Government officials

Submitted by: Michael Feher EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science Nevada State College Spring 2013 Instructor: Karen Powell

Government Officials

Summary of the Lesson Plan: This social studies lesson is created for first grade students and it is designed for them to be able to identify who the president is and learn the different parts of the government. This lesson uses the Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook School and Family (p. 236-243). Target Population: First grade Students at all learning levels. Whole group reading, small group activity, and individual assessment. Materials: Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook School and Families. Paper, colored pencils, markers, crayons, pencils. White boards with markers for each group Objectives: C14.1.1 Name the current President of the United States. C14.1.1 I can name the current President.

Procedure: 1. Read together as a class pg. 236. Ask students: What is the government is able to do? (make a law review) Ask students: What are some of the buildings where government officials work? (pg. 237) 2. Read pg. 238-239 together as a class. Ask students: Who is the current president? Who was the 1st U.S. president? Play a true and false game. Split the class up into four teams and then ask each team a true or false question. They will be able to discuss the question for 30 seconds then must answer on their white board. The team with the most points at the end will earn a reward. 3. Read pgs. 240-241 together as a class. Pass out a blank sheet of drawing paper. Have the students draw a president. They must write the presidents name under the picture and write a sentence about that president. Assessment: The teacher will collect the picture and sentence and check to see that the information about the president is accurate. The teacher will also assess when they are answering the true and false questions to determine whether students are struggling; at the end of the class the teacher will also have each student write the current president on a sheet of paper and turn it in.

Government Officials

Reflection: Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? I think the easiest part of the lesson will be teaching them who the current president is because he gets so much publicity that I think most students would have heard of him. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? I think explaining the different government buildings will be the most difficult because I think they will get confused easily and remembering building is not as easy as remembering people. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? I would get more in depth with previous presidents and include more facts about them. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? I would review with them a little more and possible bring in models of buildings so they can get a visual image of what each building looks like instead of just viewing a picture. There are many souvenirs of these buildings that I can get ahold of for visual aids. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? I may need to have the groups be groups of two instead of four because some students may hide in their group and not participate. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? The most difficult part of this was thinking of activities to incorporate that would keep the students engaged and interested.