Tree of Good Citizenship

The beginning of the year seems like the perfect time to talk about being citizens of our school, community and nation. It is the perfect time to discuss the rights and responsibilities we have as good citizens, and to talk about what a good citizen does.

I've read aloud several books including:
Being a good citizen. By Mary Small; illustrated by Stacey Previn.
We live here too! : kids talk about good citizenship. Written by Nancy Loewen; illustrated by Omarr Wesley.
Miss Rumphius. By Barbara Cooney.
Clara Barton: a photo illustrated biography. By Kathleen Deady.

We have made a chart that lists ideas of what good citizens do. They help others. They clean up the school/neighborhood. They make the world more beautiful. They vote. They learn about history. They do their best. And so on.

I've also found these two resources on the internet that I thought were valuable:



We've also created a tree of good citizenship. Any time I see someone being a good citizen, I either write it on a leaf or tell the child to write it on a leaf. I have encouraged them to notice when their friends, family members, and our school community does something that makes them a good citizen. We write each thing on a leaf. Then these leaves get added to our tree of good citizenship. Here are photos of our tree of good citizenship on the fourth day of school. It is already much fuller. I will take photos again in about a week to show what good citizens we are. I think it helps them understand what citizenship means (part of our second grade state core curriculum) and helps to build a positive classroom environment when they see that they are all such good citizens.