Enhanced Scope and Sequence - Virginia Department of Education ...

Grade 3
Session 1: The Importance of Rules __________________________________________________
Materials
Index cards
Board or card games
Large drawing paper
Crayons or markers
Instructional Activities
1. Divide students into four or five groups. Give each group an unfamiliar game to play. However, do not give
the students any instructions on how to play the game. You can tell them that there are no rules. After about
10–15 minutes, stop the game and declare a person from each group a winner. Have each group share with the
class what happened and what problems they had. Ask what was fair and unfair about the games. Ask if it
would have helped to know the rules of the games before beginning.
2. Have students get into pairs and illustrate on a large piece of paper a scene of a classroom without rules. Have
students share their drawings. Ask students why there are rules in the classroom. List appropriate responses
on chart paper. Summarize by saying that rules protect people’s safety, people’s rights/property, and allow
fairness. Discuss certain rights students have in the classroom, such as the right to learn, the right to be
included in the group, and the right to ask and answer questions. Tell students that rules generally protect
people’s physical safety, rights, or property.
3. Write down classroom rules or procedures on index cards (one rule per card). Pass out index cards to various
students (one per student if you have enough). Have students categorize each rule/procedure under the
following headings:
Protects a person’s rights
Protects a person’s safety
Protects a person’s property
Have them explain why it belongs in that category and reasons why each rule/procedure should be followed.
4. Briefly discuss who makes the classroom/school rules. How are they kept and enforced? How do other
students learn to follow the rules? Do other students help to enforce the rules? How?
2010 History and Social Science Standards of Learning Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Virginia Department of Education 110