Lessons For Alabama Unit

Summary of Lessons
In the Alabama Government unit, the lessons are specifically thought out and designed
for every type of learner. The teacher is going beyond just telling, and having the students
actively and eagerly involved in each lesson. Connections are made throughout the unit by
relating the government back to the concept of system and how every part is vitally needed. On
the first day of the unit, the teacher will introduce the idea of government by having the students
complete a 3-2-1 Bridge about what they already know about government, writing 3 words/ideas
about government, 2 questions, and 1 analogy. They will then fill out a New Response 3-2-1
Sheet at the end of the unit. This will set the foundation for the following days of instruction in
the beginning and allow the students to revisit their Initial 3-2-1 Sheet and see how their thinking
has grown and changed. The teacher will also have the students complete an activity where they
compare their school system to the government system and think about how each part is vitally
needed. Throughout the unit, the teacher will revisit this idea of the government as a system.
Each lesson, the teacher will revisit the concept of system throughout the unit though the
stool diagram and through the student's Journal Entries at the end of the day. Lesson 1
introduces government and the idea of government as a system, and Lesson 2 gives an overview
of the levels of government and how they are all a part of the government system. Lessons 3
through 8 specifically talk about the parts of our government system (the branches of
government), while Lesson 9 addresses our local government as a part of the government system.
Lesson 10 wraps everything together and emphasizes the vital role that we as U.S citizens play in
our government system. At the end of each lesson (or lesson topic), the students will answer a
Journal Entry prompt. This will help them connect what they learned in that lesson to the bigger
concept of system, and serve as the bridges. The stool diagram will also serve to help connect
what students learn about the 3 branches and serve as a visual to help them grasp this concept.
Another way to connect the content every day and to emphasize new vocabulary that the students
are learning each day, the teacher will create a Word Wall. This will serve as a visual aide as they
learn about the Alabama government. Because the Alabama Government unit is fairly vocabulary
heavy and the students will be learning a lot of new vocabulary, the Alabama Government Wall
will also assist the students in documenting and reviewing the vocabulary that is learned each
day.
Every lesson, the teacher will start off by accessing the students prior knowledge through
an engaging activity or thinking routine. The goal of this is to get students to think about what
they already know about the topic or content that is being covered that day. Throughout the unit,
students are challenged to think deeply about the content presented to them. The students are
constantly asked to think and reflect on what they have learned so far through questioning with
think time, concept maps, 3-2-1 Bridges, and I Used to Think, Now I think. These thinking
routines also serve to constantly review the content and organize students new knowledge.
In order to promote learning throughout the unit, the students are given hands-on practice
opportunities to explore the content. As the teacher is presenting the content in a fun and
interactive way, the students are completing graphic organizers and diagrams; these serve as note
taking devices. Even when the teacher is teaching new content, she is never just lecturing at the
students. Instead, the students are always actively involved in the lessons, through note taking
devices, questions, discussion, hands on activities, manipulatives, and solving problems.
Learning is student-directed and student-focused, and the teacher constantly asks the students
questions to keep them involved.
When students are introduced to new vocabulary, the teacher will always access the
students prior knowledge of the word first. Instead of just telling students the definition, the
teacher will provide visuals, real life examples, and physical models. This will help students fully
grasp the new vocabulary and for it to stay with them. When students are introduced to abstract
concepts, like the idea of what the court system does, she will show pictures and give
illustrations that students can understand and relate to. In the teaching portion of each lesson,
students will continually be asked to read, write, listen, and speak through student discussion,
note taking devices, videos, and diagrams. The teacher will provide questions to assist the
students while they are learning in order to check for understanding as well as challenged the
students to reach a higher level of cognitive development. The teacher will encourage the
students to use academic language and the new vocabulary they have learned.
For practice, the students get to take that knowledge and explore more in depth while
applying the content to system and everyday situations. The practice is a time for students to
work together in groups, with teacher assistance as needed, to apply what theyve learned before
they do this individually in the assessment. This varies from working in groups to answer
questions on an article or piece of text or playing a role in a skit. The opportunity for practice is
always hands on to get the students involved. For example, during the lesson on the legislative
branch, the teacher will have the students be either a senator or representative and put on a mock
legislature to propose and pass bills. For the judicial branch, their room will be transformed into
a courtroom and each student will assume a different job in the courtroom; then they will
actually go through a court case!
To close out the Circulatory System unit, the students will have a member of their local
government come and speak to their class. Specifically, the Mayor Pro-Temp of their city who is
like the Assistant Mayor will come and speak to the class. The students will have the opportunity
to see a real life person who works for the government and hear about what he does, how he got
to the position that he did, and what he likes about his job. The students will prepare questions to
ask him and get to ask these to him. For the final day of the unit, the students will write a letter to
their state senator or representative about a need they see in their community or something they
want to change in their community. The students will write a real letter in the proper format and
address it to their local Alabama State Senator or Representative. This activity will help tie
together what the students have learned throughout the unit and help them understand how they
can play a role in their government. It will allow them to apply their knowledge about
government in a real way. In conclusion, the teaching, practice, and assessments provided in
these lessons were created to encompass every learning style as well as to challenge every
student to their highest level of learning.
Design for Learning: Lesson 1

Instructor: Abby Diamond
Title: How does our Government function as a System?
Grade Level: 4th grade
Area: Social Studies

Date:
Estimated Time: 45 min
Standards Connection: 5.) Describe Alabamas entry into statehood and establishment of its
three branches of government and the constitution.
Learning Objective(s):
When given a worksheet, students will identify what government is and give 2 reasons how our
government functions as a system scoring an 9 out of 10 on teacher-made rubric.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language: Today boys and girls, we will be
learning about what government is and how our government functions as a system!
Evaluation of Learning Goal:
Students will be given a worksheet. They will be graded according to a teacher-made checklist.
Each question will be worth 2 points for a total of 10 points possible on the worksheet. They
must score a 9 out of 10 in the worksheet to be considered to be proficient and to have fully
grasped the concept. Student who score below a 7 on the worksheet will be considered in the red
and need additional re-teaching.They did not grasp the concept.
Engagement:
The teacher will start off by directing students attention to the powerpoint. She will have
students fill out a 3-2-1 Bridge Sheet about government. She will discuss their responses as a
class. She will briefly go over the learning objective listed on the powerpoint. Okay class, today
we are starting a new unit on Alabama government. To introduce our unit on Alabama
government, I want you to think about everything that you know about government. To help you
do this, I am going to pass out a sheet of paper that has 3, 2, and 1 on it. We are going to do
something called a 3-2-1 Bridge to help us think about what we know about government already.
Teacher will pass out the 3-2-1 sheets. Teacher will pull up slide 2. So, under number 3, I want
you to write 3 words, phrases, or ideas that come to mind when you think of government. Now,
dont overthink this. I just want you to write whatever comes to mind when you think about
government. This can be anything you know already. Next, under the number 2, I want you to
write two questions that come to your mind regarding government Again, remember that these
dont have to be extremely in depth, I am just curious to see what you know and what you want to
know about government. Now, under number 1, I want you write one metaphor or simile for this
topic. We have just learned about similes and metaphors so you should have a good idea of what
they are. Remember, a simile uses like or as, so Government is like and metaphors start
with Government is They are a way of describing something by comparing it to something
else or comparing one thing to another because they have important features. For example, a
simile could be He is as hungry as a bull. Teacher will give students a couple of minutes to
write their responses. She will then have a couple of students share their responses. She will go
over the chart paper which will already have government written on the top with 3-2-1 written
just like on the students paper. Now, after you have finished writing your 3 words, 2 questions,
and 1 simile, lets talk about some of these all together. So, who can tell me one of the words that
you wrote down about government on your sheet? Wait for student response. Teacher will call on
individual student. Yes, great word. Our government does have a president. What is another
word that someone wrote down? Wait for student response. Teacher will call on individual
student. She will record these answers on the chart paper. Great answer as well! Now, what
about a question. Who can tell me a question that they wrote down on their sheet about
government? Wait for student response. Great question! Those are all great questions to ask.
Now lets move on to number 1. Does someone want to share their simile or metaphor with the
class? Wait for student response. Wow, those are some great answers. I am very impressed with
what yall came up with. It seems like you guys have some good initial ideas, thoughts, and
examples of government. I want you to pass these up to me and I will hold on to them. We are
going to come back to them at the end of the unit. Teacher will pull up slide 3 with the learning
objective on it. Now, I want you to direct your attention to the board for our learning objective
for the day. Today, we will be learning about how our government functions as a system and
what government is. Before we get started, I want you to clear off your desks except for a pencil,
put your listening ears on, and raise your hand when I ask a question and wait to be called on. I
will give you time to turn and talk to your neighbor, and during these times, I want you to talk,
but I will tell you when this will be.
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
The teacher will go through a powerpoint about government. She will hand out their graphic
organizer on government. She will direct them when to fill it in. She will introduce the word
wall. She will first define system with a definition. The class will discuss the definition of system
to what they already knew about systems. Boys and girls, we have listed some good words,
ideas, and phrases that have to do with government. It sounds like you guys have some good
thoughts on what government is. But over the next 2 weeks or so, we are going to learn lots more
about government that you never knew! Now as we go throughout the unit, we are going to use
our Word Wall to keep track of all of the vocabulary words that we learn throughout the
course of the unit. So notice how the Word Wall has the word Our Government System on the top.
So first, lets go over a definition of government so that we all have the same definition. Does
anyone want to give me what they think the definition of government is? Teacher will pull up
slide 5 on the powerpoint that has the definition of government listed on it. She will read it aloud.
The definition of government is the system of rules and the people who make and administer
them in a community. I want you to record that in your graphic organizer in the blank under
government is. What do you notice about this definition? Teacher will wait for student
response. Those are some great thoughts! So you noticed that the word rules is in there and the
word system. So what is a rule? Teacher will wait for student response. Yes, good thought. A rule
is a guide or principle for conduct or action. Now one of the most important words in this
definition is system. So what is a system? I am going to give you a little bit to think about this
and I want you to raise your hand when you have an idea of what you think a system is. Teacher
will give students time to think and then call on individual students. Good! So a system is a set of
connected things or parts that work together to form a complex whole. There are always 3
components in every system. First, there are individual parts, second that are working together,
and lastly, to make a whole. The important thing about systems is that it is crucial that every part
works together or else the whole wont run as it should. Teacher will pull up slide 8 and talk
about examples in our world. Something that we have to remember is that systems are all around
us in our world. Some are obvious and others are not so obvious. I want you to brainstorm and
think about some examples of systems in our world today. I want you to turn and talk to your
table group about this. Teacher will give students time to do this. Those are some great
examples! Lets look at a few more. How are each of these a system? One example in our world
that may not be so obvious is a computer. So how does a computer meet the three criteria of a
system? I want you to think for 30 seconds about this and then turn and talk to your partner
about how a computer is a system. Give students one minute to think about this and then call on
students. Yes, great job! A computer has many different parts like the monitor, the hard drive, the
soft ware, the keyboard, etc. Is this one of the criteria of a system? Wait for student responses.
Yes, you are right, it is! So how do they all work together to make a whole, the second and third
criteria? Call on a student pair. Yes, youre right! All of the parts of the computer working
together is what makes a computer run. If all of the parts are not working together, the computer
will not work properly. What makes a computer a computer is each of the individual parts
working together. Teacher will pull up slide 9. So, what are some other examples of systems in
our world that you can think of? Let students call out other systems that they can think of. Good
job! Another major system in our world is our body system. I know you guys have already
learned about some of the systems in the human body. Can someone tell me how the body is a
system? Yes, great answers. The body has many different systems that all work together to keep
our body running like it should. Now that we know the definition of system, I want you to think
about how our government functions a system. We just learned about what system means. So this
helps us understand what government is. Okay, so now we know what government is and we
know that its a system, but whats the purpose of it? Lets think about what we think the purpose
of government is. I want you to turn and talk to the people at your table group about what you
think the purpose of government is. I am going to give you 2 minutes to do this. Teacher will give
students time to talk amongst themselves. She will call on individual students. Okay boys and
girls, what did we come up with? Yes, those are great answers! To protect us; you are definitely
right about that. What else? Yes, to give things that we need. You are right. So, lets look at the
board and read together the 3 main purposes of government. As we go through each of them,
make sure to record them in your graphic organizer. Teacher and students will read the 3
purposes together. Teacher will go through slides 10, 11, and 12. The students will fill in the
graphic organizer together. So, the different parts of our government system work together to
fulfill these 3 purposes. Now, we see that there is a purpose for government, but not all
governments are the same and countries all around the world have different types of government.
Teacher will pull up slide 14. Does anyone know the name of our type of government? Teacher
will wait for student response. Good answer! Yes, our government is called a democracy. So
there are three main types of governments. Does anyone know the name of the type of
government that we have? Yes, good job! Does anyone know what a democracy is? A democracy
is a form of government that allows citizens to take part in the decisions being made by voting
and the power is balanced between many people. Teacher will pull up slide 15. Teacher will have
students fill in on their note-taking guide. The other two types of governments are a monarchy
and a dictatorship. In a monarchy, there is one head of state. In this system, a king or queen
rules the country for as long as they are alive. Notice the picture on the screen. It is a picture of
Queen Elizabeth II. So England is an example of a country that still has a monarch. Another type
of government is a dictatorship. In a dictatorship, a single individual has gained power through
force and everyone has to follow his policies. Who is that a picture of on the powerpoint? Yes,
you are right! His name was Hitler. He took over Germany before World War II. Teacher will
pull up slide 16. So our type of government is a democracy. You can tell that our government
system is a little different than those right? This makes our government unique compared to
other governments! Our government system is special because it tries to protect the rights of
citizens from the wrong use of government power. It is made up of many parts and everyone has
a voice. Our government includes different levels and different parts. There are four main levels
of government: federal, state, county, and city. Our government is then divided into 3 branches.
We will learn about those over the next couple of days. Teacher will pull up slide 17 and 18.
Now, I want you to look at this picture. Who can tell me what this is? Teacher will wait for
student response. Yes, good job! It is our Constitution. This is extremely important for our
government. What are some things that you notice about this document? Let students make
observations. Call on individual student. Good observations! So it is really old. How old do you
think it is? Teacher will wait for student response. Good ideas! Our constitution was written over
200 years ago! And there are a lot of signatures, you are right. In the constitution is explains
how the United States will be a democracy because the citizens will elect their own leaders. So
the signatures represent all of the people who met to write the Constitution. They were called the
Founding Fathers. Teacher will pull up slide 19. The constitution is extremely important to our
country. Lets read the definition all together: The Constitution is the supreme law of the United
States and tells how our government will work. It is the foundation for which our whole
government is built and it established that our government would be for the people and by the
people. It is a really important document. Now boys and girls, I am going to give you an activity
to do in your table group to help reinforce the idea of the government as a system.
II. Opportunity for Practice:

Teacher will then explain to students that they are now going to work in their table groups to do a
small activity to think more about systems to help us understand how our government is a
system. Students will be grouped and will each be given an index card with the name of a
different person at a school. They will be instructed to first, on their own, write down the job
duty of that person on the back of their index card. Then, after 2 minutes they will share with the
rest of their group what person they had and their job duty. Each group will be given a sheet for
each student to record their answer of why that job is so important. Together, the group will talk
about how all the different jobs they each have work together to make the school successful and
then summarize this. Since we just learned about what a system is, we are going to do an activity
in table groups to help us understand how our government is a system. So like a couple of you
mentioned, school is a great example of a system in our world. Teacher will pull up powerpoint
slide 20. I am going to assign each student in your table group a different person at a school.
You will be given an index card with their name on it. The first thing I want you to do is to write
down the job duty of that person on the back of your index card. Do this on your individually, so
without talking. Then, after 2 minutes, each person will share with the other people in their
group their person and what they wrote down as their job duty. In your group, you will then take
turns writing about why your job is important for the school. Then one person will record how
all the different jobs work together to make the school successful at the bottom of the sheet. The
directions are on the board if you need them. Are there any questions? Teacher will take any
questions the students might have and then let the students work in their groups. She will first
pass out the index cards then the sheets of paper per group. If you have any questions while you
are working, just raise your hand and I will come over and answer your question. Once students
are done, the teacher will call on a couple of groups to share what they wrote on their paper. So
from this activity, we see that in a school, there are many different people who are important to
keep our school running smoothly. You all agree that each person is needed for our school to run
as it should. This is just like our government. In our government, there are many people and
parts of our government that all work together to keep our country running smoothly. Now, I am
going to pass out to each of you a folder that has written on itMy Alabama Government
Folder on it. This folder will be what you will use to put all of your worksheets, graphic
organizers, handouts, and anything else you fill out during this unit. After each lesson, there will
also be a journal question that you must respond to in your folder. I am going to give you some
time right now to use markers or what you already have at your desk to decorate your folder if
you would like. When you are done doing that, make sure to put your papers in it from today and
put it in your desk.
III. Assessment:
The teahcer will then explain that now the students are going to fill out a short worksheet on
some of the things that they learned about today. The worksheet will be on government, its
purpose, and how our government is an example of a system. The worksheet will be graded by a
teacher made rubric. Teacher will pull up slide 21 and go over the worksheet on the document
camera. Okay now boys and girls, I want you to clear your desks and get a pencil out. I am
going to give you a worksheet about how our government is a system. At the top, I want you to
first write a definition of government, in your own words, and then fill out one purpose of
government that you remember talking about. Then, you will circle what type of government the
U.S has and describe how our government is a system. I want you to just write 2 reasons why
our government is an example of a system. Make sure that you think about the definition of a
system that we talked about today. We already talked about this earlier, so this shouldnt be hard.
I just want to see that you understand what a system is and how our government is a system. You
will then come turn in the worksheet to me and pick up a folder. I want you to write My
Alabama Government Folder on it. This folder will be what you will use to put all of your
worksheets, graphic organizers, handouts, and anything else you fill out during this unit. After
each lesson, there will also be a journal question that you must respond to in your folder. You
may use markers or that you already have at your desk to decorate your folder if you would like.
Teacher will let students get started and will monitor the students as they work as needed. (Did
this in Lesson 2)
IV. Closure:
Close out the lesson with a quick review of what they learned today. The teacher will review
what government is, the main purposes of government and what type of government we have.
Briefly review what systems are and the 3 criteria. Okay boys and girls, now we are going to
briefly go over what we learned about today. Once students are sitting in their seats, teacher will
start. Now, who can tell me what we are talking about over this unit? Wait for student responses.
Call on a student. Great job! We are talking about our government. Now, in the beginning you
guys filled out some 3-2-1 sheets on government. We then went over a definition of government.
Who can tell me in their own words what government is? Teacher will give students wait time to
think and then call on an individual student. Great answer! So government has to do with rules
and people who make them and then make them happen. Great answer. We said that government
is the system of rules and the people who make and carry them out in a community. We also
talked about the purpose of government and why its important. We saw some pictures about this.
Can anyone tell me one of the pictures that they remember we looked at when we went over the
purposes of government? Teacher will wait for student response. Yes, great remembering! One of
the pictures was a picture of a policeman. So one of the purposes of government is to protect our
safety. Government also protects something else we have. An example of this is voting. What is
that called? Yes, you are right! So government protects our rights. What was the name of the
type of government that the U.S has? Remember the pictures we looked at. Teacher will wait for
student response. Good answer! Our type of government in the United States is a democracy
which means what? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student.
Yes! Democracy means that the citizens, or all the people in the country, have a say in the
government and get to participate. Last, I want you to think about how our government is a
system. This is one of the most important points we want to emphasize. Now to wrap up our
lesson for the day, I am going to pass out your Journal Entry #1. After each lesson, you guys will
have a short journal entry to write about. This will include a journal prompt or question and is a
time for you to write about what you learned that day. Teacher will pass out the journal entry
papers to each student. She will wait until all students have filled it out. She will then have them
put their Journal Entry #1 into their My Alabama Government Folder. Great job today boys
and girls! Before we conclude, lets add our vocabulary words that we learned today to the word
wall. Teacher will add the new vocabulary words to the word wall: government, system,
democracy, and Constitution. So, over the next two weeks we are going to be learning more
about government, specifically Alabama government. We are going to learn about all of the
different levels of government and all of the people who make our government work. Just like
you saw in your activity that you did with your table groups, our government has many different
parts to it.
Materials and Resources:

Powerpoint
Promethean Board
Pencils
Government Graphic Organizer Lesson 1
Government Graphic Organizer Lesson 1 already filled in (accommodation for student)
3-2-1 Bridge worksheet
Individual index cards with name of jobs of people at school (5 packs)
Librarian
Teacher
Principal
Janitor
Office Staff
Group Activity 1 worksheet (one per group)
Journal Entry #1
My Alabama Government Folder
Markers
Word Wall
Assessment Worksheet Lesson 1
Extensions and /or Accommodations:
Accommodations/Modifications:
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn and Student Ht will be given a Government Graphic
Organizer that is already filled in. Student Ht will have a scribe who will dictate her answers for
the 3-2-1 Bridge activity and the assessment. Student Hn will have a scribe if needed. Student Ht
will be given preferential seating in the front of the room near the teacher. Student Hn will be
given choices of what to do complete. He will type his answers to Lesson 1 worksheet on the
computer. During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with a sensory ball or other
sensory objects to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Students will make a cartoon strip about government. They will include the definition of
government and the 3 main purposes of government, and what type of government the U.S has.
Draw the pictures and write the dialogue.
Re-teaching:
Students will rewrite the definition of government. They will fill out a Frayer model on
the word government. On a separate piece of paper, they will draw a picture for each of the 3
main purposes of government.
Data Analysis:
Since the lesson went longer than I thought today, I am going to have the students do the
assessment worksheet tomorrow. I think I may have them work together in their table groups at
the beginning of the class period to fill out the worksheet together. This will give me a good idea
of whether they grasped the concept or not.
Reflection:
Overall, I was pretty pleased with how the lesson went. For one, the students were pretty
well behaved during the lesson. At the beginning of the lesson, I clearly stated the behavior
expectations at the beginning of the lesson and the students did a good job of following
them.One of the classes did a better job than the other, however. I think this is because the
second class is social studies is during their last period of the day, so they were kinda restless and
ready to be done with school. Im trying to think about what I can do with them to get them
excited and able to focus for the 30 or 45 minute period that I have them. I might trying having
them stand up and stretch for before we get started to get their brains and bodies awake.The
students did a really good job filling out the 3-2-1 Bridge. I think that this was really helpful and
it helped me gauge how much they already knew. They had some really good thoughts and ideas
already, and a couple of them had really good similes and metaphors. I am glad I used a graphic
organizer as well. However, I think that I maybe should have gone a little slower with this lesson
since it was full of introducing what government is and we talked about a lot of important stuff
about government.
I am thinking that I will go back through and review tomorrow what we talked about,
specifically the definition of government, the main purposes of government, and the importance
of our government being a system. I am going to have them fill out the assessment worksheet at
the start of the lesson tomorrow. The students did enjoy the group activity and it went pretty well.
Honestly, I just wish I had more time. I realize now that the lessons Ive planned are just really
packed with activities and information and I might need to slow down or tell the students
information in less amounts. I might end up cutting back on the material or slowing it down. One
thing that I didnt start doing today that I am going to start tomorrow is doing a word wall for the
unit just using chart paper. I think that a word wall would be really helpful for students to keep
track of the new vocabulary words they are learning. It was exciting to see their excitement for
most of the lesson. The students asked a lot of good questions and seemed to enjoy what we were
talking about. This is good, because I really want them to be excited and enjoying the unit.

Title: Levels of Government

Date:
When given a list of questions, students will correctly identify the level of government (federal,
state, or local) receiving a score of 8 out of 9.
learning about the levels of government in our country!
Students will be given a worksheet with a list of different scenarios of services that the
government provides. The students have to indicate whether the federal government, state
government, or local government provides that service. The students must receive an 8 out of 9
to be considered proficient. There is also a bonus question that they can answer for extra credit.
If students score below a 6, they will be considered in the green and need to be retaught the
material.
Engagement:
The teacher will start off the lesson having the students review what government is. She will
direct their attention to the Word Wall and the words that they learned yesterday. The students
will read the learning objective together on the board. Then, she will introduce levels of
government and ask students what they think levels of government means. She will have the
students to brainstorm a list of what school would be like without teachers, assistant principals,
and principals. Okay class, so today we are going to continue our unit on government. Before
you get started, I want you to clear your desks except for a pencil. I want you to raise your hand
when I ask a question and wait to be called on unless I tell you can talk in your groups. Give me
a thumbs up if that makes sense. Teacher will wait for students to clear their desks off and give
her a thumbs up. So today, we are going to be learning about another part of our government.
Before we get started, lets review what we talked about yesterday. To do this, I am going to give
you an worksheet about what we talked about yesterday. The teacher will explain that now the
students are going to fill out a short worksheet on government, its purpose, and how our
government is an example of a system. The worksheet will be graded by a teacher made rubric.
Teacher will pull up slide 21 and go over the worksheet on the document camera. Okay now boys
and girls, I want you to clear your desks and get a pencil out. I am going to give you a worksheet
about how our government is a system. At the top, I want you to first write a definition of
government, in your own words, and then fill out one purpose of government that you remember
talking about. Then, you will circle what type of government the U.S has and describe how our
government is a system. I want you to just write 2 reasons why our government is an example of
a system. Make sure that you think about the definition of a system that we talked about today.
We already talked about this earlier, so this shouldnt be hard. I just want to see that you
understand what a system is and how our government is a system. You will then come turn in the
worksheet to me and pick up a folder. Teacher will let students get started and will monitor the
students as they work as needed.I am going to let you work in groups to complete this. I am
going to set the timer and then we will talk about it all together. Teacher will hand out the
assessment worksheet for lesson 1. She will set the timer for 4 minutes and let them work in
groups if they want to complete it. They will then go over it as a class. Now, lets talk about this
worksheet all together. So we talked about government. Who can tell me a definition of
government that they wrote down? If you cant remember the definition we wrote down word for
word thats all, but give me your best definition. She will call on an individual student. Great job!
Yes, you guys are on the right track with what government is. You are right about government
making laws. Teacher will pull up slide 3 on the powerpoint and go over the definition. So the
actual definition is government is the system of rules and the people who make and administer
(carry them out) them in a community. What is one of the purposes of government that we
talked about? What did you draw on your sheet to show the purpose for government? Teacher
will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, you are right! So one
of the main purposes of the government is to protect us, so the police helps do this. I love that
you drew a picture of the police. The government also provide services to us. That is one of the
main things we are going to look at today. Now, what type of government does the U.S
government have? You should have all gotten this right! Yes, we have a democracy. Good job!
Teacher will pull up the powerpoint to slide 4. Ask students to brainstorm and create a list
describing what school would be like without teachers, assistant principals and principals. I want
you to brainstorm and think about what school would be like without certain people, without the
teacher's, assistant principal, and principal's. What kinds of things would occur? Could students
accomplish anything meaningful in their school day? Teacher will let students think for a minute.
So, why is a teacher important in a school? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call
on an individual student. Good! So teachers are the ones who actually help you, the students,
learn. You interact with them the most. What about the assistant principal? Teacher will wait for
student response. She will call on an individual student. Youre right, the assistant principal
helps out as needed and you see her a little more than you do the teacher. She handles grade
level concerns. What about the principal? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on
an individual student. Yes, so the principal overseas everything. So these 3 people in our school
represent our government. Teacher will pull up slide 5. There are 3 levels to our government.
You can see that teachers in a classroom are like the local government and they take care of
local issues such as learning and behavior. Assistant principals are like the state government
and handle concerns dealing with the grade level, for example. The principal is like the federal
government because he/she oversees the entire school. So now hopefully that helps you
understand a little bit about our levels of government. The teacher will then tell the class that
today they will be learning about the different levels of government and how they work together
to make our government run. She will pull up slide 6. So today we are going to talk about levels
of government. Lets look at the learning goal for today and read it all together. In this lesson,
we will be learning about the different levels of government and the responsibilities of each!
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Teacher will pull up the powerpoint. She will teach about the levels of government. Students will
fill out a graphic organizer on the levels of government. Okay so now lets talk a little bit more
about the levels of government. Teacher will start with slide7. Lets look at this diagram to help
us understand them. So at the top, we have the federal government. Who is the federal
government? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student.
Right, it means our whole country or nation! Then we have state government and then local
government. Who can tell me what local means? Teacher will wait for student response. She will
call on an individual student. Yes local means a small area. So local in our case means like city
or county. What is the city that we live in? Yes, it is Vestavia Hills. So this is what local means for
us. Before we get started talking about the individual responsibilities of each level of
government, I want to show you this video to help you understand a little more about the levels
of government. Teacher will pull up the TIME for Kids video that outlines U.S government.
http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/video/tfk-explains-us-government-117346. She will
pause it after 1:30 before the video gets into the branches of government. She will ask some
questions. Okay boys and girls, I am going to show you part of a video to help you understand
these 3 levels of government and who they are before we talk more in depth about them. Pay
close attention to what the video says about each level of government and what each level of
government does. Teacher will pass out the graphic organizers and then pull one up under the
document camera. I am now going to pass out a graphic organizer that has each of the levels of
government on it and has a space for the leader, responsibility, and services provided by that
level of government. You are going to take notes on this while we go through the powerpoint.
Teacher will pull up slide 8 on the powerpoint. Now, lets start with federal government. Now
can anyone tell me who the leader is of the federal government? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, good answer! The leader of the president
government is our President. Who can tell me what his name is? Yes, Barack Obama! Teacher
will pull up slide 9. So write this in your graphic organizer. President Barack Obama. Teacher
will pull up slide 10. So the main responsibilities of the federal government is to make laws for
the entire country, handle relations with other countries, and resolve disputes between states. So
do the laws they make just affect one state or area? No, youre right! They affect the whole
country and everyone must follow them. Also notice all of the flags. This represents how the
federal government is the one who talks to other countries. Now, lets move on the services of the
U.S government. Who has any ideas of a service that the federal government provides? Teacher
will let students brainstorm for a minute and then call on a couple of students. Good ideas! So
the federal government has lots of services it provides to us. Teacher will pull up slide 11. On
your graphic organizer, you may not have room to write down every service but I want you to try
and write as many as you can. Look at the first picture. So the federal government is in charge of
making money for the whole country. The next picture is a picture of all of the highways. So the
federal government is in charge of controlling all of the interstate highways. What is the last
picture of? Youre right, a passport! So the federal government also issues passports and visas
and is in charge of our U.S Military. Those are really important services. Teacher will pull up
slide 11. So here are some other services that the federal government provdies. Teacher will go
through the pictures and services together. The federal government is also in charge of
international trade, federal income tax, the Food and Drug Administration and National Parks.
Do you guys know what the federal income tax is? You are right. It is a national tax taken out of
your paycheck every month. The Food and Drug administration is in charge of monitoring our
food and making sure we are eating good things and that nothing gets polluted that we eat.
Teacher will pull up slide 13 on the powerpoint. Now, lets move on to state government. Now
can anyone tell me who the leader is of the state government? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, good answer! The leader of the president
government is the governor. Who can tell me the name of the governor of Alabama? Yes, Robert
Bentley! Teacher will pull up slide 15. So write this in your graphic organizer. Governor Robert
Bentley. So if one of the main responsibilities of the federal government was to make laws for the
country, what do you a think a responsibility would be for the state government? So who do you
think the state government makes laws for? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call
on an individual student. Yes, the state government just makes laws for the state. Teacher will
pull up slide 16. State governments also resolve disputes between people in the state. Teacher
will praise good behavior. So you guys were right. I love the way how student A is doing such a
good job writing down everything in their graphic organizer. Now we are going to look at some
of the services that the state government provides. Teacher will pull up slide 17. So you can tell
me what the first picture is? Yes, it is a state trooper. So there are state police who help keep our
state safe. State governments are also in charge of highways. Look at that second picture. It is a
picture of Alabama highways. So the state is in charge of all of the highways in their state. This
makes sense. The state is also in charge of drivers license. Look at the drivers license on the
board. So do you get a drivers license from your city? Nope, youre right! You get it from the
state. The last important service that the state provides is education. The state decides what kids
in the state should learn and in what order. So now lets look at the last level of government,
local. This means city and council. Does anyone know who the leader is of the local
government? Teacher will wait for student response. Yes, our mayor! Does anyone know what
our mayor is? Yes, his name is Butch Zaragoza! Teacher will pull up slide 19. So lets look at
what the responsibilities are of the local government. Teacher will pull up slide 20. So the
resonsibilities are to make laws for a small area, like a city, within a state. They also enforce
local laws. Now, lets think about what some services could be that you know your local
government provides. Raise your hand if you have any ideas. Teacher will wait for student
response and then will call on a student. Good answers! The local government does provide
education. Teacher will pull up slide 21. Notice that last picture on the screen. It is picture of our
school! So education is a service of the local government and what else? Yes, state government!
Some other services of the local government are police and fire, so notice the picture of the
policeman. They also help with trash collection and make local roads. Notice that other picture.
What is it a picture of? Good, a park. So local government is also in charge of local parks and
recreation in our community.
Students and teacher will do a word sort of a big Venn diagram together with the responsibilities
of each level on the board. She will put the chart paper up with the 3 circled Venn diagram
labeled federal, state and local. She will hand out a card with a name of a different service that
the government provides on it. A couple of students will get two. She will go around the room
and call on the students who are quiet to read their card and tell her where to put it on the
diagram. The teacher will tape the card on the diagram. She will pull up the Venn diagram
graphic for the students after they are done. Okay boys and girls, now we are going to do an
activity all together! We are going to do sort different services that each level of government
provides using a Venn diagram. Now what do we use a Venn diagram for? Good! We use it to
compare and contrast things. So we are compared and contrasting each level of government and
the service they provide to the community. Notice how on the diagram there is some overlap
between the levels. What does this mean? Teacher will wait for student. She will call on an
individual student. Yes, exactly! There are some services that 2 of the levels of government might
share together or they might both help with. Other things are just the job of one level. So the way
this is going to work is I am going to hand out to each of you a card. On the card is the name of
a different service the government provides for us. I will then go around the room and call on an
individual student, who is sitting quietly, to read their card aloud and tell me where they think it
goes on the diagram. I will then pick up their card and put it on the diagram. Does everyone
understand what we are doing? Teacher will tell students to give her the thumbs up if they
understand. Now, I am going to come around and pass out the cards. Please sit quietly while I do
this. Teacher will pass out the cards to the students. She will then proceed to call on different
students who are sitting quietly. Together, the class will decide where it goes if the student needs
help. The teacher will ask questions to help guide students. Okay boys and girls, what did we
learn from that activity? You are right! We learned that there are some services that different
levels of government share. What is an example of one? Teacher will wait for student. She will
call on an individual student. Great job! So making and enforcing laws is the role of all 3 levels
of government. Now what about education? Yes, we saw that education is both the job of the
state government and the local government. What is another big one? Teacher will wait for
student. She will call on an individual student. Good, roads. So all levels of government help
with roads even though they might do different things with the roads.
III. Assessment:
Students will fill out problems and identify which level of government is responsible for that
particular action. They will do this in Lesson 3.
IV. Closure:
Teacher will do a short review of what they talked about that day. Students will complete Jounral
Entry #2. The teacher will add the new words they learned that day to the word wall. Okay boys
and girls, so today we talked about levels of government. Who can tell me what the levels of
government are? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student.
Good! So it includes the federal, state and local. What does federal mean? Yes, our whole
nation. So what did we learn from the activity we did with the Venn diagram? Teacher will wait
for student response. She will call on an individual student. Exactly. We learned that each of the
levels of government has different jobs and services they are in charge of, but that sometimes
they overlap and two levels of government might provide the same service. Teacher will add
words to the word wall. Now, I am going to add some words to the word wall that we learned
today. I am going to add the words federal, state, local, president, governor, and mayor. These
are important words that we talked about. Teacher will hand out to students their Journal Entry
pages as a short review. Now I am going to pass out your journal entry pages. I want you to
answer these questions and then put all of the sheets into your My Alabama Government Folder.

Powerpoint Lesson 2
Promethean Board
Pencils
Assessment Worksheet Lesson 1
Answer Key for Assessment Worksheet Lesson 1
TIME for kids video on U.S Government http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/video/tfkexplains-us-government-117346.
Levels of Government Graphic Organizer
Levels of Government Graphic Organizer already filled in (accommodation for student)
Individual cards with name of government services (see attached sheet)
Tape
Venn diagram of 3 levels of government on chart paper
Journal Entry #2
Word Wall
Markers
Miscellaneous government books
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn and Student Ht will be given a Government Graphic
the Lesson 1 assessment. Student Hn will have a scribe if needed. Student Ht will not have to
participate in the group activity but just be in the group. Student Ht will be given preferential
seating in the front of the room near the teacher. Student Hn will type his answers to Lesson 1
worksheet on the computer. During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with a sensory
ball or other sensory objects to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Students will choose a choice board activity to complete.
Re-teaching:
Students will rewrite do a cut-and-paste word sort with the levels of government. They will have
to sort the name of the leader for each level of government and some of the basic services that
each level of government provides. The services will be pictures of the services the government
provides. They cards will already be cut out and they will simply paste them in the correct part of
the chart.
Data Analysis:
Since the lesson went longer than I thought today, I am going to have the students do the
assessment worksheet tomorrow.
Reflection:
Overall, the lesson went pretty well. I started off asking them whether they knew what
levels of government even meant. Most of the thought it meant the branches of government.
Then, we talked about the school illustration with the principal, assistant principals, and teachers
and this was really helpful for them to understand what levels of government were. I am
realizing as Im teaching more how important it is to make sure that students understand all of
the words you are talking about and that you define every word as you go. So, we had to define
federal before we got started because some of them didnt know what this meant. The graphic
organizer was very helpful again, and Im really glad that I made it. The students did a good job
of following along and writing in their answers, even the lower ones. They seemed to enjoy it
and it kept them on task.
Today I also saw that the more excited I get about the topic, the more excited they will
be. They are always eager to raise their hand and literally jump out of their seats to be called on
to answer a question which is a really good sign. Im glad they are enjoying it so much! One
thing that I maybe could have done differently would be the Venn diagram word sort. While I
loved the Venn diagram activity and think it was really helpful that we did it all together, it took
longer than I expected to go through all of the services I had listed. I wonder if there was
something I could have done to make it go faster. I noticed that there are couple of higher
students who were probably bored and which it could have been harder. For most of the students,
though, this activity was really good and helped really reinforce what we talked about. Next
time, maybe I could have had them work in groups to do their own version of it. I also realized
that when going through the powerpoint, I could have shown them pictures and had them guess
which service went with what level of government.

Title: Levels of Government and the Executive Branch

Date:
Estimated Time: 1 hr
Learning Objective(s): (Continued from Lesson 2)When given a list of questions, students
will correctly identify the level of government (federal, state, or local) receiving a score of 8 out
of 9.
learning about the three branches of government and specifically the executive branch!
(Continued from Lesson 2) Students will be given a worksheet with a list of different scenarios
of services that the government provides. The students have to indicate whether the federal
government, state government, or local government provides that service. The students must
receive an 8 out of 9 to be considered proficient. There is also a bonus question that they can
answer for extra credit. If students score below a 6, they will be considered in the green and need
to be retaught the material.
Engagement:
The teacher will have the students will fill out the worksheet on Levels of Government that has 9
scenario problems on it and the students must identify which level of government is responsible
for that particular action. The teacher will explain directions and have students work individually
on it. The teacher will go over the first problem together under the document camera as an
example. Okay boys and girls, who can tell me what we learned yesterday? Yes, awesome job!
We learned about the levels of government. So now, you guys are going to answer some
questions about the level of governments and what services they provide. I am going to hand out
a worksheet to each of you and the worksheet has 9 problems, front and back, where you must
identify Federal, State or Local on it for each problem. Teacher will put the worksheet under the
document camera and will do the first problem together. So lets do this first one together. It says
I am a citizen of another country. If I want to trade with the United States, what level of
government should I contact? Now, who can tell me what level of government this is? Teacher
will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes you are right! So the
federal government is in charge of international trade. Now, does everyone understand what they
are doing? Are there any questions? If there are not any questions, the teacher will let the
students get to work on their worksheet. You guys can go ahead and get started. Remember you
are doing this individually so there should be no talking to your neighbor and it should be silent.
When you get done, leave your paper on your desk with your pencil on top. You may come pick
out one of the books on government from the front counter and read quietly at your desk. The
teacher will give students time to complete the activity. After students are done, the teacher will
go over the questions all together as a class to make sure that students understand the levels of
government. She will put the sheet under the document camera and write in the answers as they
go. She will have them correct it as they go. Now, we are going to go over this together. So
number 2 says: if my company wanted to build a road from Mobile, AL to Birmingham, AL,
whose job would this be? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual
student. Good answer! So yes, it is the job of the state government because it is talking about
building a road throughout the state. Teacher will continue to go over the rest of the problems
together. The last bonus question I really hope you all got. It says Education is the job of 2
levels of government. What 2 levels of government are involved with education? Teacher will
wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes! So we talked about this. We
talked about the state and local government is responsible for education. Great job on that boys
and girls. Now I want you to put that sheet away in your My Alabama Government Folder. We
are going to transition to talking about something else. Teacher will transition the students to
starting to talk about the 3 branches of government and specifically the executive branch.
Teacher will bring in a 3 legged stool. Teacher will sit on the stool and demonstrate what would
happen if one of the legs was taken off. Introduce the 3 branches of government. The teacher will
tape a sentence strip of each branch to a different leg of the stool. In the middle of the stool she
will tape U.S Government. She will also write executive on the first branch of the picture of
the stool on the big chart paper. She will explain how all of the branches are needed for the
government to work together. She will explain that they will be learning about the executive
branch today. She will explain that both the federal and state governments are organized like this
and that they will be learning about both throughout their government unit. Specifically, they will
be focused on the state. Now boys and girls, notice what I have right here. I have a stool. There
are 3 legs on this stool. Teacher will proceed to sit on the stool. So what happens when I sit on
the stool? Does anything happen? Teacher will wait for student response. So its pretty sturdy
right? Yes, it is! I can sit on it fine and it supports my weight. Now suppose that one of the legs
was taken off. What would happen then when I sat on the stool? Teacher will wait for student
response and then will call on an individual student. Yes, you are right. It would probably break.
It would not be able to support my weight and the stool would stop being an effective stool. So
this stool is just like the U.S Government. Teacher will tape a sentence strip with the words U.S
Government- Federal and State in the middle of the stool. Our government is made up of 3
branches. A couple of yall mentioned this the first day. So these 3 branches are just like the 3
legs on the stool. Without one of the these branches of government, would our government be
able to still function as a whole? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an
individual student. Yes, exactly. The government will not be able to function as a whole without
each of the branches working as it should just like we saw with the stool. So the first branch we
are going to talk about is the executive branch. So I am going to put a sentence strip with the
word executive on it on one of the legs of the stool. Teacher will tape the sentence strip on the
first leg of the stool. Now, does anyone know why I put Federal and State government after U.S
government on the sentence strip in the middle of the stool? Well, its because that both the
federal and state governments are organized into 3 branches. So its not just the federal
government that has 3 branches. The state does too! Teacher will then pull up slide 3 on the
powerpoint. She will explain that the Constitution provides for a separation of powers and 3
branches. So look at this diagram. The Constitution provides for a separation of powers and
different parts to our government. Remember, the Constitution is the foundation of our
government. So today, we are going to be learning about one of these branches of government
called the Executive branch. Teacher will pull up slide 4. Lets read the learning objective on the
board all together. So today, we will learn about how our government is organized and about the
executive branch!
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Teacher will pull up the powerpoint. She will start the lesson by first talking about the Alabama
constitution and the similarities between how the Alabama government is structured to the
federal government.She will then go through the powerpoint while the students follow along
with their Executive Branch graphic organizer. Teacher will pull up slide 5. Before we get
started learning about the executive branch, lets read this all together. Teacher will have all of
the students read the paragraph together. So what did this say? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, you are right. Our Alabama government is
organized under the Alabama Constitution. So just like our federal government is organized
under the U.S Constitution, our government here in Alabama is organized under the Alabama
constitution and has 3 branches. The reason I wanted to point this out is because for this unit, we
are going to be learning about both the federal and state government, but specifically we are
going to learn about Alabama government since in fourth grade you learn all about Alabama.
Teacher will pull up slide 6. So we are talking about the executive branch today. Does anyone
know what the word executive means? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an
individual student. Okay, those are some good thoughts, but not quite right. Teacher will pull up
slide 7 and read the definition. Executive actually means having the power to put plans, actions,
and laws into effect. So do you have any guess to what the purpose of the executive branch could
be? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, you are
exactly right! The executive branch does make everyone obey laws. Teacher will pull up slide 8.
So, the function of the executive branch is to make sure that laws are carried out. I want you to
write this under the function in your graphic organizer. So notice something about that
definition. Does it say that the executive branch makes the laws? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on an individual student. No! It says that make sure everyone follows
them. This sounds similar to someone else in our community. Who makes sure that laws and
rules are followed and obeyed? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an
individual student. Yup, policeman is right. Now who do you think is the head of the executive
branch for the federal government or making sure laws are carried out? Teacher will wait for
student response. She will call on an individual student. She will pull up slide 9. Yes, the
President of the United States. He is the head. Now do you think that the President is the only
one in the executive branch? Do you think its good if any one person has too much power?
Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Youre right. Hes
not, and the vice president is included as one of the other people. Teacher will pull up slide 10
and show the students the picture of the President with the cabinet members. So look at this
slide. There is also the cabinet which includes lots of other people. So there a lot of people who
make up the executive branch. Now lets talk about the state. So who is the head of the executive
branch in the state? Yes, our governor! We mentioned him yesterday. Teacher will pull up slide
11. So our governor is Robert Bentley. So there are some other people that are included with
him. They include the lieutenant governor, the governors cabinet just like the presidents cabinet
and a couple of other people. The function of the executive branch is to make sure that laws are
carried out for whole country? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an
individual student. Yes you are right, not for the whole country, just for the state of Alabama! So
now lets fill in our chart on our graphic organizer that compares the federal and state executive
branches. Teacher will pull up slide 12 and have students fill it in with their graphic organizer.
She will wait until they are done. So now lets talk a little bit more about the governor and his
job. So we know his name. But what do we think his main job duties are as governor? I want you
to think for a minute about this on your own and then Im going to have you guys share. Teacher
will give students a minute to think and then will call on individual students. Those are some
great guesses! To oversee what goes on in the state. Yes, he does do that. He has 4 main jobs that
he does, however. Teacher will pull up slide 13 and students will read them together. As we go
through these jobs, I want you to follow along with your graphic organizer. Make sure to write
down all 4 duties. So first off, he approves or vetos bills. Now what does veto mean? Teacher will
wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, you are right! It means to
reject or turn down something. Teacher will go to slide 14 and talk about what veto is. So the
main definition is to reject or turn down a law. So only the President in the federal government
and the Governor in the state government has the power to do this. This is a big power! The
teacher will then go back to slide 13 and go back over the other duties of the governor. So the
governor can also summon the legislature. Does anyone know what that word means? Teacher
will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. We will learn more about
the legislature later, but for today just know that legislature just means the people who make the
laws. So President can tell the people that its time to make some laws or make decisions on
some laws. That next duty has to do because the governor is seen as commander-in-chief. So he
has the power to call out the state military at any time! Thats pretty crazy right. His last job is
kinda interesting. He can grant criminal pardons. What do you think that means? Teacher will
wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, so he can set people free
who are in jail or basically forgive them. Teacher will pull up slide 15. So lets look at some of
the other people who are in the executive branch of Alabama besides our governor. Here are 3
pictures of people. Student A, will you read that first person and position out loud? Thank you!
So there is a lieutenant governor. Student B, will you read the next one? Yes, there is a secretary
of state. And lastly, there is an attorney general. So we will learn more about these later, but for
right now I just want you to be aware of who are some of the other people in the executive
branch. Last thing. Teacher will pull up slide 16. So, do the people in the executive branch make
the laws? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, you
are right! They dont actually make the laws at all. Their job is to do what? Yes, make sure they
are obeyed. Awesome job!
They will do this in Lesson 4- Teacher will explain to students what they will be doing. She will
explain that they will be working in groups to read over sections of the Alabama constitution and
find certain things. Each person in the group will be responsible for reading one section of the
Constitution.There will also be a scribe. Each person in the group will be responsible for finding
the answer to their question and telling the scribe what to write down on the paper. The teacher
and students will then talk about their answers together.
III. Assessment:
They will do this in Lesson 4- Students will write a job advertisement for the position of
Governor of Alabama scoring a 11 out of 12 on a teacher-made rubric to be considered
proficient.
IV. Closure:
Teacher will do a short review of what they learned that day. She will have students put away
their graphic organizers in their My Alabama Government Folder. Lets think back to the
beginning of the lesson today. What did I first bring out and compare the government too?
Teacher will wait for student response. Yes, you are right! I brought out a stool and we compared
our government to the stool. How is our government like the stool? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on an individual student. Good! So we said that just like a stool, all of the
branches of government are important for our government to work. What branch did we talk
about today? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes,
the executive branch. Now, what did we say is the purpose of the executive branch? Teacher will
wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. So the executive branch carries
out laws or make sure they are obeyed. Now tomorrow, we are going to do two activities to learn
more about our Alabama government and who all is involved in the executive branch. We are
also going to learn more about what it means to be governor. Teacher will tell students to put
their graphic organizer away in their desks for tomorrow. Now, I want you to put your executive
branch graphic organizer in your My Alabama Government Folder and put that in your desk.
After you have done that, go ahead and line up quietly for lunch.

Powerpoint Lesson 3
Promethean Board
Document Camera
Pencils
Levels of Government Scenario problems for Lesson 2
Answer Key for Levels of Government Scenario Problems
Executive Branch Graphic Organizer
Executive Branch Graphic Organizer already filled in (accommodation for student)
Journal Entry #3
Word Wall
Stool
Sentence Strip U.S. Government- federal and state
Sentence Strip Executive Branch
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn and Student Ht will be given a Executive Graphic
the Lesson 1 assessment. Student Hn will have a scribe if needed. Student Ht will be given
preferential seating in the front of the room near the teacher. Student Hn will type his answers to
Lesson 1 assessment on the computer. During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with
a sensory ball or other sensory objects to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Re-teaching:
Students will complete an executive branch concept map where they list out the function
of the executive branch and who is included in it. They will then complete a Governor of
Alabama concept map where they will list out the duties and qualifications of governor of
Alabama.
Data Analysis:
The students did well on the levels of government worksheet I gave them as assessment. I
had them do this individually on their own, but then we went over it all together so that I made
sure students grasped what the differences and the key services of each level. Most of the
students scored a 9/9 and a lot of them scored a 10/9 because I gave them a bonus question. Out
of both classes, there were two students who scored an 8/9. There were about 3 students in the
second class that had to change 3 or more of their answers so they would be the only ones who
would need additional re-teaching. Everyone else did really well.
Reflection:
The students did well on the levels of government worksheet even though we had talked
about levels of government the day before. I am glad that I went over the worksheet all together
after they filled it out individually so that I was able to go over any confusion and address any
wrong thinking. I realize now why it is so valuable for teachers to go back over the work they
have students because it allows students to see what they did right or wrong. While overall I
think that this worksheet was at the right level for most of the students and wasnt too hard or too
easy, I do think that this worksheet might have been too easy for my higher end learners. I think
that I should have designed a harder worksheet for them that would have been more of a
challenge.
The engagement activity with the stool to talk about the 3 branches of government went
really well. The students were all listening and curious when I got out a stool and started talking
about a stool. It got their attention and provided the hook that was needed to go into the
branches of government. The students did a good job of filling out the graphic organizer but I
think I may have put too much information on the slides or gone too fast on some parts. I still
think a couple of students are having a hard time understanding how the federal and state
government are both structured like this so I need to make sure to reinforce this every day. I also
realize that on the graphic organizer, Im not sure whether it was more confusing to have a chart
with both federal and state. I think that this might have confused them more. However, the
students asked a lot of questions throughout this lesson so I know that they were listening and
engaged a lot. They are very curious which is great! I didnt really get to conclude very well,
however, so that is something that I could have done better.

Title: Executive Branch and the Governor

Date:
Students will write a job advertisement for the position of Governor of Alabama scoring a 11 out
of 12 on a teacher-made rubric to be considered proficient.
learning about the three branches of government and specifically the executive branch!
Students will write a job advertisement for the position of Governor of Alabama. They must
score an 11 out of 12 to be considered proficient. They will be graded according to a teachermade rubric. The rubric will include stating the qualifications to be governor, a job summary
or the duties of governor, and the skills needed to be a governor. Students who score an 8 or
below will be considered to have not grasped the concept and might need re-teaching.
Engagement:
Teacher will start off reviewing the executive branch. She will direct students attention to the
stool and the sentence strip they put on it yesterday and what the stool represents. They will go
over the function of the executive branch and the head of the executive branch in Alabama
government. Okay boys and girls, so remember we got out this stool yesterday. Teacher will get
out the stool and show students. What did we compare this stool too? Teacher will wait for
student response. She will call on individual student. Yes, youre right! Our government. We
compared each leg of the stool to a branch of our government. What branch did we talk about
yesterday? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on individual student. So
yesterday we talked all the first branch of our government, the executive branch. Now what did
we say is the function of the executive branch? Teacher will wait for student response. She will
call on individual student. Great memory! The executive branch makes sure that laws are carried
out and obeyed. Do they make the laws? No, they dont. They just carry them out. Who is the
head of the executive branch in the Alabama government? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on individual student. Yes, our governor! And what is his name? Teacher
will wait for student response. She will call on individual student. Yes, Robert J. Bentley. Now,
did we say that he is the only one in the executive branch? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on individual student. Right, we said there are other people with him. We
looked at some of these yesterday. Teacher will pull up slide 15 to review. So today, we are going
to learn a little bit more about the executive branch in the Alabama government.
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:

Teacher will explain to students what they will be doing. She will explain that they will be
working in groups to read over sections of the Alabama constitution and find certain things. Each
person in the group will be responsible for reading one section of the Constitution.There will also
be a scribe. Each person in the group will be responsible for finding the answer to their question
and telling the scribe what to write down on the paper. The teacher and students will then talk
about their answers together. Teacher will up slide 17. So first, we are going to do an activity in
groups where we read a couple of parts of the real Alabama constitution and answer some
questions about it. The parts of the Alabama constitution we are going to read about it is the
parts that tell us all the people who are in the executive branch besides the governor and we will
also learn more about the position and job of governor. Now, I am first going to divide you into
groups. Then, I am going to number each person in your group 1 through 4 and then someone as
the scribe. Each person will get a section of the Alabama constitution that has their number on
that section. Your job is to read that section and find the answer to your question. Teacher will
pull up the worksheet under the document camera and show students. Now on the worksheet that
the scribe will fill in, it has a different question with an empty box that is numbered and goes
with each persons different section. I also have this on the board since there is just one
worksheet to share with all your groups. So, your job if you are a 1, 2, 3, or 4 will be to read
your section that was given to you and figure out the answer to your question. Then, you will tell
the scribe who will write down all of the answers on the sheet. Remember that this is the real
Alabama constitution so there may be some words you dont understand but I think that you can
do it. Remember you have other group members to help you out. Now, does anyone have any
questions before we get started? Teacher will wait for student response and answer questions
they may have. She will then divide the students into groups and tell them to get to work. Okay
now I am going to read off your groups and I will read what number you are or if you are the
scribe. I want the scribe to come pick up your sheets for the whole group. Teacher will read off
the group member names and let students start working. As they work, she will monitor the work
and assist groups who have questions or need help as needed. Teacher will then bring everyone
back together and they will go over the worksheet together to make sure the students were able
to figure it out. Teacher will give students a 2 minute limit. Okay boys and girls, you have 2
more minutes to work on this and then we going to talk about it all together. Teacher will call
students together and they will go over the answers together. She will call on individual students.
Okay, lets bring it back together. Everyone please go back to your seats. I will know you are
ready when you are sitting quietly at your desk. Great, lets go over this together. So first off,
what are the nine people that are a part of the executive branch? Teacher will call on a group to
share. Great! What about number 2, who is the supreme power of Alabama? Good, the governor!
So does supreme mean having all the power? Teacher will wait for student response. She will
call on individual student. Good. It doesnt. Supreme means the highest but not all of the power.
Now lets look at number 3. What are the 3 qualifications to be governor? Teacher will wait for
student response. She will call on individual student. Now what about this last one? His length of
term and how many terms he can serve. Group 4, what did you guys put down? Teacher will call
on them. Yes, you are right 4 years is one term. Now did you understand the wording on how
many terms they can serve? I know it was confusing. So it says one additional term meaning
how many more years? Good, a total of 8 total years. So now I want you to get out your graphic
organizer from yesterday and we are going to fill in the qualifications to be governor because
these are really important. Teacher will pull up slide 18 and students will record these on their
graphic organizer.
III. Assessment:
Teacher will explain the directions for the assessment to the students. Students will write a job
advertisement for the position of Governor of Alabama scoring a 11 out of 12 on a teacher-made
rubric to be considered proficient. She will put the rubric under the document camera and explain
it to students. She will let them work individually and then take it up. Teacher will pull up slide
20. Now boys and girls, we have just learned more about the qualifications to be a governor of
Alabama and how long you can serve as governor by looking at the Alabama constitution. Now,
you are going to get to design a job advertisement for the position of Governor of Alabama. So
you are pretending that you are writing an ad in the newspaper and you are telling people about
the job of governor. You want to make sure to explain to people who may be interested in the job
what it entails. Teacher will pull up a picture of the job advertisement worksheet under the
document camera. So here is what you all are going to get. On this sheet, it has job summary,
qualifications, age, and skills. Teacher will pass out the worksheets to students. The teacher will
then pull up the rubric and explain what she will be looking for under each section. Okay boys
and girls, here is the rubric I will be grading you on. Everyone look up at the board and I am
going to explain what you each section should include. So under the job summary, I want you to
write atleast 2 of the duties that we said that the governor performs. We wrote down four of these
so this shouldnt be hard for you to remember. Under the qualifications, I want you to write the 3
qualifications that we just went over and talked about for someone to be governor. Them, write
the age you would have to be in order to be governor. Lastly, I want you to be creative on the
skill part and think about what skills a person would be to make a good governor. Do you think a
governor should be dishonest? Or lazy? Teacher will wait for student response. Yes, I think you
are right. It wouldnt be good if a President was dishonest or lazy. So really think about what
type of things a person should have to be a good governor. Does anyone have any questions
before you get to work? Teacher will wait for student response and will answer any questions
students may have. Okay, go ahead and get to work then! Remember that this is to be completed
by yourself so there will be no talking. If you have a question while you are working, raise your
hand and I will come help you. When you are done, turn in your sheet to my mailbox and come
pick up your Journal Entry #3 for today and go ahead and work on that. Students will work on
this individually on their own. When they finish, the teacher will have them come get the Journal
Entry #3 from the teacher and they will complete that at their desk.
IV. Closure:
The teacher will review what they talked about that day. She will have students complete Journal
Entry #3 if they havent already and put it in their My Alabama Government folder. Okay boys
and girls, so hopefully you enjoyed writing the advertisement for position of governor! I hope
that was fun for you and that you have a good idea of what the position of governor really
means. Now, I am going to pass out Journal Entry #3 and I want you to answer the questions on
the journal page. After you have done this, please put it in your My Alabama Government Folder
and put it away in your desk. You may then go get a government book from the front counter and
read quietly at your desk. Teacher will pass out the Journal Entry #3 to students.

Powerpoint Lesson 3
Promethean Board
Pencils
Job Advertisement for Governor (1 per student)
Rubric for Job Advertisement for Governor
Worksheet on Alabama Constitution (1 per group)
4 different sections of the Alabama Constitution (1set per group)
Section 112
Section 113
Section 117
Amendment 282 to Section 116
Journal Entry #3
Markers
Word Wall
Stool
Sentence Strip Executive Branch
Google Chromebooks (1 per student)
Google Slides
Extension Activity Project on Elected Officials in the Alabama Executive Branch directions
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn and Student Ht will be given a Executive Branch
Graphic Organizer that is already filled in. Student Ht will have a scribe who will dictate her
answers for the Job Advertisement for Governor assessment. Student Hn will have a scribe if
needed. Student Ht will be given preferential seating in the front of the room near the teacher.
Student Ht will not have to work in the group on the Alabama Constitution group activity. The
teacher will go over the sheet with her and fill in the answers on her own separate piece of
Alabama Constitution worksheet. He will type his answers to Lesson 1 worksheet on the
computer. During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with a sensory ball or other
sensory objects to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Students will be given the Extension Activity Project from the choice board. This is a research
project on the other elected officials in the executive branch in the Alabama government besides
the governor. Students will be grouped in groups of 2 and given a different official to research:
the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, or the secretary of state. Each will have a
chromebook. They will go to the class website and pull up the directions listed there. They will
use whatever website is given for their official and make a Google slides presentation to share
with the class about that official--his job and what it includes, the current person in that position,
a picture of him and the length of his term, when the position was established, and the history of
past people who service in that position.
Re-teaching:
Data Analysis:
The students did really well on the job advertisement for the Governor assessment. The
majority of the students got a 12 out of 12 on the rubric in both classes. Out of 45 students, there
were only 5-7 who got between a 10 and 12. Everyone got atleast a 10 or higher, so they met the
learning goal I set.
Reflection:
The lesson went really well today. It was one of the lessons that actually went according
to plan. The activities worked really well and the students enjoyed them. The group activity
where the students had to read a couple of sections of the Alabama constitution and answer
questions on it went really well. I was pretty hesitant on how this was going to go but it actually
went great. The students worked well in their groups and seemed to enjoy the assignment. While
it was a little bit of a challenge for them because some of the wording was hard to understand the
way that the Constitution was written, they still were able to mostly answer the questions. Since
they were in groups, this was helpful because they could help each other if someone didnt
understand the wording or was confused. I made sure to put higher students with lower students.
I am glad I thought through the groups before we did the activity. I ended up dividing the
students in groups of five and then each person was either a 1, 2, 3 4, or the scribe. Each one had
a specific section of the Alabama constitution to read and answer a question and the scribe wrote
down the answers. Im definitely I had prepared the groups beforehand and that I gave each
person a job. I realize now that it is always important to give each student a job when they are
working in a group; when they have a job, group work is much more likely to go well because
each student understands what they are supposed to do and they have to pull their weight. The
students then wrote a job advertisement for the position of governor. They all did really well on
this because I showed them the rubric I was grading them with and gave them clear directions.
Some of the students went above and beyond, some did not but the vast majority got it. One
thing that I could have done differently is that I could have given the higher end students a harder
version of this assignment. I could have made them write more sentences or add their own
description. Its really hard to try to make an assessment that fits everyone, so next time I might
make a harder version of the assessment for the higher end students to make sure that they are
pushed. The students were engaged the whole time, but a lot of this might be because they were
doing activities and not just seated taking notes.

Title: The Legislative Branch

Date:
Learning Objective(s): (Will complete in Lesson 6) Students will write a narrative from the
perspective of a bill to explain the process of how a bill becomes a law scoring an 11 out of 12
on a teacher-made rubric.
learning about the legislative branch and how laws are made!
(Will complete in Lesson 6) Students will write a narrative from the perspective of a bill to
explain the process of how a bill becomes a law scoring an 11 out of 12 on a teacher-made
rubric. Students will be given a sheet that has directions on the top and a box with vocabulary
words. They will be told they are to write a first person narrative pretending like they are a bill
and they are traveling through the process of becoming a bill. They will write using the first
person and describe each of the steps of a bill becoming a law. Students must receive an 11 out of
12 on a teacher made rubric to be considered proficient. If students score below a 10, they will be
considered to be in the red and will be pulled for re-teaching.
Engagement:
The teacher will start off by having the students write on their post it note why they think we
need laws. She will have a piece of chart paper up front with the question in the middle Why do
we need laws? and students will put their post it note around it. She will pull up slide 2. She will
then introduce the legislative branch and connect what the legislative branch does. She will refer
back to the stool. She will then have the students read the learning objective for the day all
together from the board. Okay boys and girls, to get started today I want you to imagine a
country without any laws. Think about what that country would be like. Why do we need laws?
Dont say anything, just think about this outloud. Teacher will then pass out the post it notes and
direct students attention to the chart paper with the question on it. Now, I am going to pass out a
post it note to each of you. Look at the board at the question I have written on the chart paper.
So it says Why do we need laws? What I want you to do is to write on your post it note why
you think we need laws. Think about why they are important and would happen without
them.want you to look at the board. Make sure to write your name on it. Once you have done
that, please put your post it note somewhere around the question on the chart paper. I want you
to do this quietly. I will then read some of them outloud. Teacher will give students a couple of
minutes to write their response on their post it note and then she will read some of them outloud
and talk about them together. Okay now I am going to read some of these outloud. Oh wow, those
are some great ideas! So it seems like a lot of you talked about how laws keep us safe and protect
us from things. A couple of people said that bad things would happen and people could kill
anyone whenever if we didnt have laws. I think these are all great ideas and very true. So laws
keep us safe.Lets look at what our president, President Obama says about laws. Teacher will
pull up slide 3 and read the quote aloud to students. So what does the president say why laws are
important? Teacher will wait for student response. Yes, he says that without them, a country
would not be able to be successful or even run well as a country. Teacher will pull up slide 4. A
nation without laws is what the United States would be like without the legislative branch of the
government. So today we are going to be learning about the next branch of government called
the legislative branch. So who can tell me what we compared our government too on the first
day? Remember I brought it in and sat on it. Teacher will wait for student response. Good! The
stool. Teacher will pull out the stool and explain that they are learning about the next branch of
government today and put a sentence strip on it. So we did compare it to a stool. So the
legislative branch is the next branch or leg of our government. Teacher will pull up slide 6. The
legislative branch is one of the other branches besides the executive branch. Teacher will tape
the sentence strip on the stool. Teacher will pull up slide 7 and have the students read aloud the
learning objective on the board. Okay boys and girls, lets read our learning objective out loud
all together: In this lesson, we will learn about the legislative branch and how laws are made!
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Teacher will pull up the powerpoint. She will teach about the legislative branch. Students will fill
out a graphic organizer on the legislative branch as they go along. They will first talk about the
definition of a law and the function of the legislative branch. They will then fill out a diagram on
Congress and who is included in Congress. Last, they will watch a schoolhouse rock video Im
Just A Bill and talk about the process of a bill becoming a law. They will read the steps out loud
together. So first, lets define what a law really is to make sure that we all have the same
understanding of what a law is. I am going to pass out a graphic organizer for the Legislative
Branch for the next couple of days and as I pass it out I want you to put your name on it. Teacher
will pull up slide 8 and have a student read the definition. Student P, please read the definition of
a law to the class. Good! So a law is a set of rules established by an authority that teach us how
to behave properly. Notice that your first blank on your graphic organizer is the definition of
law. So go ahead and record this on your sheet. Teacher will give students time to write down the
definition. So does this definition make sense? Give me a thumbs up if it does. Okay good, so
most of us understand what it is saying. So laws are established to keep us safe and make sure
we act in a good way. What are some examples of some laws in our country? Teacher will wait
for student response. She will call on an individual student. Great, that is an example of a law!
So speeding is against a law and not buckling your seatbelt is against the law. So lets move on
the purpose of the legislative branch. What do you think the legislative branch does? Teacher
will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Those are great ideas!
Teacher will pull up slide 9. So the legislative branch has a big job. They are the ones who
actually make the laws! So make sure to write this in your graphic organizer. Their function is to
make laws. Teacher will pull up slide 10. So lets think about the difference between federal and
state laws. Federal laws are laws made for who? Yes, the whole country. What about state laws?
Good, they are laws to be followed only by that state. So lets look at who is in the legislative
branch. Does anyone have any guesses as to who is in the legislative branch? Teacher will wait
for student response. She will call on an individual student. Great ideas, but the name of who is
the legislative branch is Congress. Teacher will pull up slide 11. So the legislative branch is
made up of the Congress. But what does this diagram show us? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, congress has 2 different parts, the Senate
and the House of Representatives. So go ahead and write down these words in your diagram on
your graphic organizer. But who is Congress and the Senate and the House of representatives
actually? Are they just buildings? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an
individual student. Nope, they are made up of individual people, like you and me. Did you realize
that? So Congress is made up of lots of people. Teacher will pull up slide 12. These people are
called legislators. Everyone say legislators. Good! So all of these people are a part of one of the
two different parts of Congress, the Senate or the House of Representatives. So they are either
Senators or Representatives. I want you to fill that in on the bottom of your sheet. Teacher will
give students a couple of minutes to do that and then she will bring them back together. Teacher
will pull up slide 13. So now look at this picture. This is a picture of the U.S congress. I want you
to raise your hand and tell me what you notice about this picture. Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on an individual student. So you notice that there is a lot of people, over
50. Well you are right! What else? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an
individual student. Good, it looks like someone is speaking to them. I think that is the president.
You also notice that there is an American flag. Those are all good observations! So one of the
biggest points is that Congress is made up of many people. The U.S Congress is really big. Even
our Alabama congress is big too. Now, lets compare the federal government legislative branch
and the Alabama legislative branch. Teacher will pull up slide 14 and go over it with students.
So in the federal government, we have the U.S Congress who makes laws for the entire United
States. But in the state government, we have what? Yes, the Alabama congress who makes laws
for who? Yes, just the state of Alabama. Do you think a law made in New York we would have to
follow in Alabama? Youre right, no we wouldnt! So some states have different laws, but all
states have laws that everyone, the whole nation, has to follow. Also look at the pictures. So
Alabama Congress meets in the Alabama State House in Montgomery. But the federal
government meets in the U.S Capitol which is in Washington, D.C. Teacher will pull up slide 15.
So lets think about our state of Alabama. Student M, will you read that first sentence at the top
for us? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Thank you,
so each senator and representative is elected from a district in Alabama. In Alabama, senators
and representatives are elected by us, who live in the state, to represent us in the state
government and make laws for our state. Look at this top picture. So this is how many senate
districts there are. Look at the bottom picture. So this is how many representative districts there
are in Alabama. What do you notice about that? Teacher will wait for student response. She will
call on an individual student. Good! So representatives are elected based on the size of your
county or how many people are there. However, for the Senate, the districts are just evenly
divided up. Teacher will now transition to teaching to how laws are made. She will pull up slide
17 and have the students watch the schoolhouse rock video Im Just A Bill
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0). Okay boys and girls, now lets talk a little bit
about how laws are made. To do this, we are going to watch a schoolhouse rock video called Im
Just A Bill. Now, while you are watching I want you to pay close attention to what happens to the
bill. I want you to think about these questions that are on the board while you watch. Think
about what is a bill? Where does a bill start? and how does a bill become a law? Teacher will
play the video and then ask students questions after. Okay, so hopefully you learned some good
things from that video. What is something that stood out to you from that video? Teacher will
wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Good! You are right. It takes a
long process for a bill to become a law. There are a lot of people that must approve it and say
yes. Now who can tell me what a bill is? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on
an individual student. Yes, a bill is the early version of a law. Now it says that a bill starts out as
something. What does it say that a bill start outs as? Teacher will wait for student response. She
will call on an individual student. Yes! It starts out as an idea in someones mind, whether in a
congressmens mind or someone elses. Teacher will pull up slide 18. She will go over the steps
all together as a class. She will have individual students read. Now, lets look at these steps
broken down all together. Student B, will you read number 1 for us. Thank you! So a bill is like
an early version of a law. Student A, will you read number 2? Thank you! So does this say that a
bill is voted on just by the Senate? Yes, youre right. It is voted on by both houses of Congress.
Now student H, please read number 3. So what has to happen for the bill to be sent to the
Governor? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Now
please read number 4. So if the governor signs the bill, what happens? Teacher will wait for
student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, it becomes a law. But the governor
doesnt have to sign it. What if the governor doesnt sign it? Right, he can reject it! And then the
bill is sent back to Congress. What happens next? Youre right, the house and sentate have to
vote on it again.

The students will do a group activity on the process of a bill becoming a law after they watch the
schoolhouse rock video Im Just A Bill. Students will work in groups of 4 or 5 to sort and put
in order the steps of a bill becoming a law. The teacher will then gather the students back
together and they will go over it all together. Okay so now I am going to have yall have do a
short activity to go over this process. Now I know we just learned about this so if you dont get it
all right thats okay, I just want to see if yall can do it. I am going to have you work in your
table groups to do this. I will pass out cards that go through the process of a bill becoming a law
and you will work together with your group to put them in order. So, I want you to turn over your
graphic organizer. On the back side, is a diagram that says How Laws Are Made. One person in
your group should put theirs in the middle of the table and then I want you guys to work together
to put them in order. I will walk around the groups and help you guys as needed. Are there any
questions? Teacher will take questions and will answer questions that students may have. Once I
give you your cards, you can go ahead and begin. Call on me when you think you have the order
figured out and you want me to check it. Teacher will let students work together and then call
them back together. They will go over the correct order together. Great job on that activity guys!
Please go back to your seats if you moved around to work with your group. Lets go over it
briefly together. So first, I saw that all of you guys said that a member of Congress writes a bill.
Good! Next, you guys also got it all right that the bill is studied and discussed. So not just any
bill can go to Congress and be voted on. It has to be examined and looked at and discussed.
Next, the bill is voted on by both houses of Congress. You guys got that right as well. Now here is
where it got a little harder. So what did you guys put for the next one, group one? Teacher will
call on a group to share. You put if both houses vote for the bill to become a law, then it is sent to
the governor. Good. So both houses have to have a majority vote for the bill to become a law for
it to be sent to the governor. Now, what is the next one? Teacher will call on a group to share.
You are right, if the governor signs the bill, it becomes a law. So this is where many of yall got
confused. You thought when the governor signs the law would be the last card. But its actually
not. I want you to think about something. So if the governor does sign the bill into the law after it
has passed in both houses, does it stop there? Teacher will wait for student response. So this is
pretty hard. Let me read that again. If the governor signs the bill, it becomes a law. Is there
anything left for it to become? Nope, youre right. It is done. It is a law. But often this doesnt
happen. So what else can happen? What goes in number 6? Teacher will call on a table group.
Good. If the governor vetoes or rejects the bill, it is sent back to Congress. What is the next part?
Yes, congress will then vote on the bill again. So then what would that last step be? Teacher will
call on an individual group. Yes, if they vote again in both houses and it passess with a majority
vote, it then becomes a law. You are right! Great job on that boys and girls. I want you to please
put your cards back together in your bag and hand them back to me. Teacher will come around
and collect the bags with the cards in them.
III. Assessment:
The assessment will be done in Lesson 6- Students will write a narrative from the perspective
of a bill to explain the process of how a bill becomes a law scoring an 8 out of 9 on a teachermade rubric.
IV. Closure:
The teacher will do a short review of what they went over that day and what the legislative
branch is. She will ask a couple of questions. She will have the students put their graphic
organizer away in their My Alabama Government folder. Great job today guys! I know that we
learned a lot of new information today and some of still might not make sense. But we will
continue to work on this over the next couple of days, so hopefully it will start to make more
sense. So before we end for the day, lets review really fast. What is the branch of the government
that we talked about today? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual
student. Yes, the legislative branch. Now what is the main function of the legislative branch,
student B? Teacher will wait for student response. Yes, it is to make laws. So they have an
important job to do. Today we learned a little bit about the bills become laws. In the next lesson,
we will go over this again and then play a fun activity to help us understand this even more.
Teacher will have students put their graphic organizer away in their My Alabama Government
Folder. I want you to go ahead and put your name on you graphic organizer if you have not
already and then put it away in your My Alabama Government Folder. This way you can use it
for the lesson tomorrow.

Powerpoint Lesson 4
Promethean Board
Document Camera
Pencils
Chart Paper with Why Do Need Laws? in the middle
Post it notes (1 per student)
Legislative Branch Graphic Organizer (1 per student)
Legislative Branch Graphic Organizer already filled in (accommodation for student)
SchoolHouse rock video- Im Just A Bill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0
Individual cards of How Laws Are Made- 8 cards (1 set per group)
Markers
Word Wall
Stool
Sentence Strip Legislative Branch
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn and Student Ht will be given a Legislative Branch
Graphic Organizer that is already filled in. Student Ht will work with the group but will not have
to participate in the activity. Student Hn will have a scribe if needed. Student Ht will be given
preferential seating in the front of the room near the teacher. Student Hn will work with a hand
picked group who he works well with. During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with
a sensory ball or other sensory objects to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Re-teaching:
Students who did not fully grasp this concept will be given another worksheet on how laws are
made.
Data Analysis:
The students did not complete the assessment for this branch of government yet. They
will complete that on Monday. So there was no data from that to gather. However, we did do an
activity where students worked in groups to put the steps of a bill being made into a law in order.
The students did pretty well on this, except there was wide variety among the groups. Half of the
groups in both classes got it pretty soon, while half of them struggled. This shows me that I need
to reinforce and go back over it again in the next lesson.
Reflection:
The lesson today went okay, but to be honest it didnt go as well as I would have hoped.
Some of that was because of little things like the SchoolHouse rock video I planned to show
them did not work when I tried to pull it up, so that took some time away and was distracting for
the students. Also, two different students checked out early so that also interpreted our lesson. It
is definitely hard when there are distractions to the lesson! But it was good for me to have them
because it is more the reality for teachers that you will have distractions and things might not go
as planned. While I was going through the powerpoint with the first class, I also realized that it
was probably a little too hard for them and there were parts that I should have taken out or left
out. I realized that my definition for law was a little too in depth and would go over their
heads.
I also realized that I needed to thoroughly explain what Congress was up first so that they
understand what the legislative branch is made up of. Even the order I had the slides in wasnt
quite right. For the next class, I was able to change the big stuff that I wanted to change and add
a couple of things and take some stuff out. I still felt like I was talking to them a lot and giving a
lot of information so I tried to involve them as much as I could by asking questions and having
them read definitions out loud from the board. I also ended up adding an activity to go along
with the process of a bill becoming a law. After we watched the schoolhouse rock video and went
over the basic steps of how a bill becomes a law, I broke them up into groups and gave them
cards to order the process of a bill becoming a law. This was my attempt at letting them do
something or practice. I decided to push back them filling out their graphic organizer until the
next lesson.

Title: How Laws Are Made

Date:
Students will write a narrative from the perspective of a bill to explain the process of how a bill
becomes a law scoring an 11 out of 12 on a teacher-made rubric.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:
In this lesson, we are going to continue to learn about the process of how laws are made!
Students will write a narrative story from the perspective of a bill to explain the process of how a
bill becomes a law. Students will be given a sheet that has directions on the top and a box with
vocabulary words. They will be told they are to write a first person narrative pretending like they
are a bill and they are traveling through the process of becoming a bill. They will write using the
first person and describe each of the steps of a bill becoming a law. Students must receive an 11
out of 12 on a teacher made rubric to be considered proficient. If students score below a 10, they
will be considered to be in the red and will be pulled for re-teaching.
Engagement:
The teacher will briefly review what they learned about in the last lesson. She will ask students
questions about what branch they learned about and the function of the legislative branch. She
will go over the powerpoint slides to help review. Okay boys and girls, before we get started I
want you to go ahead and get out your My Alabama Government Folder and get out your
Legislative Branch graphic organizer. I will wait until you all have this out with a pencil and I
will know you are ready to go. Teacher will wait for students to get out their folder and their
graphic organizer. So in the last lesson, who can tell me the name of the branch of government
that we learned about? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on individual
student. Good! So we talked about the legislative branch. Teacher will direct students attention
to the stool with the sentence strip on it. We can look at the stool again and notice how we put
the sentence strip legislative branch on it. Teacher will pull up slide 20. So, who can tell me the
function of the legislative branch? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on
individual student. Good! So the function of the legislative branch is to make laws. Now, who is
included in the legislative branch? There is one name that is divided into 2 different parts.
Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on individual student. Awesome! So the
legislative branch includes Congress. Congress is made up of the Senate and the House of
Representatives. Teacher will pull up slide 21. So here is the diagram that we looked at. Here is
another picture that I thought might be helpful for you guys to look at. Teacher will pull up slide
22. Okay, can anyone tell me who Congress is made up of? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on individual student. Good! Congress is made up of people. They are
called senators and representatives. Teacher will pull up slide 23. Great memory boys and girls!
Okay now we are going to go through the steps of a bill becoming a law one more time to make
sure we understand these.
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
The teacher will review the process of a bill becoming a law. She will have the students fill out
the graphic organizer How Laws are Made. She will pull up the powerpoint slide 24. Now, before
we do a fun activity to practice about how laws are made, I want you go ahead and get out your
legislative branch graphic organizer and turn it over. On the back side, is a diagram that says
How Laws Are Made. We are going to fill this in together. Teacher will pull up slide 24. So go
ahead and start to fill this in as we go over it together. Teacher will let students start to fill in the
graphic organizer. She will call on individual students to read out different steps in the process.
They will talk about each different step and clarify any misunderstanding. Okay student B, will
you read the first step out loud for us? Teacher will wait for student response. Good! So the first
step is the a member of Congress write the bill. Student T, will you read the next step? Teacher
will wait for student response. Good, the bill is then studied and discussed. So its talked about
and debated by people in both houses. What happens next? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on individual student. Yes, the bill is voted on by both houses of Congress.
Do they vote together or separately? Yes, they vote separately. Student A, read that next one.
Student will read step 4. Good. So if it passes with majority vote in both houses, it is sent to the
governor. Now what does majority mean? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on
individual student. So it means over half of the people. So that is how a bill is passed in the
houses. We will see how this works a later on when we play a fun activity. Student B, will you
read step 5? Student will read step 5. Great! So the next step is if the governor signs the bill, it
becomes a law. Now, if the governor signs it and it becomes a law, would it stop there? Teacher
will wait for student response. Okay, so I know that is confusing, but yes it would actually stop
there. Once it is a law, it is a law! But if the governor doesnt sign it, what does he do? Teacher
will wait for student response. She will call on individual student. Good! Yes so he can veto it.
Does this mean he says yes or no? Yes, it means he rejects it and says he doenst like it! Student
B, will you read step 7? Student will read step 7. So then the bill can be voted on again. Student
B, will you read step 8? Student will read step 8. If both houses pass the bill again, its a law!
Teacher will give students the directions for the group activity they are going to do. They are
going to do a mock legislature and pretend like they are congress. The teacher will divide half of
the class as Alabama senators and half of the class as representatives. She will go over the
directions and explain that she will propose a bill and then the students, as the senators and
representatives, will decide whether it is going to pass or not. She will pull up the powerpoint to
use as directions. Okay boys and girls, now we are going to do a really fun activity where you
guys are actually going to be Congress and we will get to experience first-hand what it is like for
a bill to go through Congress. Teacher will pull up the directions on slide 25. Now, before I
explain the directions I want you guys to know that this is a really fun activity, but for it to go
well we have to pay close attention to directions and follow them or else it will not go smoothly.
Do that make sense? Teacher will wait for student response and wait for a thumbs up. Okay, so
the way this will work is that I am going to pass out name cards to you. So these 2 tables are
going to be the Senate and these 2 tables are going to be the House of Representatives. So, I am
going to pass out name cards with Alabama senator or Alabama representative on it so that you
know who you are. I will be the governor or president. Teacher will pass out the name cards to
students. Now, I am going to propose a bill that someone wants to make a law. Then after I
propose a bill, I am going to give you two minutes or so to think about this on your own. You will
think about this on your own and there will be no talking. Then, I am going to let one senator
and one representative give their opinion on the bill and tell the congress why they are for the
bill or why they are against the bill. After that, I will take a vote in the Senate and I will take a
vote in the House of Representatives. Now, if majority wins, where will it go next? Teacher will
call on individual student. Good, it will go to the Governor or President, which is me, and I can
veto it or sign it. Now are there any questions before we get started? Teacher will answer any
questions that students may have. Then she will propose the first bill. So the first bill that is
being proposed is this: A law to lower the age to get your drivers license to 13 years old. So
now take a couple of minutes and on your own, think about whether this is a good idea or a bad
idea. Remember that you are representing people from your district so be careful what you
support. Teacher will give students about 2 minutes to think about this and then she will call on
one student from the Senate to give their opinion/support. Now we are going to start with the
Senate. So if you have a good reason to support or oppose this bill, please raise your hand. Okay
student P, please stand up and tell us whether you support or oppose this bill. Those are
awesome reasons! So you are against this bill because you think that middle schoolers are not
mature enough to drive or make decisions in driving. Good point. Okay so now lets hear from
the House. Raise your hand if you have a good idea you want to share with the class. Teacher
will then call on one student from the House to give their opinion/support. That is also a great
point. A 13 year-old is not even tall enough to drive or weigh enough! Okay so now, we are
going to vote. Teacher will pull up a piece of paper under the document camera to keep track of
the votes for and against for each house. So the Senate, yall vote first. I want you to raise your
hand if you are for this bill and in support of it. Teacher will count hands and record under the
for section of the Senate. Now if you are against this bill, I want you to raise your hand.
Teacher will count hands and record under the against section of the Senate. Now lets move on
to the House of Representatives. So if you are in support of this bill in the House, please raise
your hand. Teacher will count hands and record under the for section of the House. Okay, so I
see only 1 hand. Now if you are against this bill, please raise your hand. Teacher will count hand
and record under the against section of the House. Okay, I see 8 hands go up. Teacher will
direct students attention to the score sheet under the document camera and they will count votes
to see if there is a majority. So in the Senate, we see that there are 7 people against the bill and
only 1 for it. So is this a majority vote? Will this bill be passed on to the House of
Representatives? Teacher will wait for student response. Youre right, it wont because it is a
large majority against the bill. Okay, lets look at the House of Representatives. So, will this bill
pass in the House of Representatives? Teacher will wait for student response. Youre right, it
wont pass there either because it was 8 against and 1 for. Now. will this bill go to the governor?
Teacher will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Youre right, it wont
because it didnt first pass in both houses! Now, lets do another one together. Teacher will
propose 2 more bills and they will go through the process again to determine whether the bill
will make it or not. The other two proposed bills will be first, a law that makes every student K5th grade have 30 minutes of recess everyday. The other law would be law banning all candy at
school. Okay boys and girls, great job on that activity today!
III. Assessment:
The teacher will hand out the Travels of a Bill narrative as their assessment. She will explain the
directions first. Then, she will put the rubric under the document camera and explain how they
will be graded. She will pass out the worksheets and instruct students to work quietly at their
desks while they write. So now, hopefully this last activity gave you a really good understanding
with how laws are made. After doing that activity, I hope that you are very comfortable with the
process of a bill being made into a law. The last thing we are going to do today is that you are
going to write a short narrative about how a bill becomes a law from the perspective of a bill. So
remember how we watched the schoolhouse rock video on Friday which was the story of how a
bill becomes a law but from the perspective of a bill? Well, we are going to write our own story.
Teacher will pull up the worksheet under the document camera and go over it. So notice on the
directions, that you are going to write this from first person narrative using I, me, my as if YOU
are the bill. You must include all of these vocabulary words in the box at the top. It also must be
atleast 5 sentences, but I really would love for it to be longer and I think it should be longer.
Teacher will pull up the rubric under the document camera. Notice that this is the rubric I will be
grading you on. Notice that at the bottom, there is extra credit if you show extra creativity and
thought in your writing. So think about that. Okay, are there are questions on what we are
supposed to be doing? Teacher will answer any questions that students may have. Okay great,
then lets go ahead and get to work! I am going to turn on some soft classical background music
to help you focus on writing. Once you are done, please turn in your sheet into Mrs. Sullivans
mailbox. You may then read quietly at your desk or complete one of the choice board activities to
complete.
IV. Closure:
Teacher will do a quick review of what the legislative branch is. They will go over the function
of it and what is included in it. Then, she will hand out Journal Entry #4 to students and have
them fill it out on their own. Okay boys and girls, lets do a quick review of what we learned
about today. So over the past two lessons, we learned about the legislative branch. What is the
function of the legislative branch? Teacher will wait for student response and then will call on
individual student. Good! So the purpose of the legislative branch is to make laws. This is a very
important job. Now, who can tell me who is included in the legislative branch? Teacher will call
on individual student. Good, Congress, which includes the Senate and the House of
Representatives. Who works in the senate and the house of representatives? Teacher will wait for
student response and then will call on individual student. Good, senators and representatives.
Who is a senator or representative? Teacher will wait for student response and then will call on
individual student. They are someone who is elected by the people in their state or county to
represent them. Now, I am going to pass out Journal Entry #4 and I want you to answer the
questions quietly on your own. When you are done, I want you to put it in your My Alabama
Government Folder. Thank you for listening and cooperatively so well today boys and girls!

Powerpoint Lesson 4
Promethean Board
Document Camera
Pencils
How Laws Are Made Graphic Organizer (1 per student)
Individual cards to go along with How Laws Are Made (accommodation for students)
Alabama Senator cards
Alabama Representative cards
Blank paper to keep track of votes during Mock Congress
Travels of a Bill Narrative assessment
Travels of a Bill Narrative assessment (modified)
Travels of a Bill Rubric
Journal Entry #4
Markers
Word Wall
Stool

Sentence Strip Legislative Branch
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn and Student Ht will be given a How Bills Are Made
Graphic Organizer with pre-cut individual cards of each of the steps. They will just have to glue
the cards into the right boxes in the correct order they go in. Student Ht will work with the
teacher during the Mock Congress and will be the governor with the teacher. Student Hn will
also be the governor with the teacher and will be the score keeper for the votes for and against.
Student Ht will be given preferential seating in the front of the room near the teacher. Both
Student Ht and Hn will be given a modified Travels of a Bill narrative assessment. They will
already have sentences and just have to fill in the missing words using a vocabulary bank.
During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with a sensory ball or other sensory objects
to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Re-teaching:
Students will read the book House Mouse, Senate Mouse on their own or with the teacher and
will complete a page that lists the events that the mouse goes through to become a law. The
teacher will go through the worksheet together with the student.
Data Analysis:
The students did really well on the Travels of a Bill narrative writing assessment. They all
got 12 out of 12 and most of them got the two extra credit points for writing with extra creativity
and thought. This demonstrated that the students really understand the process of a bill becoming
a law and the steps involved in it.
Reflection:
This lesson went really well! It actually went way better than I thought. I was unsure of
how it was going to go with putting on the mock legislature. I knew that if it wasnt structured
well and the students werent given really tight directions, it could get a little crazy and out of
hand. I made sure to explain the directions very clearly and tell students that if they wanted to do
this, they were going to have to be quiet and follow directions. They students absolutely loved
pretending they were senators or representatives and they got really into it. When I had one of
them discuss their support for the bill or their support against the bill, I was impressed with how
they really thought through what they said. I think this activity really helped them to understand
the process of a bill becoming a law because they got to act it out and put on what happens in
Congress. From this activity, I learned that even when you have an activity with a lot of parts and
students are given responsibility, they can handle it and behave well as long as you give them
tight directions and clearly communicate what behavior you expect of them and have also really
thought through everything you want them to do.
The students also did really well on the Travels of a Bill narrative. I was really impressed
with how much some of them wrote and how creative they got! They really did a good job of
writing from the perspective of a bill and describing what he would be thinking and feeling. I
also learned that when you communicate high expectations to your students, they will normally
rise to the occasion and will surprise you. I also saw how when students are actively involved in
the activity and are enjoying it, they are more likely to be on task and exhibit better behavior.

Title: The Judicial Branch

Date:
When given a list of situations, students will correctly identify which court will see the case
scoring a 13 out of 15 on a teacher-made checklist to be considered proficient.
learning about the purpose of the judicial branch and who is included in the judicial branch!
Students will be given a worksheet titled What Court Would See Me? The worksheets has 5
situations where they have to determine which court would hear the case, civil court or criminal
court. For each situation, they will just indicate civil court or criminal court. The 6th question
will have them write their own situation and write whether it would be seen in civil court or
criminal court. Students must score an 13 out of 15 to be considered proficient. There will also
be bonus question worth 2 points. If they score below a 10, they be considered in the red and will
be pulled for re-teaching.
Engagement:
The teacher will start off having the students think about the idea of fair versus unfair. She will
have them brainstorm times when their parents have ever done something that they thought was
unfair. They will turn and talk to their table groups about this. The teacher will pull up
powerpoint for lesson 5 on the Judicial branch. She will then go over the stool diagram and
review the first two legs of the stool. She will then attach the sentence strip with Judicial branch
written on it to the stool. She will then have the students read the learning objective out loud
together. Okay boys and girls, so to start off our lesson, I want you to clear off your desks and
get out your My Alabama Government Folder and your pencil. Teacher will give students time to
do this. Okay great. Now we are ready to start. Remember, as we go throughout this lesson, I
when I ask a question I want you to raise your hand and not blurt out the answer. I will call on
you when you are quietly sitting with your hand raised. If I tell you that you can turn and talk to
your table group about something, then it is okay to talk and discuss out loud. Does that make
sense? Give me thumbs up. Teacher will wait for student response. Great! Teacher will pull up
slide 2 on the powerpoint. So to start off with, I want you to take a minute or two and think about
some examples in your life of things that may be fair or unfair to you. Like, have your parents
ever done something you thought was unfair? If so, what was your reaction? I am going to give
you 2 minutes to think about this. Then, I want you to share with the people at your table groups
about this. Teacher will give students time to think and then she will tell them that they can share
with their table groups. She will then call on a couple of people to share something that someone
else said in their group. Okay, now I want someone to share with us what they talked about.
Student B, will you tell me what someone at your table group shared? Teacher will call on
individual student. Great! So you said that sometimes you have to wash all of the dishes even
when you dont want to or when you didnt make the mess, your mom did. Thats a good point.
Who else has something that they talked about that was fair or unfair? Teacher will call on a
student to share what someone in their table group shared. Great example! So your mom
grounded you from going to your friends house just because you didnt clean your room. But
your mom asked you to clean you room and you didnt. Do you think your mom was right in
grounding you? Its something to think about. Well, today we are going to be talking about the
branch of the government that helps us decide when a law is fair or unfair. This is a really
important part of our government. So lets go back to our stool example. Teacher will get out the
stool that has the executive branch and the legislative branch sentence strips already taped to it.
So we have already talked about 2 branches of our government. Who can tell me what they are
called? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on individual student. Good! So we
have the executive branch and the legislative branch. They are great branches. Do you think we
even need another branch of government? Teacher will let students think for a second then will
call on individual student. Yes, good thinking. If our government is like a stool that has 3 legs, it
will not stand up or do its job without all 3 legs. This is just like our government. Teacher will
pull up slide 4. Now, can anyone tell me the purpose of the executive branch? Remember all of
the functions of the branches of government are centered around the idea of laws. Teacher will
wait for student response. She will call on individual student. Good! So the function of the
executive branch is to carry out laws or to be make sure that they are obeyed. Now what about
the purpose of the legislative branch? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on
individual student. Yes, to make laws! Very good. So both of these branches are very important to
our government running smoothly as a system, but we need the next branch too. Does anyone
know what the name of the next branch is? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call
on an individual student. Its called the judicial branch. Now, does anyone know what the word
judicial means? Its okay if you dont because we are going to learn about it today! Teacher will
wait for student response. Teacher will pull up slide 4. She will have the students read it all
together with her. So lets read our learning objective for the day all together. In this lesson, we
will learn about the purpose of the judicial branch and who is included in the judicial branch!
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Teacher will pull up the powerpoint. She will pass out the Judicial branch graphic organizer. She
will go over the purpose of the judicial branch and who is included in it. She will instruct
students to fill in the graphic organizer as they go through the lesson. Okay boys and girls, I am
going to go ahead and pass out your graphic organizer on the Judicial branch that you will be
using for our lesson today. Teacher will pass out the Judicial branch graphic organizer to
students. So youll notice that the first blank is the function of the judicial branch. Earlier we
talked about when we think things are fair or unfair. We said that the Judicial branch helps
decide when a law is fair or unfair. So this is the function of the legislative branch. Teacher will
pull up slide 6. To put it in simple terms, the function of the judicial branch is to evaluate laws.
So that is the first blank on your graphic organizer. Go ahead write that down under function. So
if the judicial branchs job is to evaluate laws. Now what do you think they evaluate laws by?
What is the foundation of our government and the highest form of law? Teacher will wait for
student response. She will call on an individual student. You are right! It is the constitution.
Teacher will pull up slide 7. So like we said in the beginning of our unit, the Constitution is the
foundation of our government and the highest form of law. Teacher will have a student read the
second bullet point out loud. Student B, will you read the second bullet point? Awesome, so the
Judicial branch uses the constitution to determine whether a law is fair or unfair by using the
Constitution. Now, does anyone know what the judicial branch is made up of? Teacher will wait
for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, you are right. So the judicial
branch is made up of courts. Teacher will pull up slide 8. The word judicial, if you look at the
screen, actually means relates to judges and courts. So it makes sense that the judicial branch
is made up of courts. Look at these 2 pictures. So what are these types of courts? Teacher will
wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes, this is a basketball court
and a tennis court. Now, are these the kind of courts that the Judicial branch is made up of?
Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. You are right, that
wouldnt make any sense to have that be where laws are evaluated! Teacher will pull up slide. So
the kind of courts that the judicial branch is talking about is this type of court. A place where
legal cases are heard. Have any of you guys seen a picture of a place like this on TV or in a
movie or ever been in one? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual
student. So this is the place that people decide on laws being unfair or fair. Teacher will pull up
slide 10. Now, I want you to look at this picture I have up on the screen. I want you find some of
the problems that you see in this picture. I am going to give you a couple of minutes to do this. I
want you to look quietly and then I will call on a couple of students. Teacher will give the
students a couple of minutes to look at the picture silently by themselves. She will then call on an
individual student. Okay, now what is one problem that you saw in this picture? Teacher will call
on an individual student. Good! There is an accident. And the one lady is mad at the other guy
and accusing him that it was his fault. What is something else you see? Teacher will call on an
individual student. Yes, another guy says this company cheated me. What is one more that you
see in this picture? Teacher will call on an individual student. Good! The policeman is pulling
that guys arm who is saying he didnt steal the purse. So these are some of the different
situations and problems that the courts handle. There are many different problems that are
resolved through the courts. Lets look at what the purpose of the court system is then. Teacher
will pull up slide 11. Lets read this all together. So the purpose of the court system is to resolve
conflicts when other options have been tried and have not worked or when conflicts involve
criminal acts. So this is the next blank on your graphic organizer. Go ahead and fill in the
definition. Does this make sense to everyone? Give me a thumbs up if this definition sort of
makes sense or give me a thumbs down if you are completely confused. Teacher will wait for
student response and explain it again if students are confused. Teacher will pull up slide 12. Does
anyone know the name of the highest court in the whole country? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will call on an individual student. Good, its called the supreme court. So the U.S
Supreme Court settles the largest disputes. Their duty is to rules on the meaning of laws for the
entire country. There are 9 supreme court justices that serve there. Look at this picture. This is a
picture of the U.S Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. The biggest thing about the U.S
Supreme Court is the all of the other courts in the entire country have to follow the decisions that
are made in the Supreme Court. They only handle really important cases. Now, lets look at
Alabamas Judicial Branch and how it compares to the federal government judicial branch.
Anyone have any guess to what the highest court in the Alabama judicial system is called?
Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student. Yes! It is called the
Alabama Supreme Court. Teacher will pull up slide 13. Lets look a little more at our system in
Alabama. Notice that this is a chart in your graphic organizer. So as we talk through each of
these, I want you to make sure to be following along and writing this down in your graphic
organizer. So like we just said the highest court in Alabama is the Alabama supreme court. Their
job is to rule on the meaning of laws for Alabama and review decisions made by the lower courts
in the state. So that just means that they decide whether laws are fair or unfair for the state of
Alabama and decide other big problems that may come from lower courts. Notice this picture at
the top of the screen. What do you think this is a picture of? Teacher will wait for student
response. Good! It is the Alabama Judicial Building in Montogomery, Alabama where the
Alabama Supreme Court meets. Now, just like with the federal government there are 9 justices, 1
chief justice and 8 associate justices. Student H, will you read me for how long they are elected
for? Teacher will call on individual student to read. So they are elected for 6 year terms. This is
longer than the governor, right. Teacher will pull up slide 14. She will give students a minute to
look at the picture. Now, this is a picture of the Supreme Court of Alabama. You can read their
names underneath the picture. These are the judges who decide on important cases! Also, notice
what they are wearing in this picture. What are they? Teacher will wait for student response. Yes,
you are right. They are robes. So judges and supreme court justices always wear a robe in court.
Now, do you think there is only 1 court in the alabama judicial system? Teacher will wait for
student response and then call on individual student. Good thoughts! Well you are right. There
are many courts that come before the supreme court. Lets look at Alabamas court system.
Teacher will pull up slide 15. So what do you notice about this diagram? What is on the bottom
of the pyramid? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student.
Good! They are the circuit courts, district courts, probate courts, and city courts. Are these the
lowest or the highest courts? Good, the lowest court. Notice that other box. So this is where most
cases will start. What comes next? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on
individual student. Good, the court of civil appeals and the court of criminal appeals. This is the
next level up. Now, what is the highest level of the court system? Teacher will wait for student
response and then call on individual student. Good! The Alabama Supreme Court is the highest
level. There are 9 over the supreme court justices like we just looked at. Now, I want you to turn
over your graphic organizer and notice that you have this diagram on the back. I want you to fill
this in on your sheet. Teacher will give students time to do this. Now, the last thing we are going
to talk about is the two different types of courts. Notice on your sheet that there is alst blank . So
every case falls into one of 2 different cases, either criminal or civil. Teacher will pull up slide
16. So there are criminal versus civil court. So a criminal court is if a person is charged with a
crime. This is what I want you to write in the box. A civil court rules on disputes between people.
This is what I want you to write in the other box. Teacher will give students time to do this. Now,
we are going to read a couple of different scenarios to go over the difference between criminal
and civil courts.
The teacher will go over a couple of different scenarios and the students will decide whether the
case would go to a civil court or a criminal court. They will each have an index card with the
word civil court on one side and the word criminal court on the other side. Okay, now we are
going to read a couple of different practice problems to help understand the difference between
criminal courts and civil courts. I will read a scenario of a case and you will decide which court
will hear the case. Teacher will pull up slide 17. I am going to pass out an index card to each of
you. On one side of the card will be written criminal court and on the other side will be written
civil court. For each situation that I read, I want you to determine what court would hear the
case, either criminal court or civil court. Think about it for a minute before you hold up your
card. Do not look around at your other classmates. Now, are there any questions? Teacher will
wait for student response. She will answer any questions that there might be. Teacher will then
go through slides 18 through 24 and will read them aloud. After each one, she will allow time for
students to hold up their cards. Okay great job students! Does everyone understand now the
difference between the two types of courts? Teacher will take any questions and answer student
response. Lets do a quick review. So, do most cases start at the Alabama supreme court? Teacher
will wait for student response and then call on individual student. Youre right, they dont! So
most cases start at the low level courts which are the city courts and district courts. The cases
only advance up the court system if someone doesnt like the decision made in the lower court or
if it is a huge issue. Great job on that boys and girls! Now, you are going to do something
individually where you will have to decide whether a case would go to the criminal court or to
the civil court.
III. Assessment:
Students will be given a worksheet titled What Court Would See Me? The worksheets has 5
situations where they have to determine which court would hear the case, civil court or criminal
court. For each situation, they will just indicate civil court or criminal court. Teacher will pull up
the powerpoint slide 25 and go over the worksheet and the directions. Okay boys and girls, I am
going to hand a worksheet with some sample situations on it just like the ones we just did all
together. Just like you had your index card and you had to hold it up to determine whether it was
a criminal or civil case, you are going to do the exact same thing. You are just going to write
civil or criminal depending on which court would see that case. Teacher will pull up the sheet
under the document camera. Here is what the worksheet looks like, So numbers 1-5, you just
write civil or criminal. Now, for number 5, I want you to write a sample situation and then write
whether a civil court or a criminal court would see the case. There is also a bonus question that
I would love for you to try and answer. Remember, we are going to do this quietly and by ourself.
We are not working with our friends. Now, are there any questions before we get started? Teacher
will answer any questions before students get started. She will then instruct them to turn it into
her mailbox when she is done and either put up a book or complete a choice board activity.
Great! So when you are done, I want you to turn this into my mailbox. You may then read quietly
at your desk or complete a choice board activity that is listed at the front.
IV. Closure:
The teacher will do a short review of the lesson. She will review the purpose of the judicial
branch and who is included in it. She will review the 3 levels of courts in the court system. She
will conclude the lesson explaining what they will do the next day. Okay boys and girls, lets do
a quick review of our lesson before we end for the day. So first off, who can tell me the name of
the branch of government that we talked about today? Teacher will wait for student response.
She will then call on an individual student. Good! So we talked about the judicial branch. Now,
what is main purpose of the judicial branch? Teacher will wait for student response. She will
then call on an individual student. Great job! So the purpose of the judicial branch is to evaluate
laws and to rule whether a law is fair or unfair. What did we say is the highest law that we
always go back to? Teacher will wait for student response. She will then call on an individual
student. Good, the Constitution. Now, what is the judicial branch made up of? Teacher will wait
for student response. She will then call on an individual student. Yes, the courts! What exactly
are these courts? Are the basketball courts? Teacher will wait for student response. She will then
call on an individual student. Youre right, they are places where cases are heard. Now,
remember we said there are 3 levels of courts in Alabama. We used a diagram to show this. What
diagram did we use? Teacher will then call on an individual student. Good. We used the pyramid
to show this. Does anyone remember who is at the highest? Teacher will wait for student
response. She will then call on an individual student. Good, the Alabama supreme court. Below
that are the court of appeals. And the lowest courts are called district courts, city courts, etc.
Where do most cases start? Good, we said that most cases start at the bottom. Teacher will
explain that the students will be given a sheet of paper where they have 3 statements or laws and
they will have to decide whether they think the law is fair or unfair. Okay boys and girls, as a
fun way to wrap up what we learned about today with the judicial branch, I am going to give
you a worksheet that has 3 different statements that could be laws and you are going to be the
judge! Teacher will put the sheet under the document camera and show students the sheet they
will get. I want you to pretend like you are the judge and you have to decide whether the law is
fair or unfair and whether you agree with the law or not. For each question, you must say
whether you think it is fair or unfair and then write at least one sentence. I want you to really
think about this because you are the judge! Teacher will take any questions students may have.
Now, I am going to pass out these sheets. The teacher will then pass out the You Be the Judge
sheets to the students. She will tell students what to do once they are finished. Once you are
done, please put the sheet in Mrs. Sullivans mailbox You guys did a great job today paying
attention and being attentive! Teacher will instruct students to put their graphic organizer in their
My Alabama Government Folder. Go ahead and put your graphic organizer in your My
Alabama Government Folder and then put your folder in your desk. Tomorrow we will do a
really fun activity to go along as we learn about the court system. We are going to put on a mock
trial in our classroom!

Powerpoint Lesson 5
Promethean Board
Document Camera
Pencils
Chart Paper with Stool Diagram
Practice scenario questions
Judicial Branch Graphic Organizer (1 per student)
Judicial Branch Graphic Organizer already filled in (accommodation for student)
Index cards with Criminal Court on one side and Civil Court on the other (1 per student)
You Be The Judge worksheet (1 per student)
What Court Would See Me? Story Problems
Answer Key for What Court Would See Me? Story Problems
Word Wall
Stool
Sentence Strip Judicial Branch
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn and Student Ht will be given a modified Judicial branch
graphic organizer that is already filled in. They will just have to follow along. Student Ht will
work with the teacher on the You Be The Judge worksheet. The teacher will scribe the answers
for her. Student Ht will be given preferential seating in the front of the room near the teacher.
During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with a sensory ball or other sensory objects
to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Re-teaching:
Students could also watch this short overview video of the Judicial branch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGF4RrkZD8Q to go over the job of the judicial branch.
They will fill out a Venn diagram comparing civil and criminal court and write the definition for
each one and draw a picture of an example of a type of case that they would see.
Data Analysis:
Overall, the students did really well with the criminal vs. civil activity and the You Be
The Judge worksheet. All of the students got a 9 out of 9 on the rubric for the You Be the Judge
worksheet. A lot of them showed thought about whether they thought the law was fair or unfair.
The students also did really well with the criminal vs. civil and seemed to enjoy it.
Reflection:
The lesson went pretty well today, although there are some minor changes I made to the
second class after teaching the first one. After going through the powerpoint and graphic
organizer with the first class, I realized that some of the definitions were a little too wordy and
that I could make them more kid friendly. I changed this before I taught the second class so that
they were easier to understand. I still think that the graphic organizer still might have been too
much for the students, but its hard because I want them to get all of the information and I feel
like all of the information is important. I do wonder if there is a better way to front load all of the
information to students without just doing a powerpoint and having them fill out a graphic
organizer. Thats something I will have to think more about.
The criminal vs. civil activity did go well. I handed out index cards with civil court on
one side and criminal court on the other side. It went great with the first class. With the second
class, however, they asked a lot more questions and a couple of the students debated some of the
scenarios. They brought up valid points that I had not thought of before and I had to honestly tell
them that I wasnt sure the answer and that was a hard scenario. The main debate was what is
considered criminal; they asked if there is damage done, but it was an accident would it be
criminal court because they still damaged someones property. Honestly, I have never been in
quite a position like that where I had no idea and had to honestly tell them I wasnt sure. But, the
students in both classes asked a lot of really good questions which was awesome and I really
appreciated. They are so curious and I would rather have them ask questions that I dont know
the answer to then not ask any questions at all. They were well behaved during this lesson
because I clearly laid down behavior expectations today.

Title: Levels of Government

Date:
Students will write a reflection on what they learned about the court system after participating in
the mock trial scoring an 11 out of 12 on a teacher made checklist.
learning more about the courtroom and put on our own mock courtroom!
Students will write a reflection on what they learned after participating in the mock trial scoring
an 11 out of 12 on a teacher made checklist. Students will be given a reflection sheet with two
questions on it. The first question asks them to list 3 things that they learned from putting on the
trial (2 points each), and the second question tells them to state what is the purpose of the court
system (6 points). There is a bonus question that has them state their role in the mock trial. All
students should be able to write 3 things that they learned from the courtroom case, so should
automatically get the 6 points. Students who were not able to identify the correct purpose of the
courts or identified incorrectly, which is question 2, will be pulled for re-teaching. This will be
the students who receive a score of 8 or below.
Engagement:
Teacher will start off by reviewing what they went over in the previous lesson. She will get out
the stool. She will go over the function of the judicial branch, what is included in the judicial
branch, and what is the difference between civil and criminal courts. She will ask students
questions and pull up the powerpoint. Okay boys and girls, so remember yesterday we talked
about the last branch of our government. What is the name of our last branch of government?
Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Good! The judicial
branch. Teacher will get out the stool and show students again. So we see with our stool that the
judicial branch is the last branch of our government. Now, who can tell me the function of the
judicial branch? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student.
Yes, the purpose of the judicial branch is to evaluate laws or to decide whether laws are fair or
unfair. Very good. What did we say is the highest law or the kind of rulebook that we judge and
evaluate every law under? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual
student. Yes, the constitution. It is the foundation of our government and the judicial branch
makes decision from it. Now, last, what is the difference between civil and criminal courts? I
know we talked about this yesterday and we did an activity, so this should be easy. Teacher will
wait for student response. She will call on an individual student. Yes. So civil courts involve
disputes between people so when something happens and two people dont agree with it. What is
a criminal court? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student.
Good, criminal courts, see cases where someone has broken a law and they decide if the person
is guilty or innocent. So one more question. Since the courts are a system, is there just one court
that sees all of the cases? Teacher will wait for student response. Youre right, so there are a
couple of different courts and there are different levels. Who can tell me the highest court in the
state of Alabama? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student.
Awesome! Now, we are going to move into getting to do a fun activity to demonstrate what a
courtoom is like.
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
The lesson will include the students putting on mock trial. This will stretch for teaching and
opportunity for practice. The students will first go over the people in court using the powerpoint.
She will have a couple of students read aloud the people who are in the courtroom. These
students will already have been given pieces of paper. Then, together as a class, they will do a
worksheet to match the correct name of each person in the courtroom with their job. The teacher
will fill out one of the worksheets under the document camera but will call on students to help
her. Then, she will pull the powerpoint and have different student read the statements of How
Should I Act in Court? The teacher will then pass out the name cards and the script to each
student. Each student will be given a different person. The teacher will be the Judge. She will
pull up the script on the promethean board so that students can follow along while they read the
script. Okay boys and girls, so today we are going to do a really fun activity to teach us more
about the judicial branch, specifically how the court system works. We are going to put on our
very own mock trial!! So we are pretending that this classroom has been transformed into a
courtroom. And each of you guys are a different person that is in the courtroom. We will have a
sample case that we will go through. But before we do that, we are going to go through the jobs
of the people who are in the courtroom so that we know all the people who are in the courtroom.
Teacher will pass out the different job descriptions and have students who have one read aloud
while the class follow along with the pages pulled up on the promethean board. If you notice at
your seat, some of you have a paragraph that describes someone who is in the courtroom and
their job. Now, student T, will you please read aloud your person and their job to everyone?
Teacher will call on each student who has a person and have them read aloud and clarify any
confusion of their role if there is any. This will continue with the rest of the people, which is 8
total. These include the judge, jurors, clerk, witnesses, bailiff, lawyers/attorneys, plaintiff, and
defense. Okay now lets do a quick review of these jobs by filling out this worksheet together
under the document camera. Teacher will put the worksheet under the document camera and call
on individual student to give an answer. So with the first question, who are lawyers or attorneys?
What is the letter that matches with them? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on
individual student to provide an answer. Good! It is letter f. Teacher will continue to do this with
all 8 questions. Now, lets go over how we should in a courtroom since we are about to put on
our very own. Teacher will pull up slide 30 and have a different student read each statement
aloud. Very good! Okay so now our classroom has officially turned into a courtroom. This means
that we must make sure to remember these and follow them or else you may be asked to leave the
courtroom. Now, I am going to pass out to each of you a name tag and your part of the script. So
I want you to put on your name tag so that everyone knows who you are. Notice that your part is
highlighted so this is going to be what you are going to read when it is your turn. Now since you
wont have the entire script, I am going to pull up the script on the promethean board so that we
can follow along as we go through the case. I am going to be the Judge and I will also be the
main Teacher, who is one of the witnesses. So the name of the case that we will be looking at
today is called the Right to Recess Case. So the case is about students in a class who sued their
teacher because they were denied their right to recess which the students are entitled to in their
school constitution. Teacher will then pass out the name tags and scripts to students. She will pull
up the script on the board. Now, you should have gotten you name tag and script. I am going to
tell you where to sit in the room. She will instruct the jury to sit at the back table. She will have
the defense sit on one side of the room. The plaintiff will sit on the other side and the witnesses
will sit at the front table. I am going to sit in my chair at the front and pretend like I am the
judge. As the judge, I will lead the whole process. Now, in a courtroom every time that a different
witness is on the stand they will come up to the front. I want each witness to come and sit in this
chair right next to mine. And then the defense attorney and the plaintiff will come up one by one.
So you must be paying close attention to know when you need to come up and when you should
stay seated and quiet. Okay, are there any questions before we get started? Teacher will answer
any questions and clarify any confusion that there may be before they get started. Then lets do
this! Teacher will pull up page 2. So first I need the plaintiff to read this opening statement
together. Please stand up and read this together from the board. Okay great, now the defense.
Read your opening statement all together. The teacher will then start off on page 3 and they will
go through the court case. She will lead and guide the students when to come to the front and
when to sit down. She will keep order in the courtroom. When they are done, she will collect
the scripts and have them throw away their name tages.
MOCK TRIAL.
III. Assessment:
Teacher will lead a short discussion after the courtroom finishes. She will then pass out a
reflection worksheet for the students to fill out about their experience in the courtroom. She will
go over the directions and then give students time to work on this. Okay boys and girls, now I
hope you enjoyed that mock trial! Did you like that? Good! I thought that was fun. I also hope
that this activity was helpful for you and helped you really understand what happens in court
and the different people involved in the court. So now, I am going to give you a short worksheet
that I want you to fill out about what you learned by putting on the mock trial. The first question
asks you to list 3 things that you learned from putting on this mock trial. These are 3 things that
you didnt know before so things you learned. The second question asks you what the purpose of
the court system is. Now, we talked about this in the last lesson and we saw this in action today
so this shouldnt be hard. Then, lastly I have a bonus question. I just want you to write down who
you were in the mock trial and you will get bonus points! So this is pretty simple. While we are
doing this, we are not going to talk and we are going to do this on our own, not with our friends.
Does everyone understand what they are doing? Teacher will answer any questions that students
may have. Then she will pass out the worksheet and have them get to work. Okay, go ahead and
get to work! Once you are done, turn it into my mailbox and then you may choose a choice board
activity to complete or read one of the government books at the front counter.
IV. Closure:
Teacher will do a brief review of the courtroom and have a couple of students share what they
learned. They will then do their Journal Entry #5 and the teacher will show the 3 branches of
government Flocabulary video as a recap of the 3 branches of government that they have been
learning about. Okay great job today boys and girls! Now I hope you really enjoyed putting on
the mock trial. I want you to raise your hand and tell me one thing that you learned from putting
on this mock trial? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student.
Good! Okay so you learned that there are a lot of people in a courtroom. What is something else
someone learned? Teacher will wait for student response. She will call on an individual student.
Good, so you learned what defense and plaintiff means. That is awesome! Now, I am going to
pass out your Journal Entry #5 and I want you to fill this out quietly at your desk. This will just
help you think about the judicial branch and how important it is to our government system.
Teacher will pass out Journal Entry #5. To end our time together, I am going to show you a fun
video that will help you review the 3 branches of government. Its in the form of a rap and its
really fun. But I want you to pay attention to the words, because it says some really good stuff
too! Teacher will play the Flocabulary video on the 3 branches of government.

Powerpoint Lesson 5
Promethean Board
Document Camera
Pencils
Marker/pen
Chart Paper with Stool Diagram
People in Court cards with each person and description on back (
People in Court matching worksheet
Right to Recess Case script for each student with their part highlighted
Name tags of each person in court (5 Plaintiff attorneys, 5 defense attorneys, 4 plaintiff
witnesses- gym teacher, student, psychologist, and parent, 4 defense witnesses- nutritionist,
student, parent, and teacher, 6-8 jurors)
Chair for Witness
Chair for Judge
Answer key/rubric for Mock Trial reflection worksheet
Mock Trial Reflection worksheet
Flocabulary video 3 branches of government https://www.flocabulary.com/3-branches-ofgovernment/
Journal Entry #5
Word Wall
Stool
Sentence Strip Judicial Branch
Choice Board
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn and Student Ht will be given a choice to who they want
to be in the Mock Trial. Student Ht will not have to be a person but can choose to just work with
the teacher. Student Ht will work with the teacher on the Mock Trial reflection worksheet. The
teacher will scribe the answers for Student Ht on the Mock Trial reflection worksheet. Student Ht
will be given preferential seating in the front of the room near the teacher. During the lesson,
Student H will be allowed to play with a sensory ball or other sensory objects to keep her
occupied.
Extension:
Re-teaching:
For students who did completely grasp the function of the judicial branch and the court system,
students will read the book Marshall the Courthouse Mouse with the teacher and she will stop
and explain important parts of the judicial branch to them as they read. Afterward, students will
complete a 3-2-1 worksheet about the judicial branch about the function of the judicial branch
and who is included in it.
Data Analysis:
The students did well on the assessment, which was the reflection of the Mock Trial. The
majority of them were able to properly identify the purpose and role of the court system which
was the most important point I wanted them to understand. Between the two classes, there was
only about 4 students who did give the right answer or gave answer that was not quite correct for
the purpose of the courts. The students put really good answers for number 1 (what they learned),
and after reading their reflection, it was obvious that they learned a lot from the courtroom.
Reflection:
Overall, this lesson went really well and I was really happy with how well the mock
courtroom went. I was worried that it was going to be chaotic and crazy and that the students
might not follow directions or be able to understand the script. However, they did a really good
job of catching on fast to how the court case went and they did a good job of getting in character.
I realize that it was really helpful that I clearly explained the directions beforehand to the
students and before I gave them their jobs. I also told them that I already had their jobs picked
out so their would be no decision. One of the best things that Im really glad I did is that I put up
the rules of the courtroom on the board and told students to read them while I passed out their
job and script. I then went over some of them and stressed the importance of being quiet in a
courtroom and how you only speak when you are called on. I highlighted this point and the
students did a great job of following this. Looking back, I am really glad that I took the time to
think through every part of this activity in as much detail as I did because it payed off.
I am learning through this unit that you can do fun activities that involve students taking
on a role or acting something out and it still go smoothly as long as you plan everything out
beforehand. I loved seeing how much the students go into this and how much they loved putting
on this courtroom. You could tell they had so much fun. This makes me realize more than ever
before that when students get to be actively involved in something this really is the best way they
can learn it. Students will be way more engaged doing an activity than just filling out boring
worksheets where they dont actually get to do anything. It just always takes more work on the
teachers part. From their reflections too, they all put very good things down that they learned
from the experience. One thing that I would have done differently if I did this again is to spend
more time going over the jobs of the people in the courtroom so that the students really
understand each of the jobs before we put on the mock courtroom. I feel like I had to kind of
rush through that part and I wish I had more time to spend going over the jobs since many of
these people the students had never heard of before.

Title: Our Local Government

Date:
Students will create an advertisement describing their city of Vestavia Hills by making a Google
slides presentation scoring an 18 out of 20 to be considered proficient.
learning about our local government!
Students will make a Google slides presentation to tell other people about their city, Vestavia
Hills, and tell others why they should live there. On their Google slides, they must include the
name and a picture of the major, the type of government Vestavia Hills has, 2 things that Vestavia
hills offers to the community, and 5 unique features or traits of the city that would make people
want to move their. Students will be graded from a teacher-made rubric. They must receive at
least an 18 out of 20 to be considered proficient. They can also earn 2 bonus points if their
presentation shows extra creativity and thought. Students who score a 14 or below will be
considered in the red. These students did not understand the assignment and the teacher will pull
them aside to explain the assignment again and give them the opportunity to make the correct
changes and submit it again.
Engagement:
Teacher will start off doing a short review of the 3 types of government there are. She will pull
up the diagram on the board and have students list the 3 types. She will then them think back to
when we compared our school to the government. She will ask them who represented the local
government in a school. She will then go over the learning objective for the day and they will
read it all together. Okay boys and girls, so today we are going to be talking about government
that is close to us and the government that we come in contact with the most often. Lets think
back to the levels of government we learned about in the beginning of our unit. We learned about
3 levels and we looked at a pyramid. Does anyone remember which level of government was on
the bottom? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student. Good! It
is the local government. Teacher will pull up slide 2 and go over the pyramid. She will then pull
up slide 3. Lets think back to when we compared our government to a school. Who did we say
represented the local government? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on
individual student. Good, we said the teachers. Teacher will pull up slide 4. So our teachers are
the people we come into contact with the most in our school, right? Do we see the principal or
librarian as much? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student.
Youre right, we dont. So this is the same with government. Our local government is the
government we see and interact with the most often because it is close to us. They are the people
that can really change things in our community. So lets read our learning goal for this lesson all
together. Teacher will pull up slide 5 and have students read it all together. In this lesson, we will
be learning about our very own local government!
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Teacher will pull up the powerpoint. She will teach about local government. They will review the
responsibilities of the local government and the head of their local government, their mayor. She
will also explain that local government is divided into 2 parts, county and municipal government.
They will go over each one together. Then, students will write down questions to ask Mr.
Ammons, the Mayor Pro-Term of Vestavia Hills. He will come speak to the class about what he
does and the students will ask him questions. Okay boys and girls, so today we are going to be
learning about our local government. Now, what do I mean when I say local government?
Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student. Good, I mean the
government of my city. Now, who can tell me the leader of our local government of Vestavia
Hills? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student. Good! It is
Mayor Zaragoza. Teacher will pull up slide 6 and go over the leader and the responsibilities of
local government. So remember we went over this is in the beginning of our unit, but just as a
review, I want to review that local government has the responsibility to make laws for a small
area, a city or a county. So their job is to serve their community, not the entire United States. So
lets review some of the services the local government provides. What are some things they do?
Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student. Yes, you are right!
Those are all true. Teacher will pull up slide 7. So here are some of the services that the local
government provides. Teacher will read them off. Teacher will then pull up slide 8. Now, local
government has two parts. They are county and municipal government. So, what do you think
county government would do? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual
student. Yes, they help run the counties. Teacher will pull up slide 9. So in Alabama, there are 65
counties and all of these have a different government that helps run them. Each county is
governed by a board of commissioners. So what county do we live in? Teacher will wait for
student response and then call on individual student. Good, Jefferson county. Teacher will pull up
slide 10. Now in Jefferson county, the government is run by a board of commissioners that has 5
people. Teacher will have students read off the responsibilities. Student p, will you read the first
responsibility of the commissioners? Good, it is to give out finances. What about the next one?
Good, to collect taxes. Student T, the third one? Yes, to give resources. Student G, what is the
fourth one? Good, to help deliver services. And the last one is that they help make appointments
to government agencies. Now, the other type of goverment that is included in local government is
municipal government. Does anyone know what municipal means? Teacher will wait for student
response and then call on individual student. Its okay, I wouldnt either. Municipal means the
government of cities and towns. So this is the government of our city of Vestavia Hills, Alabama.
Who do you think helps run our city government? Teacher will wait for student response and then
call on individual student. Yes, our major! Teacher will pull up slide 11. So the two parts of a
municipal government or city government is the mayor and the city council. Together, the mayor
and the city council help run our city of Vestavia Hills. How many people are a part of the city
council? Teacher will wait for student response and then call on individual student. Yes, there are
4 members. Okay, guess what guys? To help us understand government even better, we are
actually going to get to meet one of our very own local government leaders from our community!
We are going to have one of the four city council members come and talk to our class. His name
is Mr. Steve Ammons. He is on the city council and his position is called the Major Pro-Term. I
wasnt sure what that was so I had to ask him. Basically, this means that he is like the Vice
Mayor. He fulfills the Mayors duties when the Mayor can not. We are going to get to ask him
about his job and about what he does. We are also going to get to hear from him what type of
things he does on a daily basis. Before he comes though, I want us to take some time to think
about questions to ask him. I want us to really think about good questions that you may want to
ask him. I am going to pass out index cards and I want you to write your name and one question
that you have for Mr. Ammons. This can be about his job or his favorite or least favorite part,
how he get to be in that position (like was he elected or chosen), etc. There is so much you can
ask him. Teacher will pass out index cards to students and have them write down a question on
the card. She will then collect them up. She will go over how they will behave while he is talking
to them. Okay, so after you have written down your question, I am going to hold on to these so
that they dont get lost. Now boys and girls, when Mr. Ammons comes to speak to our class I
want to see you on your best behavior. What exactly does that mean? Yes, that means you are
listening politely and not talking while he is talking. Good. show me your best behavior and lets
show Mr. Ammons how thankful we are for him coming to speak to us by giving all attention to
him. The teacher will then welcome the Mayor Pro-term to the class. She will have the class say
hello. She will have him introduce himself and say a few things about him. Okay class, lets
welcome Mr. Ammons to our class! Mr. Ammons, thank you so much for coming and talking to
us! Would you mind first introducing yourself briefly and telling them your position and a little
bit about what you do and the role you play in our local government. Teacher will let Mr.
Ammons answer and talk about what he does. She will then have students one by one, raise their
hand and ask their question to Mr. Ammons. Okay class, now you get to ask your questions!
Student A, will you please stand up and ask Mr. Ammons your question? Student will ask her
question. Teacher will call on the other students and let them ask their questions one by one. At
the end, she will have the students thank him for coming to speak to their class. Okay boys and
girls, what do you say to Mr. Ammons? Thank you so much for coming to speak to us Mr.
Ammons. So I hope that after today you have learned a little bit more about our local
government and how it is run. Now after we had the chance to hear from Mr. Ammons, someone
who works for our local government in Vestavia Hills, we are going to do an activity to learn a
little bit more about the Vestavia Hills government and how it is set up.
Teacher will go over the activity that students are going to do. They are going to fill out a
worksheet with different facts that they must find out about the government in Vestavia Hills.
Students will use their iPads to research on the Vestavia Hills website to find answers to the
questions. She will take any questions they may have, then pass out the worksheet and tell
students to get their iPads. Okay boys and girls, now you are going to do a little activity on your
own to learn even more about our government of Vestavia Hills. So we just heard from Mr.
Ammons, who is on the Vestavia Hills City Council. But there are a couple more things that I
want you to learn about. Teacher will pull up slide 14 with the directions on it. Right now I am
going to have you guys fill out worksheet with some questions on it about the Vestavia Hills
government. Your job will be to go to the vestavia hills website which is on the screen and find
the answers to the questions. The website is just www.vhal.org. The questions are not hard and
should not be too hard to find. You will use your iPads to do this. Now, are there any questions?
Teacher will take any questions students will have and answer them. Now, I am going to hand
out the worksheets. Teacher will then hand out the worksheets to students. Now, I will call up you
guys by table group to go and get your iPads from the cart. She will then instruct the students to
get out the iPads one table at a time. Table group 1, you guys can go ahead and get your iPads.
Now table 2, you may. Table 3 you can go now. Table 4, you guys can get them now. Remember,
we are doing this individually, so there should be no talking. If there are any questions while you
are working through the worksheet, please raise your hand quietly and I will come answer it.
Teacher will let students work on this individually and will help them as needed. She will walk
around and monitor them as they are working. Once you are done, you may hand in your sheet to
my mailbox and can work on one of the choice board activities while others continue to work.
Teacher will have the choice board activities pulled up on the board.
III. Assessment:
Teacher will have the students create a Google slides presentation advertising for their city.
Students will create an advertisement describing their city of Vestavia Hills by making a Google
slides presentation scoring an 18 out of 20 to be considered proficient. The teacher will go over
the requirements by pulling up the powerpoint. She will also go over the rubric for the
assignment under the document camera and go over it. She will tell them to get out their
worksheet they just filled out with questions from the Vestavia Hills website because they will
use some of this in their Google slides presentation. She will encourage them to be creative in
their presentations. Okay boys and girls, now you are going to get create an advertisement or
travel brochure that is promoting and telling about your city of Vestavia Hills! You are going to
do this by creating a Google slides presentation using the chromebooks. You will also use some
of the facts you just found out about Vestavia Hills government from the worksheet you just
completed. Now, look at board so that you can see what I want you to include in your Google
slides presentation. Teacher will pull up slide 15 and have students look at the screen. So you are
going to first include the name and picture of the mayor of Vestavia Hills. Next, you will list the
type of government that Vestavia Hills has. This will be from your sheet. Then, you will include 2
things that Vestavia Hills offers to the community. This can be something that you already know
Vestavia offers or you can use the website to look this up. Last, you should include atleast 5
unique or desirable traits or things about Vestavia Hills that you like and why people should visit
or move to your city. o, at the end I want you to include why people should visit your city.Now, I
also am looking at you to be creative and use pictures. Now, how long does your presentation
have to be? Teacher will wait for student response and then will call on individual student. Yes,
so it has to be atleast 5 slides. Lets look at the rubric one time so that you know how you are
being graded. Teacher will pull up the rubric under the document camera so students know how
they are being graded. Last, everyone should already know how to make a Google slides
presentation because I have seen you guys do this before. You will first sign into Google
classroom. Then, you will open a Google slides presentation. You will make your presentation
and then turn it in on Google classroom under my Social Studies class. The assignment will say
Vestavia Hills Google Slides Presentation on it. Now, are there any questions? Teacher will take
any questions students will have and answer them. Now I will call you up by table groups to go
get a chromebook. Table group 1, you guys can go ahead and get your chromebooks. Now table
2, you may. Table 3 you can go now. Table 4, you guys can get them now. Remember, we are
doing this individually, so there should be no talking. If there are any questions while you are
working through the worksheet, please raise your hand quietly and I will come answer it.
Teacher will let students work on this individually and will help them and answer any questions
as needed. She will walk around and monitor them as they are working. Once you are done, I
want you to come to me and tell me that you finished and turned it into Google classroom. Then,
you may play one of the government games that are on Mrs. Sullivans website. Teacher will let
students play government games on her website once they are done.
IV. Closure:
Teacher will review what they learned about that day. She will go over what local government is
and ask students questions about who works in the local government. She will have them discuss
what they learned about Mr. Ammons coming and speaking to them. She will have them fill out
Journal Entry #6. Teacher will pull up slide 16 and go through the questions. Okay boys and
girls, lets review what we learned about today. So what level of government did we talk about
today? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Good, we
talked about local government. Now what is the local government? Teacher will wait for student
response and will call on individual student. Yes! It is city and county government. Now what
was the word that we said means city government? Its a big word. Teacher will wait for student
response and will call on individual student. Good! It is called municipal government. So, in our
municipal government of Vestavia Hills, who is the leader? Teacher will wait for student
response and will call on individual student. Yes, it is our mayor, Mr. Butch Zaragoza. So when
you guys researched on the Vestavia Hills website, you found the type of government that
Vestavia Hills has. Who runs our government besides our mayor? Teacher will wait for student
response and will call on individual student. Yes, it is the city council. So today we got to have
someone come visit our class. Who did we have visit? Teacher will wait for student response and
will call on individual student. Yes, Mr. Ammons! Now what position is Mr. Ammons? Teacher
will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Good memory. His position is
called Mayor Pro-Term. And he serves on the what? Teacher will wait for student response and
will call on individual student. Good! The city council. I hope that having him come speak to you
guys helped you understand how our local government is run and how most local governments
are run! I want to hear a couple of guys and what you learned from having him come visit.
Teacher will call on a couple of students have them share what they learned. So, what is one
thing that you learned today from hearing Mr. Ammons and having him come speak to us?
Teacher will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Good! I am so glad
that you learned that. What is something else that someone learned from Mr. Ammons? Teacher
will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Awesome! Now what is one
question that someone still has after hearing from Mr. Ammons? Teacher will wait for student
response and will call on individual student. That is a great question. Now before we close for
the day, I want you to fill out your Journal Entry #6 to help you think about local government
and how important local government is to our government system running smoothly.

Powerpoint Lesson 6
Promethean Board
Document Camera
Pencils
Marker/pen
Vestavia Hills website worksheet (one per student)
Mr. Ammons! (Mayor Pro-Term)
Index cards (one per student)
Chair for Mr. Ammons
Microphone
Answer key/rubric for Vestavia Hills Advertisement
iPads (one per student)
Website www.vhal.org
Google Chromebooks (one per student)
Journal Entry #6
Word Wall
Choice Board
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Ht will type of his questions on the chromebook for the
Vestavia Hills worksheet instead of writing them. Student Ht will work with the teacher on filling
out the Vestavia Hills worksheet. The teacher will sit with her and scribe the answers for Student
Ht after she finds them. While Mr. Ammons is talking, Student Ht will sit by the teacher. She will
only verbally have to tell her question, not write it down. The teacher will assist student Ht as
needed with the Google slides presentation. Student Ht will be given preferential seating in the
front of the room near the teacher. During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with a
sensory ball or other sensory objects to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Re-teaching:
Students who did not grasp grasp the concept will watch the BrainPop video on Local and State
Government
(https://jr.brainpop.com/socialstudies/government/localandstategovernments/preview.weml).
They will fill out a Frayer model on local government to help them understand what local
government does.
Data Analysis:
The students did really well on the Google slides presentation advertising for their city of
Vestavia Hills. All of the students except a couple met all of the requirements on the rubric, so
most of them got 20 out of 20 on the rubric. Many of them also got bonus points for extra
creativity and thought and scored a 22 on the rubric. I left the rubric up on the document camera
during the whole time they worked so that they know how they would be graded and what is
expected of them.
Reflection:
Overall, I was very pleased with how this lesson went. The students did a great job filling out the
worksheet on the Vestavia Hills website. I had the students use their iPads to go to the Vestavia
hills website and fill out a worksheet. The activity went pretty well, although some of the
students had trouble finding a couple of answers to the questions on the website so I just had to
clarify one or two of the questions. I wasn't sure if I made some of the questions too hard, but I
don't think so. Some of the students just didn't want to look around and search and wanted
someone to give them the answer. I think this was a good activity for them because it also taught
them good technology and internet skills of having to search on a website to find the information
they need. For this lesson, I did not have the students fill out a graphic organizer and this turned
out to be fine. Honestly, I do not think a graphic organizer was needed or would have been
helpful. Instead, the students got to complete two hands on activities which involved technology
and them researching and creating something using technology. Once again, I learned that it is
always better to provide students with as many hands on activities as possible. I was also
impressed with how well the students did with the Google slides presentation of making an
advertisement of Vestavia Hills. The students rose to the assignment and a couple of them really
went above and beyond even what the minimum requirements were for the assignment. The
students also really seemed to enjoy making the Google slides presentation. They were familiar
with making a Google slides presentation so that wasnt hard, but a couple of them did have
trouble getting the images to copy over so I had to help them with that. Looking back, I could
have made a slightly harder assignment for the higher end students and had them write more. I
ended up telling them verbally and making them have to add additional information to make
their assignment a little harder. I also realize that I could have made this assignment even harder
and focused more on the government of Vestavia Hills if I wanted to by having them include
more of the information they had to find on their worksheet from the Vestavia Hills in their
presentation like the city council members, facts about them, etc. This way, however, their
presentation was a little more fun and creative. Having the city council member come speak to
our class went great. The students were well behaved and asked great questions. I think they
learned a lot!

Title: Your Role- Citizenship and Voting

Date:
Estimated Time: 1 hr
When given a letter template, students will write a letter to their state senator or state
representative about a need that they see in their community scoring a 11 out of 12 on a teachermade rubric.
learning about the levels of government in our country!
When given a letter template, students will write a letter to their state senator or state
representative about a need that they see in their community scoring a 11 out of 12 on a teachermade rubric. Students will be graded according to a teacher-made rubric. The rubric includes 4
sections that include letter format, letter length, the need in community/potential law to be
addressed, and the name and address of the senator/representative indicated. Students who score
an 11 or above will be considered to have fully grasped the concept and completed the
assignment to the best of their ability. Students who score a 9 or below will be considered not
have to fully grasped the concept or assignment. These students will be pulled for re-teaching or
clarification of the assignment.
Engagement:
Teacher will have write the word Good Citizens on the board. She will have students write on a
sticky note what they think it means to be a good citizen and what traits make a good citizen.
They will then come and put it around the word Good Citizens and the teacher will sort the
answers and put like answers all together. Teacher will then introduce the learning lesson for the
day and the students will read it all together. Okay boys and girls, today is our last day of our
government unit. Remember in the first lesson, we compared our government to something in our
world. Who can tell me what we compared it to? Teacher will wait for student response. Good!
We compared our government to a system. Who can tell me what a system is or what is a main
characteristic of a system? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on individual
student. Good, a system is a set of interconnected things or part that all work together. So we
talked about the different levels of government and how they work together. We also talked about
the different branches of our government. Teacher will get out the stool and go over the 3
branches again and reinforce how important each one is to the whole government system running
as a whole. Now, lets look at our stool again. What did we say our stool represented? Teacher
will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Yes, the branches of
government. What are the names of each of the branches? Teacher will wait for student response
and will call on individual student. Yes, the executive, legislative, and judicial branch. Lets
review the purpose of each. Who can tell me the purpose of the executive? Teacher will wait for
student response and will call on individual student. Who can tell me the purpose of the
legislative? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Who can
tell me the purpose of the judicial branch? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on
individual student. So looking at the stool and thinking about our government, why is it so
important that we have all 3 branches of our government? Teacher will wait for student response
and will call on individual student. Yes. So each branch is so needed in our government or else it
wont run well. Now, to wrap up our government unit, now are going to look at a really
important part of government. We are going to talk a little bit today about the role that we can
play in government! This is extremely important. As we just said that our government is a
system, we are the last part of that system. It cant work without us! Teacher will direct students
attention to the board. So I want you to look at the board. I have written the word Good Citizens.
Teacher will pull up slide 2. I want you to look at these questions and think about them. What
does it mean to be a good citizen? What traits make a good citizen? I am going to pass out a
sticky note to each of you and I want you to write your answer on the sticky note. I will give you
a couple of minutes to do this. Once you write your answer, come put your sticky note on the
board and I will read them outloud. Teacher will pass out sticky notes. Teacher will give
students time to put think and write their answer. She will wait until they have all put their
answer on the board. Okay these are some great answers! I am very impressed. So you guys have
some good thoughts of what it means to be a good citizen. Teacher will pull up slide 3 and have
students read the learning goal together. Now boys and girls, lets read the learning goal on the
board together. In this lesson, we will be learning about the roles and responsibilities of a citizen
and how we play a part in our government system!
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Teacher will go over some of the characteristics of good citizens. She will go over who a citizen
is and the requirements for voting. She will pass out the Citizenship/Voting graphic organizer and
students will fill in as they go through the powerpoint. When they go over voter eligibility, she
will pass out fake voter eligibility cards and have students fill them out with their information.
They will then talk about why voting is important. So, lets look at some more reasons that make
people good citizens. You guys said a lot of these on your sticky notes, but here are a few more.
Teacher will pull up the powerpoint slide 4 and go over those together. So, good citizens learn
about their government and they study issues around them. They are well-informed. What is the
last thing that they do? Yes, they vote! Thats important. Overall, good citizens do what? Teacher
will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Read that last bold sentence
for us student P. Yes, they play an active role in our government. Now, who is a citizen? Teacher
will call on individual student with their hand raised. Okay, so you are partially right. It is
something that was born in the United States. There is actually another way someone can be a
citizen. Teacher will pull up slide 5. So people who may not be born in the United States can
become a citizen once they will live in the country for 5 years and then pass a test. Okay, so go
ahead and write down both of those in your blanks under U.S citizen on your graphic organizer.
Teacher will give students time to do that. Now, lets think about voting next. Teacher will pull up
slide 6. Do you think that voting is a right, a responsibility or both? Take a minute and think
about for yourself. Teacher will wait for student response and will call on individual student.
Good thoughts! So you think it is a right because the government has given it to us. Student D,
what do you think? You think it is a responsibility. Why? Because it is something we are allowed
to do and is a privilege we should take part in. I understand that too. Now does anyone think it is
both? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Yes, I think it
could be both as well. Good thoughts guys! So lets think about the requirements for voting. Can
just anyone vote? What is one requirement to be able to vote? Teacher will wait for student
response and will call on individual student. Yes, good. You have to be 18 years old. Does anyone
know another one? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on individual student.
Yes, you also have to be a citizen of the United States. Thats important. And, do you think you
have to be a resident of the U.S? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on
individual student. Good, you definitely have to. Now there is one last one that you guys may not
know. Does anyone have a guess? Teacher will wait for student response and will call on
individual student. It is that you must be registered to vote in the county in which he or she lives.
Teacher will pull up slide 7. Okay, so these are the 4 requirements for voting. So notice that there
are 4 blanks on your graphic organizer. I want you to fill in these four blanks with these
requirements because these are extremely important to know. Teacher will give students time to
fill these in. So lets look at the requirements in Alabama. So they are basically the same, but
Alabama adds its own as well. What are the extra 2 requirements that Alabama adds? Teacher
will wait for student response and will call on individual student. Yes, someone cannot have
committed a felony or be declared mentally incompetent. So when you register to vote, did you
guys know that you actually get a physical voter registration card. Its really cool. Teacher will
pull up slide 9. Here is a sample voter registration card. Teacher will then put her own voter
registration card under the document to show students. Now, here is my real voter registration
card so that you can see what it looks like. So everyone has one of these and when you get older,
you will too! Now, lets think for a minute about why voting is important. I want you to think for
a minute. Teacher will pull up slide 9. Teacher will give students time to think for a minute.
Teacher will then have students turn and talk about why they think voting is important. Okay,
what is one thing that someone at your table said about why voting is important? Teacher will
call on individual student and have them tell what someone in their group said. Good! I agree.
Voting is important because it keeps us involved in our government. Teacher will pull up slide 11.
So voting is important because it is the most important right that Americans have. Do you think
that everyone in the world have the freedom and the right to vote? Teacher will wait for student
response and will call on individual student. Yes, youre right. Not everyone does have this right.
Not everyone has democracy or a type of government where people get to vote. Voting also lets
people decide who their cities, counties, state and country should be governed and by who. This
is huge. So even an ordinary citizen, can influence who is in the government for their community
or country! How cool is that? Voting also gives people a say in how things are to be done. So do
you think that voting is important? Teacher will wait for student response and call on individual
student. Yes!
Teacher will show students the video of kids who encourage adults to vote. Teacher will then
divide students into groups. She will give each of them a copy of the TIME for Kids article
Democracy at Work. She will also pass out a worksheet with questions about the article on it.
They will work together in their groups to read the article and answer the questions on the
worksheet. Now boys and girls, I am going to show you a video of some kids at a school who
encourage adults to go out and vote. Since we just talked about how important voting is, I want
you to realize that you, even as a kid, can have a voice in our government. Pay attention and
notice what these kids do. Teacher will pull up slide 12 and show the TIME for Kids video
http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/video/democracy-work-343016.
Okay, wasnt that a cool video? Well now, I am going to have you guys read an article that goes
along with this video. It is about how one school is teaching its students to become responsible
citizens and what they do to show this. The article is called Democracy at Work. I am also
going to pass out a worksheet with just a couple of questions on it that go along with the story
because I want to make sure that you pay attention to what you read. Teacher will pull up the
worksheet under the document camera to show students. So here is the worksheet. Now I am
going to let you guys work with the people at your table groups to fill out the worksheet. But
each of you need to fill out your own worksheet and make sure to write your name on the top. So
you can either work individually, and read and fill out the worksheet on your own, or you can
work with your table group to read the article and answer the questions. Teacher will first hand
out the TIME for Kids article Democracy at Work out to students. She will then hand out the
worksheet. Are you there any questions before you get started? Teacher will take any questions
that students may have. As students are reading the article and working on the questions, she will
walk around the room and monitor students as needed and answer any questions they may have.
Once you are done, please keep your worksheet out and wait quietly at your desk. Once all
students are done, the teacher will briefly go over the worksheet and what they learned. Okay, so
lets go over these questions together and see what you wrote down. So question 1, what are 2
ways that students at Democracy Prep Middle School are learning about government and taking
an active role? Teacher will wait for student response and call on individual student. Great
answer! So what did you write down for number 2? Do you think it is a good requirement to
make the citizenship test a graduation requirement? Teacher will wait for student response and
call on individual student. Yeah, thats a hard question. I could see both sides too. I think it is a
great thing though. What about the last question? Teacher will wait for student response and call
on individual student. Good! So I hope that watching that video and reading about these students
inspires you guys to want to be involved in your government.
III. Assessment:
Students will write a letter to their state senator or state representative about a need they see in
their community or a law that they think would benefit their community. They will be given a
letter template and instructed to fill in each of the parts on the letter template. They will write
their school address, a heading, introduction, body, closing, and then sign it at the bottom. The
teacher will pull up the letter under the document camera and will explain what they should put
in each of the parts. She will answer any questions they have. Okay boys and girls, now you are
going to get to do something to show that you do have a voice in our government. Like we just
read with the article and watched in the video, you, even as a student, can be an active citizen
and play a role in your government. So today, we are going to do something so that your voice
gets to be heard. We are going to write a letter to our state senator or state representative
explaining a need that we see in our community or a potential law that we think would benefit
our community and make it better for others. Teacher will pull up slide 14. Think about: What
would make our community better? Some potential ideas could be maybe you think that our city
needs a new park or maybe the roads near your house need fixing. I want you to really think
about a new law or something that you want to be better in our community. Think about
something you would actually ask your senator or congressman. This shouldnt be silly or made
up. This is real. I am going to pass out a piece of blank paper first and I want you to write down
your idea on it. Teacher will pass out a blank piece of paper to students. So take a couple of
minutes on your own to brainstorm an idea and then write it down. There should be no talking.
After teacher has given students time, she will pull up the powerpoint and have student decide
who they will write their letter to.ow, I am going to show you guys our state senator and state
representatives. Teacher will pull up slide 15. So our state senator for our area is Senator J.T
Waggoner. Here is his picture. Our Representative is Rep. Jack Williams. Here is his picture.
Before I pass out the letter template, I want you to decide who you want to write your letter to.
They both have equal control in terms of implementing your idea. Now, I am going to pass out
the letter template to you guys. Teacher will then pass out the letter template. I want you to make
sure to fill in each of the parts correctly. At the top, you will notice that you need to put your
school address. Teacher will direct students attention to the board where the school address will
be written down. Notice that I have the school address written down on the board. That is what
you will copy in the top corner of your letter. Okay, are there any questions before I let you guys
get started? Teacher will take any questions that students may have. She will walk around and
monitor students as they are working and help as needed. Once you are done with your letter, I
want you to put it in my mailbox and work on a choice board activity or read a government book
at your desk.
IV. Closure:
Teacher will briefly review what the students talked about in the lesson about their role in the
government and about citizenship and voting. She will have them brainstorm why they think it is
important to be an active citizen. She will pull up the powerpoint and go through the questions to
help review. She will then have them complete a second 3-2-1 Bridge with their new response on
their own. Then she will have them fill out their own voter registration card. She will have them
pick up their voter registration card from the teacher and fill this out at their desk. Okay boys and
girls, so I hope today you learned a little bit about your role in the government and learned how
we all can play a part in our government even though we may not ever have a government
position. Now, I hope that reading the article and writing your letter helped you realize the role
you can play. I want you to think about this. So we have talked throughout our unit about how
government is a system or parts that must all work together to make the whole government
system run smoothly. We talked about this with the 3 branches of government. I want you think
for a minute about these 2 questions I have up on the screen. How we play a valuable role in our
government system? Could our government system run without ordinary people, like you and
me, who vote and participate? I want you to really think about this for a minute. Then I will call
you back together and I will give you time to share with the people at your table groups. Then, I
will call on some people to share and I will write the answers on the chart paper. Teacher will
give students time to think and then will have them share with one another. Okay, what is
something that someone at your table said about how we play an important part in our
government system? Teacher will call on individual student to share what someone at their table
talked about. Teacher will record the answer on the chart paper that has the questionHow Do We
play A Valuable Role in Our Government System? Great answer! So you said that people play
an important role because if there werent citizens who voted, we wouldnt be able to vote for
President. Now, what is something that you said? Teacher will wait for student response. She will
call on student to share their idea and write it on the board. Good! That is another good point.
Government is made up of people like you and me so there would be no use for a government
without people right. Those are some good ideas. Have students get out their original 3-2-1 chart
they made about government and look over it. Remember how I had each of you fill out an
individual 3-2-1 Sheet about what you know about government on the first day of our unit on
government? Well, now I am going to have you fill out another one of those. I am going to pass
out another 3-2-1 Sheet that has New Response on it instead of Initial Response. Teacher will
pass out the New Response 3-2-1 sheets to students. So, you guys already filled out one of these
sheets before, so you should know how to fill this one out. I want you to write down 3 words or
thoughts that you learned about government after we talked more about them. Then, write down
2 questions that you have after learning more about government in this unit. Then, I want you to
write 1 simile/metaphor about government. Teacher will give students time to work on this. She
will then have them share their thinking in groups. Now, I want you guys to get out your original
3-2-1 Sheet that you made. I want you to look at the original sheet that you made for a minute. I
want you to notice how your answers are different than they were at the beginning of the lesson.
Teacher will give students time to do this. Now, I want you to discuss at your table both your
initial and final 3-2-1 sheets and how your answers changed from the beginning of the lesson to
the end. I want you to notice how your thinking shirted from the initial responses. Give students a
couple of minutes to discuss. Then call on table groups to share. What are some things that you
talked about in your groups about how your initial and final responses were different on your 32-1 sheets? Wait for student responses. Call on a student to share from a table group. Yes, those
are great thoughts. You originally thought that government just included laws, but now you know
that government includes 3 branches. That is very true! What is another thing that changed in
your thinking? Call on another table group. Now to wrap up our lesson for the day, I am going to
pass out your Journal Entry #7. We just wrote down on our 3-2-1 sheets what new things we
learned and we just talked about some of these things. So as a final journal entry, todays journal
prompt is I used to think, Now I think. You are just going to write down the main that that
changed in your thinking throughout learning about this government unit. Teacher will pass out
the journal entry papers to each student. She will wait until all students have filled it out. She will
then have them put their Journal Entry #7 into their My Alabama Government Folder. Now, as a
fun activity and a way for you to remember our government unit and remember how you can be
involved in your government, guess what we are going to do? I am going to let each of you guys
fill out your own voter registration cards! This will help show you the importance of the role you
can play in government. You can take this home and it will help you remember that role that you
play in our government and how important it is to be an active citizen. Teacher will then hand
out the voter registration cards to students and have them fill it out. Thank you boys and girls! I
hope you enjoyed the government unit as much I did.

Powerpoint Lesson 7
Promethean Board
Document Camera
Pencils
Marker/pen
Post It notes
Chart Paper with Good Citizens in middle
TIME for Kids video http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/video/democracywork-343016.
TIME for Kids article Democracy at Work (one per student)
Worksheet about Democracy at Work (one per student)
Letter to Our Representative (one per student)
Microphone
3-2-1 Bridge New Response
Voter Registration card (one per student)
Ms. Diamonds Voter registration card
Stool
Word Wall
Choice Board
Student Hn and Student Ht- Student Hn will type up the answers to the questions that go with the
Democracy at Work article. Student Ht will work with the teacher on filling out the Democracy
at Work questions. The teacher will sit with her and scribe the answers for Student Ht after she
finds them. Student Hn will type up his letter to the representative, and the teacher will scribe for
student Ht on her letter to the representative. Student Ht will be given preferential seating in the
front of the room near the teacher. During the lesson, Student H will be allowed to play with a
sensory ball or other sensory objects to keep her occupied.
Extension:
Re-teaching:
Students will watch a TIME for Kids video that gives a brief overview of government-- the
branches of government, the levels of government, and our role in government.
http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/video/tfk-explains-us-government-117346. The
teacher will pause the video at different parts to emphasize different parts of what it is said. The
teacher will go over the requirements to vote and who a citizen is.
Data Analysis:
The students did pretty well on the Letter to Their Representative. I was impressed with a lot of
their ideas that they came up with of something they wanted changed in their community. Some
of them definitely tried harder than others, but the majority got 12 out of 12 on the rubric. A
couple of the students did not include the entire school address, so they got counted off for that.
Reflection:
This lesson went pretty well although it ended up having to be a little rushed which was a
bummer. One of the biggest things with this unit that i have realized is that I have had so much
information and activities planned and at times, it might be too much. For example, for this
lesson we didnt have time to read the Democracy at Work article in groups. Instead, I just had
them watch the video of the students who encouraged adults to vote. Then, I had them write their
letter. Writing the letter got a little rushed though and I feel like they could have done even better
work or put more thought into it if they had more time. But I didnt really have a choice so I kind
of had to go through it fast. Looking back, I should have split this lesson into 2 days so that I
could have had time to really talk about citizenship and voting in depth, but also emphasize the
way that they can be involved in their government. I didnt get to go over the role that they can
play as much and I wish I could.
The first class I was able to spend more time talking about citizenship and voting. The
engagement activity also went really with them where I had the students write on a post it note
what they thought a good citizen was. I have realized it is always helpful to have students write
their thoughts down because this makes them think about it more. They put down really good
answers which allowed for us to have a good conversation to lead into our lesson. One thing that
did go well was bringing in my voter registration card and showing it to them. I put it under the
document camera and then I passed it around and let them see it. They thought it was really cool
and they said they couldnt wait until they got one! This was exciting because my hope after this
government unit is that they get excited about government and realize how important it is to be
involved and vote. One thing that didnt go well is that in both classes, my computer froze up so
I had to write the answers on the board for part of the lesson and couldnt use the powerpoint.
But we made do and it worked out fine.

Lessons For Alabama Unit

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Lessons For Alabama Unit

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Summary of Lessons

Design for Learning: Lesson 1

Area: Social Studies

II. Opportunity for Practice:

Materials and Resources:

Design for Learning: Lesson 2

Area: Social Studies

Materials and Resources:

Design for Learning: Lesson 3

Area: Social Studies

Materials and Resources:

Design for Learning: Lesson 4

Area: Social Studies

II. Opportunity for Practice:

Materials and Resources:

Design for Learning: Lesson 5

Area: Social Studies

II. Opportunity for Practice:

Materials and Resources:

Design for Learning: Lesson 6

Area: Social Studies

Materials and Resources:

Sentence Strip U.S. Government- federal and state

Design for Learning: Lesson 7

Area: Social Studies

Materials and Resources:

Design for Learning: Lesson 8

Area: Social Studies

Materials and Resources:

Design for Learning: Lesson 9

Area: Social Studies

Materials and Resources:

Design for Learning: Lesson 10

Area: Social Studies

Materials and Resources:

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