TITLE:  The First Day of Class

AUTHOR:  Jeff Gruber, Judith Gap School, MT

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:  5-12; law, government

OVERVIEW:  Many students do not understand the basic
philosphy of having government in our lives and also the
many area's of our society that need a government, including
school.  This activity will show students that yes,
government is a part of our lives and it does serve many
useful functions.  This exercise is also a good chance for
students to help the teacher set up their own government in
the classroom.

PURPOSE:  This activity is a good "icebreaker" to begin the
new year.  If the teacher uses the Assertive Discipline
method, this is a good chance to get students' input in the
class rules, rewards, and consequences.

OBJECTIVES:  At the conclusion of this activity, the student
will:
  1.  understand the necessity of rules.
  2.  realize existence of alternative systems of goverment.
  3.  be exposed to the hierarchy of authority.
  4.  list problems which exist in a state of anarchy.
  5.  identify purpose of government.
  6.  understand the basic components of a constitution.
  7.  create rules for the classroom.

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
1.   Tell students to begin study of government (no books,
     no other material or instructions - wait for anarchy to
     begin!)
2.   After ten minutes, ask students if there is a problem.
     Ask them to identify problems and list them on the
     board.
3.   Ask students to list what they want to do to solve
     problems in government class.
4.   Tell them the new list generated is "Our list of
     goals".  Have students make rules for classroom to meet
     the goals.
5.   Tell students that they just made a constitution.
     Illustrate how their constitution fits into the
     hierarchy of other consitutions (U.S., Montana, city,
     school, class, etc.)
6.   Explain that what they experienced is the history of
     how governments are formed, starting in a state of
     nature, and using past experience to establish goals
     and rules.
7.   Give students handout of course outline showing them
     where the class will go from this lesson (history of
     governments, structure of government, problems in
     government, etc.)

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:  Make a list of rules on a large
poster and hang up the class' "constitution".  Perhaps, on
the second day, the students could study the U.S.'s Preamble
and write one of their own for their constitution.
Encourage students to think of other area's of their life
where government is needed.