples on how to be a good citizen.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher Modeling (10 minutes)

Tell the students that a good citizen is a person who respects others and their property, is helpful,
considerate, and willing to put others first, respects the environment and does not damage it in anyway,
and is well mannered and pleasant.
Add any other characteristics of a good citizen that applies directly to your classroom or community.
Ask the students for their opinions on these characteristics.

Guided Practice/Interactive Modeling (30 minutes)

Divide the students into groups of 2-3. Ask them to think of a scenario and how a good citizen would
respond and how a bad citizen would respond. Example: You're at the grocery store and someone drops
their wallet. What do you do?
Have the groups present their short skits to the class.
After all the groups have presented, brainstorm on the board what makes a good citizen and what makes
a bad citizen.

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Independent Working Time (20 minutes)

Ask students to work on the I'm a Good Citizen worksheets individually.

Differentiation

Enrichment: For advanced students, let them write in their journals how they think a good citizen would
act instead of having them work on the worksheets.
Support: For struggling students, you can help them think of ideas for the skits or you can write down
scenarios on paper for them.

Assessment (5 minutes)

Ask students how a good citizen acts.

Ask students how a bad citizen acts.

Review and Closing (5 minutes)

Tell the students that good citizens are important in society.

Ask students to think of what they can do to be a good citizen.
Ask them what they plan to do to help their communities.

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/