New York State Test Prep Social Studies 5 (Grade 4)Civics,Citizenship, and Government

SURVEY

How does a citizen stay informed? This would be an interesting topic for a research topic! Perhaps put the children into groups of 4 or 5 and they can decide the survey format. This would be a good time to review :

how to divide duties in a group situation
how to make good questions and anticipate possible answers
types of graphs and charts to organize data

LETTER WRITING

This is also a great time to write letters to Congressmen and Senators and to local officials. The children could research their representatives and their addresses, and then they could think of the questions they would like answered. A review of a friendly letter would be good here.

Most elected officials love to give tours and share their opinions with and describe their programs to students. Call you local mayor's office and arrange a field trip there, or perhaps he or she could come to the school for a question and answer period.

Also a school board member would probably talk to the kids about the board's activity. The children could ask questions such as: Why did you run for this position? How do you think you are effective? How do you keep informed?

Perhaps someone in your school has served on jury duty. The children would probably get many questions answered by inviting this person to speak to your class!

One of the best sites I found was the New York State juror site: http://www.nyjuror.com/handbooktext.html Many of the children's questions would be answered here. Perhaps this could be a whole group assignment with pairs of children researching the different topics below.

Petit Juror Handbook

Message of the Chief Judge
Introduction
Why must I serve on Jury Duty?
How are people chosen to be called for jury service?
How long does a juror serve?
Is it true that sometimes jurors are not allowed to go home until after the trial is over? Is this common?
Are jurors compensated? What about transportation costs?
What can I do if my employer, who employs more than ten people, refuses to pay for the first three days of my jury service?
What about the juror's job?
Is it possible to report for jury service but not sit on a jury?
What is the possibility that a juror will be called again for service in the near future?
Are the same people summoned every few years?
What can jurors do to make their service more enjoyable?
How are Jurors with Disabilities accommodated?
Who else will be in the courtroom?
Trial Courts of the State of New York
The steps of a jury trial
Juror rights and responsibilities
Glossary of terms

Another good site is Ben's Guide . In this the US Government provides a Kids' Page for Citizenship activities.

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