Kick off the year starting with civics and government! The first thing to do is create a list of jobs based on what your local government has for positions.  Take these job titles and make them a little more kid friendly and give a job description that is adapted to the classroom needs.

First, give out copies of all the job descriptions to the students to put into their social studies notebooks.  Have the class fill out applications for the positions in they are interested. After reviewing all the applications, choose the cabinet members and hand out business cards with their job title and duties on them.

So that students have a good understanding of their local government, put up a photo of the Mayor and their cabinet with all of the job titles and their names.

As the class progresses, students will learn about how a bill becomes a law and will go through the actual process in class.

The activity of using the class jobs on the basis of the government proves to be engaging for students.  It is a great way to get them involved!