Lesson 1: Why do we need rules and laws?
Living Democracy » Textbooks » Growing up in democracy » UNIT 5: Rules and law – The basis of living together » Lesson 1: Why do we need rules and laws?What kinds of rules are necessary for learning, living and playing together in school?
| Learning objectives | The students ref ect on their personal attitudes and beliefs regarding existing rules. They discuss the importance of having rules for living and working together. They develop an understanding of the necessity for rules. |
| Student tasks | The students participate in a simulation game and experience the function of rules. They list and share ideas about the necessity for rules. The students match the school rules to their rights and responsibilities in school. |
| Resources | Soft balls, flipchart, pencils, list of school rules. |
| Methods | Group work, plenary discussion, pair work. |
Lesson description
The class plays the game “guess my rules”. The teacher divides the class into two teams and explains to the students that they will play a game and must guess the rules.
Explanation:
- each team can score a goal by putting the ball through the space marked at their scoring end;
- only the teacher knows the rules;
- the teacher will not explain the rules and the students cannot ask what they are;
- when they break a rule, the students have to sit down;
- the aim of the game is for the students to score a goal without breaking the rules; the students’ task is to work out what the rules are so that they don’t break them.
The rules are:
- everyone can play the game;
- only boys can kick the balls;
- students whose given name starts with the letter “A” cannot run;
- no-one is allowed to move with the ball;
- violence is permitted.
For the f rst two minutes of the game, it is played using only the first two rules. Then the teacher includes the other rules and the whole game lasts for about five minutes.
Once the game has finished, the teacher gathers the students and discusses the following points with them:
- What did you think about the game? Was it good? Bad? Fair?
- How did you know that there were some rules?
- How did you feel about not knowing what the rules were?
The teacher engages the students in a brainstorming session and records their answers on the flipchart or blackboard. The key question is “Why do we need rules in school?” Depending on the answers given by the students, the teacher might write something on the flipchart or blackboard. The major criteria in terms of “equality”, “participation”, “fairness” and “respect” should be on the blackboard at the end of the session. The teacher keeps the results of the brainstorming session, which will be used in lesson 4.
There can only be rules in school if students also have rights and responsibilities. The students are given the task of listing their rights and responsibilities in school and then matching them to the school rules. The students work in pairs and write down their rights, responsibilities and rules on the handout. They display their handouts on the f ipchart or blackboard.
Once all the handouts have been displayed, all the students have a look at the display and can ask their classmates questions.
