Greg sent in this Pack meeting plan for Citizenship so I could share it. The plan includes this note:
A Citizenship-themed Pack meeting need not be boring. Add a little fun to your teaching, and good luck! Yours in Scouting— Webelos I Den Co-Leaders Greg, Joe and Gretchen, Pack 230, Washington, DC.
Thanks for sharing this. This plan has lots of action to keep the Cubs engaged, but still helps the Cub Scouts learn about citizenship.
Citizenship Pack Meeting Plan
Red, White, and Blue cheer
Divide your audience into three sections. When you point to them, one section yells “Red”, the second yells “White”, and the third yells “Blue”.
Short History of the Constitution
Note: This entire script should be read/delivered by scouts. One serves as the Narrator, while the bracketed portions are each assigned to other scouts who will read their sections & ideally hold up signs too. You can skip some of the bracketed portions if it’s too many, or just assign each scout to read more than one part, and make other changes as needed.
Narrator: In 1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and in 1783 George Washington won the Revolutionary War. But our country still wasn’t working well yet. The Articles of Confederation organizing our new government were a failure, so America turned to James Madison to help write a new Constitution of the United States. It began with a Preamble:
[“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution of the United States of America.”]
This new Constitution created a stronger central government, but one that divided it into three branches, so that each branch could serve as a “check and balance” on the other two branches:
[Article I – The Legislative Branch
[Article II – The Executive Branch
[Article III – The Judicial Branch
After convincing enough states to agree to adopt this new Constitution in 1789, James Madison then followed through on a promise he made to those states, to push for some amendments to his own constitution. What emerged was a Bill of Rights designed to limit that central government’s power even further, by ensuring special new protections for all American citizens, including:
[The First Amendment – The Rights to Freedom of Speech and of the Press, Freedom to Assemble with others as we choose, and Freedom of Religion
[The Second Amendment – The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
[The Fourth Amendment – The Right to Avoid Unreasonable Searches & Seizures
[The Fifth Amendment – The Right to Due Process of Law
[The Sixth Amendment – The Right to a Lawyer, and to a Speedy and Public Trial
[The Seventh Amendment – The Right to Have a Jury Trial in most court cases
[The Eighth Amendment – The Right to Avoid Cruel and Unusual Punishments
But our Constitution still wasn’t perfect. Additional amendments followed later, including:
[1865 – The 13th Amendment – Slavery is abolished
[1866 – The 14th Amendment – The Right to Equal Protection under the Law
[1869 – The 15th Amendment – African-Americans get the right to vote
[1919 – The 19th Amendment – Women get the right to vote
[1947 – The 22nd Amendment – No President Can be Elected More than Twice
[1960 – The 23rd Amendment – DC Residents get the right to vote for U.S. Presidents
[1971 – The 26th Amendment – 18-year olds get the right to vote
These rights weren’t always given as soon as they should have been – or as fully as some might like. But Americans eventually found a way to come together, to try to make our country better. Our U.S. Constitution is now the world’s longest-standing written charter of government.
Will there be other constitutional amendments? Well that’s up to us – all of us. Because it’s our job as citizens to keep listening and working, to try to make our country a more perfect union.
Mock election
“OK, you just learned about your right to vote, now you’ll see it count”
Quick Debate on whether the Cubmaster or Den Leaders will get a cream pie in their face
Cub Scouts then retire to vote. Create ballots beforehand and create voting booths if you can.
US Flag Game
Make a US “flag” from colored strips (split into 2 teams, awards for fastest + best). [Leaders: you will need to cut out paper strips and buy paste-on stars in advance]
“Don’t Tread on Me” game
Tie balloons to each Cub’s foot, scouts then stomp others’; last with an un-popped balloon wins (might divide this into 2 groups/big & smaller Cubs)
Our Four Fathers skit
(One Cub Scout acts as a teacher, others are in the class):
Teacher: Today class, we are going to learn about the American Revolution. More than 200 years ago our forefathers defeated the British army in the revolutionary war.
Student 1: They defeated the whole army?
Teacher: Yes!
Student 2: Our four fathers?
Teacher: Yes! Isn’t that exciting?
Student 3: Yeah! They must have been really strong if it only took four of them to defeat a whole army!
Utah National Parks Pow Wow Book 2010-2011 pg 133
Retreat the colors
Flag Retirement Ceremony
Do this outside. This is a great/solemn event if an old flag is ready for retirement; you can choose one of the various ceremony scripts that are available online. (Or see my article on a Flag Retirement Ceremony)
Pie-in-the-Face
Announce vote results; end with Pie-in-the-Face
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