Warm-up (3L)

What does it mean to be an American?

Justify your answer.

What is Civics?

Government
For there to be citizens, there has to be a
government
Without government life would be solitary,
poor, nasty, brutish, and short
Thomas Hobbes
Do you agree? Why/why not? (3L)

So what is government?
A ruling authority for a community
Any organization that has the power to
make and enforce laws and decisions for
its members

What does government do?

4 Functions
Keep order
Settle conflicts
Protect the community
Provide services that individuals cant provide
independently
With a partner, think of one example of each of the 4
functions.

Guide the community

Plan for the future by setting policies
Makes the budget
Interacts with the community

Civics
The study of the rights and duties of
citizens
Concept of citizenship dates back more
than 2500 years
Whos considered a citizen?

Citizens
Community members who owe
loyalty to the government and
are entitled to protection from it
Citizens agree to do 2 things:
Agree to follow a set of rules
Accept governments authority
-What makes a good citizen?
-What are some characteristic of
a bad citizen?

Citizens
Typically citizens of a country have shared
values--broad ideas about what is good or
desirable:
What are some American values?
America also has common institutions--sets
of ideas that people have about
relationships, obligations, roles, and
functions
American institutions: family, religious
places, clubs and volunteer organizations

Citizen role play

You will partner up and receive a short
role play you will act out in front of the
class. You will have no more than 3
minutes to prepare!
Please remember to be a respectful
audience!
After each skit take a second to jot down
the characteristics of the citizen portrayed
in the scene.

Discussion
Looking back at your warm-up and our
chart, what do you believe to be the most
positive quality a citizen can have? What
is the most damaging or negative quality?
What determines if a person becomes an
ideal or bad citizen?
Do you think it is important to become an
ideal citizen? Why or why not?