Lesson Plans on Important Responsibilities of Local Government to the Community for Third Grade
In the third grade, students are just beginning to learn about the role of government in society. As such, few students in the third grade understand the difference between local, state, and federal government. Lessons that teach third-graders the responsibilities of local government to the community can help give these young students a sense of how local government works. Such lesson plans may deal with county governments, municipal governments, school districts, or other local governing bodies.
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County Governments
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Counties are geographical regions within states that usually possess some local government power. Counties may be responsible for things like courts, hospitals, libraries, and jails. A lesson plan on county governments could involve discussing the functions of county governments, researching the key officials in the county where the school is located, or drawing cartoons that illustrate the functions of county government. In one lesson plan used by a North Carolina school, the teacher got students to engage in all three activities, after an initial overview lecture on the topic of county government.
Municipal Governments
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Municipalities are administrative regions that correspond roughly to cities and their suburbs. A municipal government is a chartered corporation with a specific mandate to execute responsibilities, such as police, urban planning, tourism, and parks. A lesson plan in municipal government responsibilities would introduce the key institutions (police, fire department, city hall), individuals (mayor, council, manager, comptroller), and discuss how these institutions carry out municipal responsibilities.
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School Districts and School Boards
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School boards and school districts are bodies that administer groups of schools in a particular area. Often, school district administration is responsible to a larger school board. School boards are responsible for setting school district policy, hiring school administrators, and setting teaching standards. A lesson plan on school administrative divisions would go over the various individuals in the school district (superintendent, chief executive, board members), and discuss their various responsibilities. A school district lesson plan could employ lectures, class discussions, case studies, and news clippings to illustrate the topic at hand.
Special Purpose Districts
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Special purpose districts are governmental bodies that perform specific function that conventional local government cannot handle. Special purpose districts are governed by a board of directors, and usually have a single, very specific mandate. Special purpose districts include Airport Districts, Hospital Districts, Waste Management Districts, and Urban Planning Districts. A lesson plan on the responsibilities of special districts should emphasize the fact that these districts have very specific purposes, and that several of them can exist in the same municipality. Such a lesson plan may include teaching tools, such as lectures, discussion, and case studies.
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References
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