Authored by: Steve Seidell, Mary E. Taylor Middles School, Camden
Grade Level: 5-8 (adaptable to 9-12)
Understanding
the Curfew Ordinance
Authored by: Steve Seidell, Mary E.
Taylor Middles School, Camden
Grade Level: 5-8 (adaptable to 9-12)
The MLR performance indicators listed below are for illustrative purposes. Depending on the focus of the lessons as developed by individual teachers, these indicators may or may not be addressed. Conversely this is not a definitive listing of all of the performance indicators which could be addressed in this lesson.
MLR - Middle Grades: Social Studies: (Civics A - 2, C - 3); Language Arts: (Information D - 1, 2,3,5), (Writing/Speaking E - 4), (Conventions F-3), (Research H - 1,2,6, 9)
Task Description
Academic Challenge Design: targeted Curriculum Area is Grade 7- Social Studies - Maine Studies;
Skills/Disposition: Communication; Indicators: Reading to understand - writing with purpose and clarity;
Essential Question: What is the role of local government in providing for order and security and providing for the common good?;
Challenge: Jigsaw - Understanding the Curfew Ordinance of the Town of ______________.
In your small group (5 groups, 4-5 per group, selected randomly, using copies of a curfew ordinance, become an expert in one of the following sections of the ordinance:1. Description of Ordinance Section #
2. Permissible Activities Section #
3. Exceptions Section #
4. Parental Responsibilities Section #
5. Penalties Section #
As you work in your group, please add any vocabulary words contained in the ordinance of which you are unsure to our class list. Each group will be assigned a different color marker.
Then, jigsaw your groups into five study teams that are made up of an expert from each of the original groups. In your new study team share your expertise and rewrite the complete ordinance in language that will be easier to understand by your classmates and fellow teens at the Teen Center. Each group will read their "User Friendly" ordinance to the class.
Student Products/Performances
Product will be a "User Friendly" rewritten) version of a town's curfew ordinance: a class vocabulary list (see attached example)
Resources
Copies of curfew ordinances;
Curfew Ordinance - Gardiner, Maine
Curfew Ordinance - Bridgton, Maine;
Court decisions regarding curfew ordinances;
Dallas Juvenile Curfew Ordinance Constitutional
Background information:
Curfew Ordinances: A Note of Caution, Maine Townsman, "Legal Notes," November 1997
Criteria for Evaluating Quality of Product or Performance
Other Classroon Activity Suggestions:
"Dallas Juvenile Curfew Ordinance Constitutional" describes in detail the elements of the Dallas ordinance. A possible activity would be to write an ordinance using these specifics.
Discussion Question: "What would make an ordinance for something like a curfew constitutional or unconstitutional?"
Write a rational (first part of an ordinance) for one or more of the ordinances contained in the Unusual Laws handout.
Consider some of these ordinances instead of curfew or in addition to it
Skateboard Ordinance (Sample)
Sexual Orientation Ordinance, South Portland, Maine
Ordinance to Prohibit Jumping, Diving, or Swimming From Several Bridges, Gorham, Maine
Unnecessary Noise, Bar Harbor, Maine
Loitering And Mass Gathering, Wells, Maine