ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces civic virtue to kindergarteners through the use of both historical and current examples. Critical Democratic Literacy (CDL) frames civic virtue as the cornerstone of educating young students for civic life. Civic virtue provides a base from which to work for students by laying out the relationship, particularly responsibilities, between the self and the broader community, whether that is to be the classroom community or the global community. The chapter relies on the kindergarten classroom of Mr. Baxter who has been a kindergarten teacher for 12 years in the urban school. Baxter's unit on civic virtue focuses on three standards from the Disciplinary Concepts and Tools section of the college career, and civic life (C3) Framework. Identifying important elements of events using The Important Book, and moving to the specific stories of Malala Yousafzai and Jane Addams, the unit introduces basic ideas such as decision-making and then revisits them to build the deeper concept of civic virtue.
