Title - All About Groups, Community, pt. 2 of 5
By - Becky Matson
Primary Subject - Social Studies
Secondary Subjects - Multidisciplinary
Grade Level - 2
Lesson Two: The importance of leaders and followers
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Identify leaders and followers in groups and the roles of each
- Recognize and describe their own leadership roles
- Follow directions of a leader in order to help the group function well
- Create a list of leaders in their school, community, and other groups
Procedures:
Finish activity from previous lesson if needed
Play a game of Simon Says. (MI: kinesthetic)
Discuss importance of having a leader and followers for a task. List ideas from whole class discussions on black board. (MI verbal)
- What does it mean to be a leader?
- What does it mean to be a follower?
- Who was a leader in our game of Simon Says, and who were followers?
Everyone in a group has a role. (MI: verbal)
- In our classroom, as a teacher, I am a leader and you are followers. In an orchestra, the conductor is the leader, and the people who play in the orchestra are the followers. But there are also leaders in the musicians. For example, in the violin section, there is a head violinist. The head violinist is the leader of the violin section, and the other violinists are followers. Turn to your neighbor and tell them a group you are involved in and what role you have in that group.
Talk about who are leaders of school, community and other groups. (MI: verbal)
- At school:
1. The teacher is the leader of the classroom.
2. Who is the leader of the school?
3. Who is the leader on the school bus?
4. Who is the leader in the cafeteria?
- In the community:
1. A community is the area we live in. Our community is the people at school, and the people who live by the school, or the business that are near the school.
2. Who might be a leader of our community?
3. Can there be more than one leader in a community? Yes- because the pastor can be a religious leader in the community, but someone else may be a political leader in the community. Maybe the man who works at the gas station is always encouraging people to vote at elections- he is a political leader.
- Other groups:
1. What were some other groups you talked about with your neighbor?
2. What were some roles that people played in their group?
We all need to help take care of our community. Have students write down ideas on a page in their journal in order to help them when they are journaling. (MI: verbal and intrapersonal)
- What could the group you are in do to help take care of your community? For example: pick up trash in your neighborhood or take out garbage for mom.
- What else can we do? Turn to your neighbor and brainstorm a list.
- Share the lists with the whole class. When we do these things, we are taking a leadership role, by showing initiate, instead of waiting to be asked to do it by someone else. If we are asked to do something, we become a follower, because we are following directions.
- In journals, write about leaders and followers. Describe leaders and followers and one thing you could do to be a leader in your community and why it would be helpful.
If time allows, play another game of Simon Says. (MI: kinesthetic)
Assessment:
Observation, discussion, and journal reflection will help the teacher assess whether the lesson was successful and objectives were met.
Math
Language Arts
Science
Social Studies
Art
Computers & Internet
Music
P.E. & Health
Other
Multi-Disciplinary
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