Unit 08: How do rules and laws affect me? Section 2: Who makes the rules?
Objectives
Children should learn:
about the importance of rules
about democracy and how they can take part in decision-making
to take turns in discussions
to vary their spoken contributions to suit the activity and its purpose
Activities
Outcomes
Children:
Working in pairs, the children list three rules that they have to follow: in the classroom, in school, at home. For each rule, they talk about and write down their answers to the following questions:
Why do we need the rule?
Is the rule fair?
Who makes the rule?
What happens when the rule is broken?
Would we like to change the rule?
Each pair feeds back to the class about one of their chosen rules.
As a class, the children reflect on how rules are made for the classroom, playground or school, eg ground rules for discussion, rules for use of the classroom, rules for use of play equipment. Drawing on their work in the previous activity, ask them to suggest any rule that they think could be improved or to propose a new rule and discuss how this would affect individuals and the class or school. Record suggestions on the board. Refer to the role of the class council or school council and how they are involved in decision-making. Ask the children to vote (using a secret ballot) for the rule that they think should be taken to the school council for consideration. Explain that this is an example of democracy, where each person's view is important and can make a difference.
The children look up 'democracy' in a dictionary and write down in their own words what it means. As a class, discuss and agree a definition. Using local newspapers, ask the children to find examples of democracy, eg in decision-making.
contribute to discussions in order to develop their ideas
describe how rules can be changed in class or school
describe democracy in simple terms
know that voting is an important means of contributing to group decision-making
Points to note
Information about pupil councils (class, year and school) is available from School Councils UK.
This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of
activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by
moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
