KINDERGARTEN CITIZENSHIP STUDIES Engaged Citizens
Part A: Curricular Connections and Background
BROAD AREA OF CITIZENSHIP
Engaged Citizens question, critically examine, advocate, and defend rights and responsibilities of a democracy on many levels. They try to understand the issues, overt and hidden within citizenship challenges and develop appropriate action plans to address those issues. Rules, regulations, and laws are the primary means by which society organizes and brings structure to itself. Students will consider the relationship between rights and responsibilities that bring order to society. As students examine the effects of rules and begin to appreciate the responsibilities of the governing body that developed those rules/structures, students will be conscious of the responsibility that citizens have to support and contribute to varying levels of governance. Students will work to understand the varying impacts that rules have on people. As students strive to understand that, they will also work to understand the underlying purpose behind the rule. Students will examine the various levels of government to understand the responsibilities of different governments and understand the decision making process. They will also examine the processes for raising questions and implementing change with a variety of governmental structures. As engaged citizens strive to understand issues from a variety of viewpoints, they will also begin to explore processes of dispute resolution and examine and practice actions that contribute to peace and order. Critical thinking exploration in this area of citizenship encourages students to try to understand a point of view that is different from their own.
OVERVIEW AND DESIRED RESULTS OF CITIZENSHIP STUDY
Students will begin to learn about their rights and their responsibilities that accompany those rights. They will examine the impact of rules and order on their lives. Specifically students will examine rules to determine their purpose and function. Students will come to appreciate that rules are meant to promote order so that people can live peacefully together. At the primary level students will begin to practice respect for themselves and learn to model respect for others and continue to advocate for the good of others. Students will use their learning to:
- Understand that rules are created for different purposes
- Identify behaviour that follows and does not follow rules
- Identify consequences of following and not following rules
- Understand that people can hold different points of view
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS OF CITIZENSHIP STUDY
Students will understand that:
- Actions, behaviours, and relationships are learned and affected by the past.
- Events and ideas from the past influence the present and can influence and serve as models of how to live as a contributing citizen.
- People develop rules so that we can live together peacefully.
- Rules have differing levels of impact so people who make rules need to consider the individual good and common good.
- Diversity can have a variety of impacts and can impact points of view.
- Individuals have the power to affect others and make a difference.
- Canada has a long relationship with First Nations Peoples through treaty relationships.
- Decisions have far-reaching effects, so it is important to think about the choices we make.
- Active participation leads to belonging and symbols can support belonging.
- People are connected to each other and to their environment and have a responsibility to take care of the world.
Inference – Rules that seem fair to one person or group may seem unfair to another (Point of view impacts the way rules are perceived)
- Enduring understandings are the big ideas that stimulate thinking, guide the inquiry and are linked to outcomes.
- Essential questions point to the “big ideas’ in the inquiry and should be considered and reconsidered as the inquiry progresses.
- Answers to these questions form the evidence of learning at the end of study.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Students will know:
- How rules are made.
- Why rules are made.
- How and who enforces rules.
- What “common good” mean.
- Simple process to solve disputes.
Students will develop the ability to:
- Categorize
- Make comparisons
- Identify consequences of rules or lack of rules
- Look for alternate points of view
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
- What makes a rule fair?
- Why are rules different from place to place? How do rules help people live peacefully together?
- How do rules change?
- What is a citizen?
Essential Questions are open-ended questions that are continually revisited, encompass concepts that students will explore throughout the unit of study, form the evidence of understanding and frame the assessment at the end of the study.
CURRICULUM OUTCOMES AND INDICATORS
Outcomes: (Sask. Curriculum)
DRK.1 – Overarching Outcome – use in all areas of Citizenship
Describe the spatial relationships among people, places, and environments.
Indicators:
- Demonstrate understanding of personal directions (e.g., left/right, up/down, front/back) and relative location (e.g., near/far, above/below).
- Recognize that some cultural groups describe earth and sky according to traditional spiritual beliefs (e.g., Mother Earth, Creator, Heaven, God, Odin, The Dagda, Tangaroa).
- Identify cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west) on a simple map, when in the classroom, and on the playground.
- Locate and name places in the school and playground, and illustrate their functions (e.g., water fountain, washroom, library, playground equipment).
- Describe characteristics of the local physical environment, including natural (e.g., plains, forests, lakes, rivers) and constructed elements (e.g., buildings, roads, farms).
- Explore the world beyond the immediate environment, through stories of personal travels, recollection of books and other narratives, and various map representations (including a map of the local community, the province, the nation, and a globe).
PAK.1
Understand and respect the agreed upon rules of the classroom, playground, and school, and recognize that rules and expectations are designed to promote a state of safety, self-regulation, peace, balance, and harmony.
Indicators:
- Name some rules in the home and the school and identify their purposes (e.g., school rules, safety rules, scheduling rules such as recess or lunch time).
- Differentiate between those rules and decisions made by students themselves, those made by individuals they know, and those made by someone else (e.g., students, teachers and schools make rules about how to be safe in the classroom, such as no running; the provincial government makes rules about how to be safe in a vehicle, such as speed limits and seatbelt requirements).
- Explain why rules are important.
- Identify individual roles and responsibilities within the classroom and school.
- Identify people who make rules that influence students’ lives, and discuss the types of decisions made by self and others.
- Recognize that appropriate behaviour differs depending upon the setting.
PAK.2
Recognize situations in which disagreement may be part of living, studying, and working together, and that resolution may be an avenue to progress to a state of peace, balance, and harmony.
Indicators:
- Identify situations in which disagreements may arise in the classroom, school, and playground.
- Suggest approaches to resolving disagreement in the classroom, school, and playground.
- Recognize that agreements promote harmony and balance.
- Represent a situation in which people with different points of view interact harmoniously together.
- Provide an example of when it might be acceptable to break a rule or a promise (e.g., when someone is injured, when someone is feeling scared or threatened).
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