3rd%Grade%LeadershipandGovernment %Inquiry% Does%It …

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3rd Grade Leadership and Government Inquiry

Does It Matter How Leaders Are Chosen?

Public domain. Pete Souza, photograph of President Barack Obama, January 2009.

Supporting Questions 1. Who is in charge of the government? 2. How are leaders of governments chosen? 3. What can happen when leaders make decisions that people do not like?

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3rd Grade Leadership and Government Inquiry

Does It Matter How Leaders Are Chosen?

New York State Social Studies Framework Key Idea & Practices

3.7: Governments in communities around the world have the authority to make and the power to enforce laws. The role of the citizen within these communities or countries varies across different types of governments.

Gathering, Using, and Interpreting Evidence

Comparison and Contextualization

Economics and Economic Systems

Civic Participation

Staging the Question Discuss whether leaders are necessary.

Supporting Question 1

Supporting Question 2

Supporting Question 3

Understand

Understand

Assess

Who is in charge of the government?

How are leaders of governments chosen?

What can happen when leaders make decisions that people do not like?

Formative

Formative

Formative

Performance Task

Performance Task

Performance Task

Create cards for each form of government and sort the cards into categories according to who holds the power.

Complete a chart for three countries,

Discuss the advantages and

naming the type of government, the

disadvantages of different kinds of

head of state (name and title), and how government leadership.

the leader is chosen.

Featured Sources

Featured Source

Featured Sources

Source A: "Who Rules?" Source B: "Democracy?" and "Democracy vs. Autocracy"

Source A: Government profiles:

Source A: "Thailand's Army Arrests

Descriptions of how leaders are chosen Students for Using Salute from `Hunger

and images of heads of state of

Games'"

selected countries

Source B: "Thousands Protest in Hong

Kong on Monday for Free Elections"

Summative Performance Task

ARGUMENT Does it matter how leaders are chosen? Construct an argument (e.g., detailed outline, poster, essay) that addresses the compelling question using specific claims and relevant evidence from contemporary sources while acknowledging competing views.

Taking Informed Action

ACT Create a public service announcement about the role of voting to share with the rest of the school before the next school election.

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Overview

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Inquiry Description

This inquiry is an exploration into governments around the world; it examines how the fundamental principles of governments vary in different world communities with diverse political systems. In uncovering the idea that the role of citizens varies in governments around the world, students develop an argument supported by evidence that answers the compelling question "Does it matter how leaders are chosen?"

In addition to the Key Idea expressed earlier, this inquiry reflects the following Conceptual Understandings:

? (3.7a) The US government is based on democratic principles. The fundamental principles of other governments may be similar to or different from those of the US government.

? (3.7b) The process of selecting leaders, solving problems, and making decisions differs across governments in nations and communities around the world.

? (3.7d) The definition of citizenship and the role of the citizen vary across different types of political systems, and citizens play a greater role in the political process in some countries than in others.

This inquiry embeds the Taking Informed Action sequence throughout. The understand element is developed through Supporting Questions 1 and 2, while the assess element is represented in Supporting Question 3. The action piece, the development of a public service announcement on the role of voting, can be done in addition to or as a substitute for the Summative Performance Task.

NOTE: This inquiry is expected to take three to five 30--minute class periods. The inquiry time frame might expand if teachers think their students need additional instructional experiences (i.e., supporting questions, formative performance tasks, and featured sources). Teachers are encouraged to adapt the inquiriesto meet the requirements and interests of their particular students. Resources can also be modified as necessary to meet individualized education programs (IEPs) or Section 504 Plans for students with disabilities.

Structure of the Inquiry

In addressing the compelling question "Does it matter how leaders are chosen?" students work through a series of supporting questions, formative performance tasks, and featured sources in order to construct an argument supported by evidence and counterevidence from a variety of sources.

Staging the Compelling Question

This inquiry opens with the compelling question "Does it matter how leaders are chosen?" To engage students in considering the compelling question, teachers and students can discuss the idea of whether leaders are necessary. In doing so, students should develop an understanding of the concept of leadership and of the relationship between leaders and followers.

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Supporting Question 1

The first supporting question--"Who is in charge of the government?"--plays upon students' understandings of authority figures and the institution of government. This question grounds the inquiry by establishing the idea that, although they may have different titles (e.g., president, king), every country has people in charge of leading the government. The featured sources--two secondary texts describing various forms of government and who is in charge in each--demonstrate how governments around the world differ in terms of who holds authority. In the formative performance task, students use the featured sources to create cards naming each form of government (i.e., autocracy, monarchy, dictatorship, democracy, oligarchy, theocracy, anarchy). They then sort the cards into categories according to who holds the power in that type of government--one person, a few people, or all people-- and explain their choices to a partner.

Supporting Question 2

The second supporting question--"How are leaders of governments chosen?"--examines the process of selecting national leaders, illustrating how this process and other decision--making processes differ across governments around the world. The formative performance task is to complete a chart for three countries, naming the type of government and the head of state (name and title) and describing how the leader is chosen. The featured sources-- descriptions of how leaders are chosen accompanied by an image bank of heads of state in selected countries-- should help students complete the task.

NOTE: Teachers may need to attend to the vocabulary needs of students in navigating the government descriptions and to the possibility that the heads of state in the source may change.

Supporting Question 3

The third supporting question--"What happens when leaders make decisions that people don't like?"-- investigates how the role of citizens varies in countries around the world and asks students to examine how citizens respond to unpopular actions taken by their governments. The featured sources--two articles reporting on unrest in two countries--illustrate the fact that citizens face similar and different challenges around the world. In the formative performance task, students cite the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of government and participate in a structured discussion.

Summative Performance Task

At this point in the inquiry, students have explored various forms of government, identified examples of each form, and described how the leaders are selected. Additionally, they have investigated the implications of disagreeing

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with one's government. Students should be able to demonstrate the breadth of their understanding and their ability to use evidence from multiple sources to construct an evidence--based argument responding to the compelling question "Does it matter how leaders are chosen?"

Student arguments will likely vary, but could include any of the following: ? It matters how leaders are chosen because if there were no elections, people would have no say in their government. ? It matters how leaders are chosen because governments should represent what the people want. ? It does not matter how leaders are chosen because even when leaders are elected, people may still not like the government. ? It does not matter how leaders are chosen because even if people get to vote, there may not be good choices.

Students have the opportunity to Take Informed Action by creating a public service announcement about the role of voting to share with the rest of the school before the next school elections.

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Supporting Question 1

Featured Source

Source A: iCivics, article about different heads of government, "Who Rules?", 2011

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? 2011 iCivics, Inc. teachers.

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Supporting Question 1

Featured Source

Source B: Congress for Kids, descriptions of two types of governmental, "Democracy" and "Democracy v. Autocracy," 2015

Democracy

The United States has had the same type of government for more than 200 years. It's called a "representative democracy." Among the nations of the world, it is unusual for a system of government to last so long. Most governments are based on a written set of principles, sometimes called a "constitution" or a "charter." When citizens directly participate by voting, the government is called a "democracy."

Used with permission. Congress for Kids: .

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