Create Your Own Government Activity



Create Your Own Utopian Community Project

Ms. Schivley’s 6th Grade Class

In The Giver, we read about a utopian community and in Social Studies we learned about the formation of the U.S. constitution.

In this is assignment you will be working in an assigned group to create your own community and its constitution.

There are three parts to this project but first you will choose a type of government for your community and write a constitution. You will then create a visual presentation on your community’s government and culture to present to the class. Finally, you will write a paper comparing your community to the community in The Giver and your constitution to the U.S. Constitution.

Benjamin Franklin believed that the people can rule themselves, in your community how are the people governed?

Government Types to Choose From:

Oligarchy

Absolute Monarchy

Totalitarian (a type of dictatorship)

Direct Democracy

Representative Democracy

Dictatorship

Theocracy

Constitutional Monarchy

Part 1: Create a constitution for your community

1) Complete the Utopian community brainstorm sheet to write down all your ideas for the perfect community. Include at least 3 sentences for each aspect of the community. (10 points)

2) In your assigned groups, hold a constitutional convention. Decide how you will write your constitution. (5 points)

Answer the following questions:

-What roles will each group member hold?

-How will your group make comprises?

-What or who will make the final decisions about the constitution?

-How will you record the discussion and decisions made in the

convention?

*Remember what we learned from the US Constitutional Convention! Refer to your textbook for ideas, if needed.

3) Write your communities agreed upon constitution. The constitution must include answers to the following questions: (30 points)

Article I: What type of government your community has?

a. The definition of your government type

b. How do leaders become leaders?

c. Who makes the decisions in the government?

d. Who holds power in this form of government?

e. How are the people’s views taken into account?

f. How does the government raise money?

g. 1 more characteristics or facts about your government.

Article II: What is the role of religion in your community?

a. How do you regard religion in your community?

b. Is there more than one religion? If so, why or why not?

c. How do people express their religious views?

Article III. What is the role of money or exchange of goods in your community?

a. Does your community use money? Why or why not?

b. How does your community exchange goods or services?

c. Does your community’s government collect money or goods? Why or why not? How?

d. What services or goods are provided to your community from the government, if any?

Article IV. What is the social hierarchy and traditions of your community?

a. What place and purpose do social classes have in your community?

b. Are there any rituals or traditions that are required or observed?

Article V. What is the role of education in your community?

a. Are children required to attend school? Why or why not?

b. What content is considered important knowledge to be passed on?

c. How are people educated in your community?

Article VI. What is the importance of military and law enforcement in your community?

a. Does your community have a military? Why or why not?

b. How are laws (the constitution) enforced?

Article VII. Extra credit: Choose one other topic from your brainstorm sheet to include in your constitution.

Part 2: Presentations

You will be presenting your community’s project to the class. Make sure that everyone in the group takes part in the presentation. The class will be filling out a worksheet based on your presentation so be sure that you present all the information.

In your presentation you will create a visually display to demonstrate the ideas you have conveyed in your constitution. You must include the following:

*Create a 3-d model, PowerPoint, video, or tri-fold poster, or other creative visual. (25 points)

• Name of your community

• Population of your community

• The community’s flag or symbol

• Your community’s motto or song

• 3 key ideas that make your community unique

• Cite at least 3 sources of inspiration (ie. The U.S. Constitution, a movie,

The Giver, etc) and explain why or how it inspired your constitution.

• A short summary of each of the articles of your constitution

• A visual representation for each article in your constitution

Examples:

- In a 3-d model each building can represent an article and have a sign explaining it.

- In a powerpoint each article can be represented by a large with photos, animation, and a description

- In a video, you can act out and demonstrate each article using your group members.

Create Your Own Government Grading

Name _____________________________ Government type ___________________ Period _________

Group Members _______________________________________________________________________

18 points for project

|Country name |0-No name |1-Name | |

|Flag |0-No flag and/or description |1- Average flag and description |2- Creative flag and description |

|Type of government |0- Not on |1 – On brochure | |

|Definition |0 – No definition or incorrect |1 – Correct definition | |

|How do leaders become leaders? |0 – Not listed or incorrect |1 – Correctly listed | |

|Who makes the decisions in the |0 – Not listed or incorrect |1 – Correctly listed | |

|government? | | | |

|Who holds power in this form of |0 – Not listed or incorrect |1 – Correctly listed | |

|government? | | | |

|How are the people’s views taken into |0 – Not listed or incorrect |1 – Correctly listed | |

|account? | | | |

|How does the government raise money? |0 – Not listed or incorrect |1 – Correctly listed | |

|1st additional characteristic |0 – Not listed or incorrect |1 – Correctly listed | |

|2nd additional characteristic |0 – Not listed or incorrect |1 – Correctly listed | |

|What is one benefit of your country’s |0 – None or incorrect |1 - Correct | |

|government? | | | |

|What is one drawback of your county’s |0 – None or incorrect |1 - Correct | |

|government? | | | |

|Name a country in the world that has |0 – None or incorrect |1 - Correct | |

|your type of government. | | | |

|Overall (creative, organized, neat, |0 |1-2 |3 |

|and polished) | | | |

6 points for presentation

|All participated |0 |1 |2 |

|Volume |0 |1 |2 |

|Confidently presented all information |0 |1 |2 |

6 points Misc.

|On task during class time |0 – Off task many times |1 – off task some time |2 – Not off task |

|Worksheet |0 – Not completed |2 – Partially completed |4 – Completed Correctly |

Total brochure _______ + total presentation ______ + total misc. _____________ =

___________/30 Overall Grade

Team/ Peer Assessment

List of team members:

What jobs did each team member complete?

Based on the rubric what grade should the team as a whole get?

Comments:

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Research

Opportunity!

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