Unit Plan 25 (Grade 4 Social Studies): Rights and Responsibilities
Students compare rights and responsibilities, explore how rules and due process support fairness and safety, and create a Class Bill of Rights & Responsibilities for responsible in-person and digital citizenship.
Focus: Compare individual rights with civic duties/responsibilities, and explore how rules, laws, and due process promote fairness, safety, and the common good. Students apply responsible citizenship concepts—respect, inclusion, and digital citizenship—as they design and adopt a class “Bill of Rights & Responsibilities” that will guide behavior in person and online.
Grade Level: 4
Subject Area: Social Studies (Civics)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students dig into what it means to have rights—like the right to learn, to feel safe, and to share ideas—and what it means to have responsibilities that come with those rights. They examine classroom and school rules as examples of how rules and procedures are meant to support fairness, safety, and the common good. Through scenario discussions and role-plays, students practice making decisions that balance individual choices with community needs, including in digital spaces. The unit culminates in a student-created Class Bill of Rights & Responsibilities.
Essential Questions
- What is a right, and what is a responsibility? How are they connected?
- How do rules and laws help promote fairness, safety, and the common good in our school and community?
- Why do our rights need limits and due process so that everyone is treated fairly?
- What does responsible citizenship look like in the classroom, hallway, playground, and online?
- How can a class Bill of Rights & Responsibilities help us live out respect, inclusion, and digital citizenship every day?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Define and give examples of individual rights (e.g., to learn, to be safe, to share opinions respectfully) and responsibilities (e.g., following rules, listening, including others).
- Explain how rules and school policies are meant to promote fairness, safety, and the common good, and relate this to the idea of laws and due process (clear steps and consequences).
- Analyze short scenarios to identify rights, responsibilities, and what happens when they come into conflict.
- Describe and practice responsible citizenship, including respect, inclusion, and digital citizenship in school and online.
- Work with classmates to draft and adopt a Class Bill of Rights & Responsibilities, pairing each right with at least one corresponding responsibility.
- Reflect on their own role as a citizen in the classroom and how they will uphold the class Bill of Rights & Responsibilities.
Standards Alignment — 4th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 4.C3.Civ.1 — Explain how rules/laws and due process promote fairness, safety, and the common good.
- Example: Compare a school policy to a city ordinance and note consequences.
- 4.C3.Civ.5 — Demonstrate responsible citizenship (respect, inclusion, digital citizenship) in school/community.
- Example: Draft a class charter for hallway and online behavior.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can explain the difference between a right and a responsibility and give an example of each.
- I can tell how rules and procedures help keep our classroom fair and safe.
- I can identify rights and responsibilities in a scenario and suggest a fair solution.
- I can describe what responsible citizenship looks like in person and online.
- I can help write and agree to a Class Bill of Rights & Responsibilities.
- I can name at least one way I will personally help uphold our class rights and responsibilities.