Carman Jelks

MEDT 7490 Visual & Media Literacy

Project 8: Comprehensive Instructional Design Plan
Client: Laura Hernandez is a third grade teacher at a suburban elementary school in Georgia.
Contact Information: Laura_Hernandez@gwinnett.k12.ga.us
Instructional Problem: Laura has found that her students struggle when attempting to
differentiate between the three branches of government and their respective powers. Lauras
class is mainly composed of ELLs that are often reading below grade level. After our
consultation, Laura and I concluded that the students would benefit from strong visual aids and
the use of technology to express their understanding.
The Lesson: This lesson is to serve as a mid-unit lesson. It will be used after the three branches
of government have been independently introduced and discussed.
SS3CG1 The student will explain the importance of the basic principles that provide the
foundation of a republican form of government.
a. Explain why in the United States there is a separation of power between branches of
government and levels of government.
b. Name the three levels of government (national, state, local) and the three branches in
each (executive, legislative, judicial), including the names of the legislative branch (Congress,
General Assembly, county commission or city council).
c. State an example of the responsibilities of each level and branch of government.

Essential question What does separation of powers mean?

Activating strategy TTW will use the Piktochart infographic (artifact 1) to
engage students in a review activity of naming the three branches of government

and one responsibility of each.

Teaching point TTW assist students in drawing conclusions leading them to the
connection that the responsibilities of each branch support the separation of

powers.
Summarizing activity TSW work in pairs to complete a Pixton comic (artifact
2) demonstrating their understanding of the separation of powers. The students
will express one example of how the separation of powers allows the branches to
check and balance each other.

Explanation of Artifacts:
Artifact 1: This artifact was created as a resource for the teacher to present during the
lesson. Working under the dual-coding theory, it was determined that the use of an infographic
would work well to boost student comprehension of the responsibilities of each branch of
government. The Spatial Contiguity Principle was also utilized as we wanted students to be able
to direct their attention to one area at a time instead of losing their focus by having to look all
over the presentation to link text and visuals.
Artifact 2: This artifact is a sample of what the student will be required to create. It is a
comic created with Pixton. We wanted students to show one example of how checks and
balances works between the branches of government. The format of a comic can help students
plan out what they want to say and opposed to a regular short answer question, the comic form
may encourage students to engage with their work and review it to ensure that it makes sense
prior to submitting it for evaluation.

Assessment Method for Artifact 2: Rubric (see below)

ACRL Visual & Literacy Competency Standard:

Standard Five
The visually literate student uses images and visual media effectively.
Performance indicators:
1.

The visually literate student uses images effectively for different purposes.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Plans for strategic use of images and visual media within a project
b. Selects appropriate images and visual media aligned with a projects purpose
2.

The visually literate student uses technology effectively to work with images.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Uses appropriate editing, presentation, communication, storage, and media tools and
applications to prepare and work with images
4.

The visually literate student communicates effectively with and about images.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Writes clearly about images for different purposes (e.g., description, analysis, evaluation)
b. Presents images effectively, considering meaning, aesthetic criteria, visual impact, rhetorical
impact, and audience
c. Discusses images critically with other individuals, expressing ideas, conveying meaning, and
validating arguments
The plan I developed addresses ACRL Visual & Literacy standard five as for the culminating
activity the student will be required to utilize images effectively to communicate their
understanding of a social studies standard through Pixton, an online software comic program.
The students comic should provide a clear example of checks and balances.
Reflection: The biggest challenge of this project was selecting an aspect of the government unit
to focus on. The branches of government can be a hard topic for third grade students as they
often find it difficult to make more than a basic connection. While students can often name a
branch and its figure head, they struggle to comprehend how the branches are intertwined. I am
especially happy with the activity (artifact 2) that the students will develop. As they work in
pairs, I hope they make the association between how the dialogue they create in the Pixton comic
is similar to the conversation they are having as they collaborate.

Resources:

Capitol Building. [Photography]. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest.

http://quest.eb.com/search/139_1915704/1/139_1915704/cite
White House. [Photography]. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest.
http://quest.eb.com/search/139_2011633/1/139_2011633/cite
U.S. Supreme Court Building. [Photography]. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica
ImageQuest. http://quest.eb.com/search/300_1825554/1/300_1825554/cite
U.S. President Obama delivers a speech on healthcare before a joint session of Congress
in Washington. U.S.Capitol. [Photography]. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica
ImageQuest.
http://quest.eb.com/search/142_2306225/1/142_2306225/cite
NBC News Education Nation Job One Panel Discussion. [Photography]. Retrieved from
Encyclopedia Britannica ImageQuest.
http://quest.eb.com/search/115_3953437/1/115_3953437/cite