The document is a student learning unit that discusses rules and norms in society. It contains several activities: 1) It lists some social norms like greeting others respectfully and listening to elders, and asks students to identify which ones they follow. 2) It discusses rights and responsibilities, asking students to identify rights they are entitled to and their corresponding responsibilities. 3) It explores how some social customs have changed over time by interviewing elders. 4) It involves drawing signboards for situations that require following rules. 5) It asks students to describe a time they broke a rule and alternatives to rule-breaking.

1. ENGLISH
STUDENT LEARNING UNIT 12
The Rules We Live By

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The Rules We Live By
Before we start………
When we live together in society, we act according to certain rules. These rules can relate to the way we
behave with people in a variety of situations, such as in our family, in school, with our friends, with people
younger than us, with strangers and with people in authority. We are taught from a very young age how to
behave and act in different situations and with different people. We are also taught about what is right and
wrong, and good and bad. We also learn many rules and ways of behaving by observing people around us
and from our own experience. From all this we develop our own beliefs and attitudes towards people,
animals, things and even ideas. Some of our beliefs match those of others, some of them don’t, and about
some of them we can be confused. In this unit we are going to explore some of the rules we live by - how
they affect us, how we feel about them, etc. You will also look at rules critically and think about whether
they are useful, fair, sensible, etc.
We are sure you will have a lot to say about this topic.
Activity 1:Norms and rules in family and society
Here are some ways in which people show respect to others. Many of these behaviours are unwritten
rules or customs. No one has put them down in a book of rules which you must follow. Can you add
some more to these?
• Greeting people with 'Namaste', 'Adaab', 'Good Morning', etc.
• Listening to elders when they speak
• Obeying elders
• Not speaking in front of elders
• Using polite words when speaking to others
• Disagreeing politely rather than shouting and being abusive
• Not interrupting when someone is talking

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How many of these customs do you follow? Put a tick next each of them.
Were there times when you did not follow these rules? Can you write down a few instances when this
has happened? How did people react to you?
Activity 2:What are your rights?
• You have certain needs and as a member of society, you believe that you must get certain rights.
Read the list of rights below. Tick the ones which you think are rights you are entitled to.
o right to clean drinking water
o right to schooling and education
o right to new clothes from the government every Nuakhai or Id
o right to nutritious food
o right to give your opinion and to be listened to by others, especially older people
o right to transport to take you to school
o right to be safe
o right to participate in all school activities
o right to be treated fairly
o right to a clean environment
o right to a job after completing Class 12
o right to pass Class 10 whatever be the quality of your answers in the exam

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Can you add other rights to this list?
Do you now have a long list of rights? You can now work with your friends and compare your lists.
You can also make a master list of rights by putting together rights from each of your lists.
Do you get all these rights? Look at each right and discuss which ones you get. Are there some which
you get only partly? Are there any rights that you don't get at all? Choose the ones you don't get.
Discuss with friends or family members why you don't get them. What are the barriers and difficulties
in getting them? For example, if you think adults don't listen to you, do you think it is because they
think children don't know anything? Or is there an unwritten rule in society that adults don't need to
listen to children?
• Now that you have identified your rights, let’s turn to your responsibilities. For every right that you
claim, you have a responsibility to fulfil. E.g. if it is your right to be treated fairly, you have the
responsibility to treat others fairly.
Look at the rights above.For each right, can you write down what your responsibilities are?

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Rights Responsibilities
Right to a clean environment
Right to be safe on the road

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Activity 3:Customs that have changed
Interview elders in your family about some customs and rules they had to follow which young people like
you no longer follow. Write them in the space below. Why were the rules dropped – can you find out?
Activity 4: Signboards!
Draw diagrams for situations where people have to follow these rules. You can draw them in your
notebooks!
• Don't pick flowers!
• Danger! Fire!
• Don't swim here! Dangerous currents!
• Don't touch! Extreme heat!
• Don't waste water!
• Danger! High Tension Wire!
Can you add more to this list? Think of situations for which you would like signboards to be put up.
Activity 5:Breaking rules
Have you ever broken a rule? Which rule or rules did you break? Write a small paragraph describing what
happened. Here are some hints to help you.
- Explain what the rule was
- Explain the events that led you to breaking the rule.
- Was anybody hurt by your behaviour?
- What other choices could you have made besides breaking this rule?

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Activity 6:Making rules
Which rules at home irritate you? Who made those rules? How would you change them?
You can use this format to write.
The rule and who made it: ..........................................................................................................................................
How you would change it: ...........................................................................................................................................
Activity 7:Making up excuses and stories!
What excuses or stories would you come up with for breaking rules? You can make your stories funny or
believable. Here are some situations. Think of a story or excuse for each of them.
- You are late to school one day and you have to explain yourself to the monitor of your class. What
would you say?
- Your parents have asked you to look after a relative who has come to visit your family. You have to
spend only a couple of hours with the person but you don't want to do it. Make up story to get out
of this situation. (If the relative were to be an elderly person, do you think you are doing the right
thing? Why or why not?)
- You forgot to watch the stove while the milk was boiling and sure enough the milk boiled over.
You know your mother is going to be angry with you. What story can you make up to get you out
of trouble?
Can you make up some more situations where you will have to make up stories? You can make it into a
game with your friends. Each person comes up with a situation and the others have to come up with
excuses.

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Textbook related activity: Poetry
1. ‘Home and Love’ Poetry Section of Class IX text book (Skills of communicative English)
a. Read the poem, “Home and Love”. Write down two ways in which the Home and Love
are different by completing these sentences.
i. The Home is..........................................................................................................................................
ii. The Love is...........................................................................................................................................
i. The Home can ....................................................................................................................................
ii. The Love can .......................................................................................................................................
b. Tick the correct choice. The poet is trying to say:
i. The Home is more important than the Love.
ii. The Love is more important than Home.
iii. Each one is better than other.
c. The Poet has compared Home with Love. Does he find one better than the other? Why / not ?
Has anyone separated Home and Love ? How did you feel? What message does the poet
have for those who have Home and Love ? .

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2. The Character of a Happy Life
a. When do you feel really happy ? What are the factors which makes you happiness ? Write
down the reasons of your happiness in your note book.
b. Now read the poem “The character of a Happy Life”. Discuss these questions with a
friend.
Feelings of happy man are described in the poem.
i. What is the utmost skill of a happy man ?
ii. What are those two things a happy man hates, as viewed by the poet?
c. According to the poet who is a happy man? Someone who does not like to be
controlled by – others, or someone who retires from his busy life or someone who feels
that he is wealthy and having everything in his life.
d. Write down one incident when you feel most happiest day of your life and share with
your friends.