With Election Day right around the corner and Veteran’s Day close behind, now is a great time for teaching citizenship rights and responsibilities. I created this unit to teach students all about what it means to be a United States citizen. It includes 9 days of engaging, informative lessons and resources. Students love the interactive activities while teachers love how easy it is to use.
Being a Good Citizen
The first day of the unit begins with students learning about citizenship. Students will complete a quick write about what is citizenship. Next, students will read and discuss the first page of the Citizenship tab book. Then, students will identify ways to be a good citizen and write about how they can be a good citizen.
Ways to Become a U.S. Citizen
On the second day of the unit, students will learn how to become a U.S. citizen. The lesson begins with an anticipation guide, asking students to agree or disagree with the statements about citizenship. Students will then read page 2 of the tab book. Next, students will complete a “Ways to become a Citizen” foldable. The lesson ends with students re-reading the anticipation guide.
Naturalization
Day 3 of the unit is all about the naturalization process. Students will read about it in the tab book. Next, they will complete a cloze reading passage and take a naturalization practice test on the computer. Afterwards, students will read the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance and write sentences using new vocabulary.
Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities
Days four and five of the unit are dedicated to learning about the rights and responsibilities of being a U.S. citizen. Students will read and discuss the text in the tab book. They will complete activities about the Bill of Rights. A rights and responsibilities cut-and-paste is a great way for students to differentiate between the two. Finally, students will write about the responsibility of being a citizen.
Immigration
Day six of the unit is all about immigration. This can be a difficult subject to talk about depending on the background of your students, so please use be aware before beginning this lesson. Make adjustments to the lesson as needed. Students will begin by reading about immigration and immigrants. They will then read about immigration stories of the past and present on the Scholastic website. There is also an immigration drawing prompt for students to summarize what they learned about immigrants with a picture.
Citizenship History
Day seven is all about the history of citizenship. Students will read a timeline and answer questions. Then, they will read about four important Constitutional Amendments and complete an amendment sort.
American Symbols
Day eight of the unit is all about American symbols of citizenship. Students will complete a gallery walk to learn about 6 of the most famous.
Citizenship Project
The last day of the unit is the perfect time to extend learning with a project. The project choice board has nine different citizenship project ideas. Allow students to choose which project they want to complete. A grading rubric is included.
This unit also works well when studying the Constitution or Constitution Day. Find more information about that here.
Happy teaching!
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