Overview of Government/s: Lessons 1 and 2 (5 days) Lesson One: Why Government? (Day One) 1. Hand out the reading on the Purpose of Government (1 of 4). Have students read and answer questions 1 – 3. Go over the questions and then have students work on question #4. 2. After discussing answers to questions #4, tell students that there are different theories or ideas about how government should work. Hand out the first Why Government (2 of 4) worksheet. Tell students that you are going to ask them to draw something different in each of the nine boxes – they are to sketch something quickly in response to the directions you give them. 3. Read out loud the following: Draw what is described here for each box: Box 1: Draw a man thinking. He’s thinking about government. Box 2: Draw a picture of life without rules. How might people behave? Box 3: Draw a man having three ideas! Box 4: Draw someone doing something to survive. Box 5: Draw someone owning things. Box 6: Draw someone being free to live how they want (or a symbol of freedom). Box 7: Draw two people making an agreement with each other. Box 8: Draw someone giving something away Box 9: Draw a symbol of government. 4. Next have students cut out each of the cards on the second Why Government* (3 of 4) worksheet. Have them match the statement from each card with the picture that illustrates it; then have them attach the two. (They are creating “The Story of John Locke” in a comic strip).
Lesson One: Why Government? (Day Two) 1. Have students complete the third Why Government* (4 of 4) worksheet. (They will need their completed Story of John Locke comic strip to complete this worksheet). a. Using the bold words from their story, they will create a vocabulary list. b. Using the words from their list, they will come up with the definitions of natural rights, social contract, and state of nature. c. Using the words, they will make connections. d. Using the words, they will complete a Venn diagram. 2. To close the lesson, have students return to the Purpose of Government worksheet (from the previous lesson) and answer question #5. Discuss the student’s answers as a class. *You can print very clean copies of these worksheets; they are available as pdf @ http://static.icivics.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Why%20Government.pdf