Rules or Laws Sorting Activity

4th Grade Social StudiesGovernment and Civics3 pages

About this worksheet

The town handbook and the school rulebook got mixed up in the printing machine, and 4th graders untangle them. A note first explains that families, schools, and businesses make rules, while the government makes laws enforced by police or courts. Students sort 15 guidelines, from "Bedtime at 9:00 PM" to "Pay your taxes," into Rules and Laws. Two Thinking Deeper questions follow. The sheet covers C3 Framework D2.Civ.4.3-5 in 3 pages, and the answer key lists eight rules and seven laws with model replies.

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Rules or Laws Sorting Activity: Government and Civics - page 1
Rules or Laws Sorting Activity: Government and Civics - page 2
Rules or Laws Sorting Activity: Government and Civics - page 3

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Curriculum objectives covered

D2.Civ.4.3-5

“Explain how groups of people make rules to create responsibilities and protect freedoms.”

The sort rests on who makes each guideline, a family, a school, or the government, as the opening note explains.

D2.Civ.3.3-5

“Examine the origins and purposes of rules, laws, and key U.S. constitutional provisions.”

Question 2 asks students to write a rule and a law of their own, so they must think about what each one is for.

What's inside this worksheet

Rules and Laws Sorting

A 15-item word bank, including "Wear a seatbelt," "Keep off the museum grass," and "Dogs must be on a leash," goes into a two-column Rules and Laws table.

Thinking Deeper

Question 1 asks which item was hardest to place and why. Question 2 asks students to invent one new rule and one new law.

Answer Key

The full sort, with model notes that bicycle helmets and dog leashes can be tricky, plus a sample rule (no screens at dinner) and law (the speed limit).

How teachers use it

Check your local law

Look before you teach it. The key files "Wear a bicycle helmet," "Cross at the crosswalk," and "Dogs must be on a leash" under Laws, but all three depend on your state or town, and helmet laws often cover only some ages.

Small group sort

Cut the word bank into cards for a table group. Ask each group to defend one card they disagreed on.

Home link

For homework, students ask an adult for one rule at home and one law they follow at work, then add both to the chart.

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