Caring,Creative,Courageous Citizens = A Strong Democracy= Us, the UNITED STATES!

[PRIOR TO DISCUSSION:  Gather materials to have in class, such as the FIRST BIOGRAPHY series, and any books with pictures/simple text about the Americans being discussed.  Add other citiens that have made significant contributions as you see fit, especially if books and video clips present themselves!]

BIOGRAPHIES THAT ARE EXCELLENT :

Benjamin Franklin               Thomas Jefferson               George Washington              Paul Revere     Frederick Douglass             Harriet Tubman                Abraham Lincoln      Harriet Beecher Stowe     Susan B. Anthony                Mary M. Bethune                   Dorothea Dix                 Elizabeth Cady Stanton  Lucretia Mott      George Washington Carver       Clara Barton              Franklin D. Roosevelt             Booker T. Washington  Johnny Appleseed                      Amelia Earhart            Martin Luther King, Jr.              Rosa Parks 

DISCUSSION POINTS WITH THE CLASS:

1.  Position a large map of the U.S. on a bulletin board/smart board, so that ALL STUDENTS can see well.  Discuss that STATES are LARGE pieces of land containing many cities.  find S.C. and your school's town/city [also note that size cdistinction]Proeed to discuss that there are now 50 states that make up the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. [You may need/want to point out the use of the continent -word America? but too many NEW TERMS may confuse]  Mention that at first there were not 50, only 13 states, and show whwere they were on the east coast, et.
2.  Show COLUMBIA, S.C. next.  It is a city where the laws are made for all the people in S.C. Citizens VOTE to choose people to go spend time in Columbia to talk, work together, and make laws for us in this state.  
3.  Much of this discussion about democracies, etc. can be saved for another lesson...but it's important for students to understand that sometimes PEOPLE who try to help others, either by inventing useful things, or helping change laws that seem unfair....ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVING A GREAT AND FAIR COUNTRY.
4. Draw a quick TIME LINE on your board/screen to GIVE STUDENTS A SENSE THAT SOME OF THESE PEOPLE lived over 200 years ago...and some lived closer to our lifetimes...but the DECISIONS they made helped shape what our country is like NOW.  Even doing something LONG AGO helped make our country better TODAY!. 
5.  We're going to learn about some of the people who made important changes in their towns long ago, and this helped our country become a more fair, comfortable, and also EXCITING place to live!

[AT THIS POINT, USE THE METHOD THAT BEST SUITS YOUR CLASS STRUCTURE TO LET STUDENTS EXPLORE BOOKS AND ANY OTHER MATERIALS TO LEARN ABOUT THESE SIGNIFICANT AMERICANS, and get students' CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING!]

6."CIRCLE UP" for class discussion: "Tell us one of your favorite citizens you read about, and how they helped the United States become a better country.Can you tell us 2 or 3 things about why you admire this person?"  [Sitting on floor in a circle, let each student show the book they liked, & take turns with this quick summary.]
7.  CHOOSE ONE AMERICAN after hearing/seeing all the choices.  On scrap paper, each student writes: 
*  the full name of the "choice" citizen
*3 facts about them, including something important they did that was helpful to someone.
*BELOW THE LIST OF 3 FACTS, draw a circle or oval , and sketch a picture of the person's face...include eyes, eyebrows, nose , mouth BUT ALSO hair, hat, or head scarf if that's what they've seen in the books.

[TEACHER, PLEASE DEMONSTRATE ALL 3 STEPS, including the SKETCHING, to help reassure them that it is just a "reminder" of how the person looked, and we're ALL beginning artists, even many adults! We're making these to LEARN & SHARE, not to put in an art gallery. Let's just enjoy it!]
8.  NOW FOR THE EXTRA FUN PART!!    We will use what we've learned and just written to create  Special "Medals" - AWARDS FOR U.S. Helpers  [If students are unfamiliar with "medals" as awards for sports or academic achievements, etc.,show them one you've brought from home or a picture of an Olympic medal, etc.]
-Turn your paper plate upside down, color the outside edges YELLOW, all the way around.
-with a black crayon, draw curly lines around the big white circle in the middle 
-With a pencil, copy the sketch you've already drawn of your U.S.HELPER person
-With crayons, color your U.S.HELPER and their hat, scarf, or any part of their shirt or dress that's showing.
-Lay out your RED,WHITE, & BLUE strips.   Write 1 fact about your famous person on each strip. You will write 3 DIFFERENT FACTS.
-Your teacher will staple the RED, WHITE, & BLUE facts to the edge of your "award" 
- With the sharpie, either you or the teacher will write U.S.HELPER on the top of the plate, & your famous person's NAME ON THE  BOTTOM  of the plate.
9. WOW!     Look at all the Helper Awards !     [If you want to make comments about other students' work only give compliments, telling something you LIKE about someone else's work.  

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USEFUL VOCABULARY  [for reference during  DISCUSSIONS]
 [These terms may not all be needed, but these "simplified" definitions may be useful during some of the discussions. The vocabulary words are NOT MEANT to be covered  all at once, but to be referred to as the class moves through various discussions.]

democracy - [from the Greek words DEMOS=people/KRATIA=making rules & laws]  - a government where the citizens vote to elect representatives [people who help make laws]...but whenever people vote, whoever gets the MAJORITY of all the votes gets to be the representative.  [MAJORITY= explain this by asking a choice-type question, such as ..."What flavor of ice cream does the majority of this class think is the BEST-tasting flavor?"   Then vote, & relate the results to an election, whether it be mayor, governor, president, etc.]

government - the group of people who have the authority to make  &  enforce laws in a city, state, or country.
citizen - a person who lives in a town/city, state, country, who was either born there
congress - a group of men and women who people choose [ by voting] to meet in Washington DC to work on making laws 
vote - a choice that is made to choose someone to help make laws in a community or government.   Each citizen gets 1 vote.
freedom - doing something because you want to, not because someone is forcing you to do it
responsibility - doing what needs to be done, because it is the RIGHT THING to do.
laws - rules of a country, which people are required to follow for the benefit of the group
president - a person in the position of most power, chosen  to be the LEADER of a country or a group by voting.
king/queen - a male/female ruler who is NOT chosen by people voting, but inherits the position for life, in some dases have ALL the ruling power.

Visuals are so important for all of us, but especially young ones. 
*  When talking about voting, elections, democracy etc., you show several bumperstickers from different local candidates,[but be careful about any negative facial expressions/comments about candidates if you utilize these....from students OR adults in the room.]
* If you have a MEDAL at home won for an achievement, the state fair,  etc....or maybe the school has some for special occasions, show it to them to help them understand what that type of award  a MEDAL is. 

Reinforcement of the material covered for this standard will occur during discussing, reading, researching, and bringing together 3 significant facts about a significant American to  construct their U.S.HELPER AWARD, [and seeing/hearing about other students' AWARD choices] , students will have had ample opportunity to be exposed to famous American citizen helpers.   MORE REINFORCEMENT OF THESE AMERICANS / FACTS ABOUT THEM would be to post the AWARDS on a bulletin board where all students may enjoy looking at the award "collection"  & reading them during the days to come.