Lesson Two: What are Taxes?
Teacher: Brittany Hughes
Grade Level: 4th grade Subject Area: Social Studies
Time Needed: 1 hour Topic: Taxes
Essential Questions:
Lesson Goals:
MMSD Standards:
· Political Science and Citizenship: List the ways in which a citizen can participate in state government.
NCSS Standards:
Materials Needed:
Lesson Opening: Read the next chapter of Class President. Discuss the events of this chapter and what might happen next. Attempt to tie in how the characters were good citizens. (Citizenship was discussed in the previous lesson)
Procedures:
Closure/Assessment: Have students fill out the following exit slip “What would happen to Randall Elementary school if there were no taxes?” Make sure the students hand in the slips before they are allowed to leave for the day.
EXIT SLIP:
What would happen to Randall Elementary if there were no taxes? (Would you still be able to go to school here, would you have lots of materials to use, would Mrs. Streeter be here, what would the conditions of things be?)
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Grade Level: 4th grade Subject Area: Social Studies
Time Needed: 1 hour Topic: Taxes
Essential Questions:
- What are taxes and what are they used for?
- Why does the government need to collect taxes from citizens?
- How do taxes affect us?
Lesson Goals:
- Students will complete a task in which they will earn a “paycheck” from which taxes will be taken out.
- Students will learn who collects taxes, who pays taxes, and about income tax, sales tax, and property tax.
- Students will place “Raccoon Dollars” on objects around the room to symbolize what tax money has paid for.
- Students will be able to describe how tax money is used to pay for things that they use in their personal lives, specifically school.
MMSD Standards:
· Political Science and Citizenship: List the ways in which a citizen can participate in state government.
NCSS Standards:
- Standard 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
- Standard 6: Power, authority, and Governance
Materials Needed:
- Class President Novel by Johanna Hurwitz
- 1 Paycheck for each student with 1 Raccoon Dollar in it
- “All about Taxes” Worksheets
- The Wisconsin Journey Textbook
- Overhead/Markers
- Assessment Exit Slip
Lesson Opening: Read the next chapter of Class President. Discuss the events of this chapter and what might happen next. Attempt to tie in how the characters were good citizens. (Citizenship was discussed in the previous lesson)
Procedures:
- Have students go to their desks. Tell the students that you have been so impressed with their hard work and good behavior. As a result, you think they deserve some sort of payment for being amazing students. Tell students you want to hire them to be your students and if they continue to do great and complete a few tasks you have for them every day you will compensate them with a paycheck every day. Ask students if this sounds good to them by having the students give a thumbs up if they accept the offer and a thumbs down if the neglect it.
- Tell students that today’s task is easy. Explain that you want healthy students so the day’s task is to do 10 jumping jacks. Tell the students that if they do 10 jumping jacks I will pay them a wage of 1 Raccoon dollar and 50 Raccoon cents.
- Have the students get up from their desk and make sure each student has enough room to complete the jumping jacks safely. As a class do the jumping jacks while counting out loud.
- Hand out 1 paycheck to each student. Tell students to wait to open their paycheck until everyone has theirs. Allow students to look in their paychecks. Remind students that you told them they would be paid at a rate of 1 dollar and 50 raccoon cents for every 10 jumping jacks they did. Ask if everyone got their money. When the students say no tell them to look at their pay stub. Read through the pay stub with the students. Point out that it explains why 50 raccoon cents were taken out. Ask the students what the stub says the money taken out was for. When they respond “for taxes” tell them that taxes are taken out of everyone’s (including their parents) paychecks so you forgot to mention it.
- Ask the students if they know what taxes are. Accept answers. Encourage students to bring up who pays taxes, what citizens get taxed on, the different types of taxes they know about, why we have them, what taxes pay for, etc. Allow discussion to go for as long as the students allow it to.
- Praise students for their wonderful insights and mention that they all seem to have great ideas and knowledge about taxes and that now we are going to complete a reading and worksheet to help make taxes more clear. Allow students to read page 158 and 159 of The Wisconsin Journey in groups of 2 or 3. Have them fill out the worksheet “All about Taxes” as they read with their group.
- Walk around from group to group to make sure they are on task, to listen to their conversations about taxes (informal assessment), and to answer any questions/misunderstandings the students are having.
- Come back together as a class and go through the answers that the students came up with for the worksheet on the overhead. Call on a variety of students while completing this task. Talk about the answers as they provide it. (Example: for income tax relate it to their parents jobs and themselves getting paid in raccoon dollars, for sales tax talk about buying clothes when they go to the store, etc) Be sure to also discuss how taxes pay for schools.
- After the worksheet is complete, tell students to look around the room and look for things that are provided through taxes quietly. Give students a few moments to look and think and then have students raise their hands if they have an example. Call on students one at a time and allow them to come up and get a raccoon dollar from you and tape it on the object. Allow every student to tape a raccoon dollar on an object. As students provide answers, push them to think deeper and deeper about the task. If student do not already put a dollar on the teacher, put one on yourself and explain that you are paid by money from taxes. Other things to also mention/put dollars on are the garbage can to represent garbage disposal, lights to represent electricity, and even the outside play equipment. Point out that students are able to come to their school and learn as a result of tax dollars.
Closure/Assessment: Have students fill out the following exit slip “What would happen to Randall Elementary school if there were no taxes?” Make sure the students hand in the slips before they are allowed to leave for the day.
EXIT SLIP:
What would happen to Randall Elementary if there were no taxes? (Would you still be able to go to school here, would you have lots of materials to use, would Mrs. Streeter be here, what would the conditions of things be?)
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All About Taxes Worksheet
Raccoon Dollar
