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

Grade 3
Session 2: Our Rights and Responsibilities_____________________________________________
Materials
Chart paper, markers
Instructional Activities
1. Briefly review the session ―The Importance of Rules.‖
2. Discuss what rights the students have in the classroom. Make a list of rights for the classroom, and title it
―Our Bill of Rights.‖
3. Discuss how in our community, people have rights or freedoms, such as the right to choose jobs or the
freedom to attend a church. List a citizen’s rights on a T-chart.
Rights
Responsibilities
4. Explain that with these rights/freedoms come responsibilities. In other words, people need to respect other
people’s rights/freedoms in society just like in the classroom. People have the responsibilities of taking care
of themselves, respecting other people’s rights, and obeying the laws in the community just like in the
classroom. On the other side of the T-chart, write the corresponding responsibilities for each right/freedom.
5. Explain to students that outside of school in our community, rules are called laws. They are very similar to
rules, except that rules may vary from school to school or home to home, but United States citizens need to
abide by laws to avoid punishment. The laws protect our rights/freedoms that we have as U.S. citizens. For
example, discuss the law that says people may not take things that belong to other people (stealing). This law
protects our property. People have a responsibility as citizens to follow that law and respect other people’s
property—not steal it.
6. For homework, ask students to write down three laws that people must follow within their community.
2010 History and Social Science Standards of Learning Enhanced Scope and Sequence
Virginia Department of Education 111