Students will "interview" parents or family members at home to discover their views on citizenship.

Students should review the Bill of Rights and have a working knowledge of the document. Beginning with the "Citizenship Interview" below, students can interview an adult at home about civic responsibility. The group might make predictions about what the adults' responses will be or the students might answer the questions themselves as if they were adult citizens. For this grade cluster, particular emphasis can be placed on how adults put these rights and responsibilities into action in community organizations and by asking about situations where they feel their rights were protected (or not).

Once the responses are collected, graph the data as a class. Discuss which rights, responsibilities, and privileges are most important to the adults. Review the rules students have at home, why these are important to families and why following rules and laws is important. Talk about ways that adults work together in groups and share responsibility. How can students work together? Consider working on a cooperative class project.

Questions and topics: For this grade cluster, questions should focus on discovering the responsibilities, rights and privileges that adult Americans enjoy. They should also explore ways that adults work together in groups to accomplish goals.

• What is the most important right you have as an American citizen (pick one) as promised in the Bill of Rights?
• Freedom to practice your own religion
• Freedom of speech (including freedom of press and freedom of assembly)
• Right to privacy (no illegal searches or seizures)
• Right to fair and speedy trial and legal representation (lawyer)
• Right to bear arms (own a gun)
• On a scale from 1 to 10, how important is it to you to respect other people's opinions and property and to have them respect yours?
• On a scale from 1 to 10, how important to you is your responsibility to vote in elections?
• On a scale from 1 to 10, how important to you are the privileges you have as a citizen, such as driving?
• On a scale from 1 to 10, how important to you is following the laws and rules set by the government?
• What do you feel are 3 to 5 of the most important rules we have at home? Why is each of these important to our family?
• Name one group you participate in and its main purpose or goal (example: volunteer
  fire department, sports league, church group)? What is your job in this group? How do all of the members of the group work together and each take responsibility for what needs to be done?
• Tell me about a time when one of your basic rights was protected or a time when you feel they were not.

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