Qualities of a Leader

Subject:  Social Studies

Grade Level: 2-3

Learning Standard: Standard 5 Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Key Idea: Students examine what it means to be a good citizen in the classroom, school, home, and community by examining qualities of known and unknown leaders

Performance Indicator:  Students discuss and identify the qualities of a leader.

Overview of Task:  Working with a distance instructor via videoconference, using famous political figures, and the book entitled: Grace for President; students discuss and identify the qualities and traits of a leader. 

Snapshot of Activity:  If you were to choose a class president today, who would he or she be and why?  Students are asked to secretly write their answer to this question and list the qualifications they would use to select their candidate. 

Using a document camera, students are shown four famous political figures from American history and asked the following two questions:  “What Makes A Good Leader?” and “What Qualities Should A Good Leader Have?”  Following a class discussion, the distance instructor reads the book entitled: Grace For President by Kelly DiPucchio.  Using media literacy strategies, students identify positive traits of a leader as exhibited by the main character. Students are asked to reflect upon the person they secretly selected as their class president and are challenged as to whether they would change their selection?

Students are then presented with the Twelve Traits of a Leader. As a class, students are asked to interpret and define each of the twelve words and provide real-life everyday examples using these traits.  Again, students are asked to reflect upon the individual they secretly selected as their class president.  Does their selection for class president possess one or more of these twelve traits? 

As a wrap-up:  Students are asked to answer the following series of open-ended questions: 

What is the difference between the following two statements?  “May the best man win!” versus “May the best person for the job win!”

What qualities do you believe are important when selecting a class president?

Would these qualities be important when selecting the next president of the United States?

Who are examples of leaders in your school, home, and community? and how are they similar to a class or national president?

What did you learn today?

How can you be a leader or become a better leader?  What things can you do to demonstrate that you are a leader in school, at home, or in the community?

As an extension activity, students are assigned one of the twelve traits often exhibited by leaders and asked to create a poster demonstrating how this trait could be demonstrated in the classroom, at home, and the community.