Page 340 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

312 Appendix A
Begin by reviewing responses to the home assignment. Diversity within the classroom will be revealed through the range of family responses. The responses will contribute to students’ expanded understanding of the big ideas. Then introduce the new lesson with a role play or skit depicting a family member paying taxes to the government (See Chapter 7).
After the debriefing of the role play, use a graphic to show where the money goes. Create a data retrieval chart to organize the information gleaned about taxes and services.
Use the following as an interactive narrative/class dis- cussion focusing on the big ideas.
Suggested Lesson Discussion
Every community provides certain kinds of services. Think about some of the services you and your family depend on every day. You need good streets to walk or ride on to school. You need police officers and fire- fighters to protect you and help you in times of emer- gency. You need teachers to help you learn in school. You need the garbage collector to pick up your trash so that your community will be clean. You may get your water from a water company run by your community. Your community has traffic lights and traffic signs to help people travel safely. These are all services provided by the community.
Different communities have different needs, so the services they provide might be different too. Location may make a difference in the services that a com- munity provides. For example, clearing the streets after a snowstorm is an important service in northern communities, but snow removal is not needed in Orlando, Florida. The size of the community also makes a difference. Large communities need more services than small communities. For example, most communities don’t have a subway system like New York or Chicago because they don’t have enough people to support it. Instead, most people drive to work. Some services are common to all communities (e.g., teachers, police officers, firefighters). Larger communities need more workers to provide more services.
Communities need money to provide the services that people need and pay the workers who provide them. Schools need money to pay for teachers, building repairs, heating, electricity, buses, and drivers. Firefighters and police officers need to be paid and their vehicles need to be maintained. Parks have to be taken care of and roads need to be
maintained. Everyone in the community helps pay for them.
Every level of government in the United States provides some services. The state government handles matters that affect all of the people who live in the state, and the federal government han- dles matters that affect all of the people who live in the United States. To pay for these services, people pay taxes. We all pay because we all are helped by these services.
CHAPTER 9: HOW CAN I ASSESS STUDENT LEARNING?
Ask each student to complete an open-ended statement and illustrate it with a picture. For example:
It is important that our families pay taxes to our gov- ernment because
If upper-grade students are available, they could assist in this writing assignment as buddies. Com- pile the responses into a class booklet and title it “Why Our Families Pay Taxes to the Government.” Duplicate. Have each student take a copy home to share with family members.
CHAPTER 10: WHAT ARE SOME OTHER STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES?
Role play can be a very useful strategy for introducing a new lesson because it is engaging and because if the teacher orchestrates it carefully, it can set the stage for the big ideas that will be introduced and developed.
The scene is, Mom, Dad, or another adult family member at the table paying bills including checks to local, state, and federal government for taxes. The indi- vidual paying the taxes is grumbling a bit and a child observing this activity asks such questions as: “Who gets the money? Why do you have to pay the money? How is the money used? Why can’t the family simply keep the money?” You as the teacher provide a brief overview of the lesson by introducing the big ideas as they respond to the questions posed by the child.
After the class debriefing, use a graphic to show where the money goes and to underscore that tax money pays for the services that families cannot afford individually. Also, different communities have different needs, so the services that they provide may be different too.
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