Devon Patton

EGP 535
Lesson 1

1.0 Lesson Plan Details: The Three Branches of Government

Expected duration: 45-50 minutes
Social sciences: Civics/ Politics, Sociology
Concepts:
-Three branches of government
-Roles of each branch
-Positions of authority in each branch
-How president is involved with each branch of government
Vocabulary and operational definition:
-Legislative Branch: part of the government that makes the laws
- Congress: is made up of the Senate and House of
Representatives
-Senate: 100 total, 2 per state
-House of Representatives: 435 total, based on the
states population
-Executive Branch: enforcing and supporting laws
-President: elected head of the United States
-Vice President: supports the president, presiding officer of
Senate
- Cabinet: the presidents advisers, 15 members picked by the
president
-Judicial Branch: evaluates and oversees laws
-Supreme Court: highest federal court made up of nine justices
Skills: Reading comprehension, picking out key ideas within a provided
resource, recalling information
Goals of Lesson: For students to understand the roles of the three branches
government and how the president is involved with each branch of
government.
1.1 Integrations of Learning Outcomes/Objectives
1. Students will be able to correctly name and the number of positions of
authority of the branches of government
2. Students will be able to correctly explain the main role of each branch of
government
3. Students will be able to name four different facts about a branch of
government
4. Student will able to correctly explain the presidents role in one of the
branches of government.
1.2 PA Standards
5.3.4.A: Identify the roles of the three branches of government.
5.3.4.D: Identify positions of authority at the local, state, and national level.
NCSS Themes: Power, Authority, and Governance- 1.6.b
1.3 Anticipatory Set
Start off by having big pictures of the capital, white house, and the Supreme
Court in the front of the classroom.
Teacher talk: Do any of these three buildings look familiar? Does anyone know
who works in these buildings and why these building are important to our
government?
Call on students and listen to their answers.
These three building are where members of the Three branches of government
reside.
Introduce the video and what the teacher wants the students to be listening
for.
While you watching this short video, I want you to be listening for the names of
the three branches, the members of the branch, and the roles they have in the
government.
Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxpQmYdwZY
1.4 Procedures
The teacher will ask to they if they remember the names of the branches and
their role in the government.
Who remembers from the video one of the branches of government? Can you
remember the members of that branch of government? What they are
responsible for doing in our government?
Legislative=makes laws, Executive=carries out laws, Judicial= evaluates laws
So now I am going to be breaking everyone into three big groups. Each group
will be receiving an article about one branch of government.
The teacher will break the students into three groups (home groups). Each
group will be given an article to read and become familiar with the branch of
government that they are assigned.
I would like you to underline what you think is important information,
highlight important vocabulary, and put a star next to information that
involves the president.
As you are reading the article, I want you to be looking out for information that
involves these four questions:
-What is each branch of government do?
-What are the positions of authority in each branch do government?
-How many positions of authority are there in each branch?
-What is the presidents role with or within the branch of
government?
I will write these questions on the board to help you remember. Also, I will be
visiting every group to see if they have any questions about your assigned
branch of government.
The students will be given 10-15 minutes to read and ask questions about
the topic.
During this time period the teacher will be visiting each group answering any
questions the students may have about different vocabulary.
Articles:
 Legislative: http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_legislative_branch.php
Executive: http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_executive_branch.php
Judicial: http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_judicial_branch.php
Once the 10-15 minute period is about to end, the teacher will hand every
students a piece of paper that is folded into three sections (brochure) and a
rubric for the brochure.
All right class, some of you have noticed that I have given everyone a piece of
paper folded into three parts. This is going to be your branch of government
brochure that I will be collecting at the end of class. I want everyone to write
each branch of government at the top of each section. Once you have finished
writing to three branches, I want you to write down four facts that you have
learned about your assigned branch of government. When you are writing
these facts I want you to be thinking about the four questions that I have
written on the board. I have also given everyone a rubric that you can look at
so you can see how you can get full point of this activity.
The teacher will give the students a few minutes to write down four facts that
they have learned about their given branch of government from the article
that they have read with their groups.
Now I want everyone to get into a group of three. This group should have one
group member from each branch of government. Your job is to share all the
important information about your assigned branch of government to your new
group members so they can write it in their brochures.
The students will be given 10-15 minutes to discuss what they have learned
from the article about their assigned branch of government to the other
students in their group. During this time the students will be writing at least
four facts of each branch of government.
Once the students complete the brochure, they will hand them into teacher to
be reviewed.
1.5 Differentiation
The teacher will split the class so the reading levels are dispersed amongst
the groups.
The teacher will provide different resources with different reading levels to
students.
The teacher has included a video to help students learn better with visual
factors.
The teacher has included a reading piece and group discussion for students
who learn better by listening.
The teacher has provided a written activity for students who learn better by
doing a tactile activity.
Fine motor IEP: Students will be allowed to create the brochure using a
laptop to type their ideas or a voice recorder to vocalized their learnings.
1.6 Closure
As the students are making their brochures, the teacher will be handing out
three cards to each student. These cards will have each branch of
governments building that was introduced in the beginning of the lesson.
 I have given everyone three cards with pictures of the buildings that are on the
front board. As we learned, these three building represent the three branches of
government. I will be asking questions about each branch and I want each one
of you to hold up the building card that you think it applies to.
The teacher will then ask questions about each branch of government and
the student will hold up the card that they think is the answer.
Example 1: The president will nominate a justice to serve a life term in this
branch of government the students will hold up the picture of the Supreme
Court.
Example 2: The president can veto a law passed by this branch of
government? the students will hold up the Capital.
Example 3: The president gets to chose members of the cabinet that are
apart of this branch of government? the students will hold up the picture of
the white house.
These questions will be mainly centered on the list of questions the teacher
gave the students at the beginning of the reading activity.
1.7 Formative/Summative Assessment
Formative: This assessment will take place when the students are put into
their first groups and are reading about their assigned branch of government.
The teacher will be walking around the room when the students are in their
home groups. The teacher will be listening to the discussion and questions
the home groups are having with each other.
Summative: This assessment will be the brochure. The teacher will review all
the students brochures to make sure all four of the question the teacher
wanted them to focus on are listed in the brochure. These questions match
the four learning objectives for this lesson.
This group activity will be worth 25 points. The scoring rubric is listed at the
bottom of this lesson plan.
1.8 Materials/Equipment
Laptop
Paper
Rubrics
Building pictures
Mini building pictures enough for class
Printed resources for each branch:
Legislative: http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_legislative_branch.php
Executive: http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_executive_branch.php
Judicial: http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_judicial_branch.php
Teacher References:
Ducksters. (2017). The United State Government The US Cabinet. Retrieved
June 8, 2017, from http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_cabinet.php
Scholastic. (2017). The President and Vice President's Jobs. Retrieved June 8,
2017, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-
content/presidents-and-vice-presidents-jobs/
 USA Gov. (2017, March 6). Three Branchs of Government. Retrieved June 8,
2017, from https://kids.usa.gov/three-branches-of-government/index.shtml
US Government Publishing Office . (n.d.). What Are The Branches of
Government . Retrieved June 8, 2017, from https://bensguide.gpo.gov/a-
what-are-branches
United State Senate. (n.d.). Vice President of the United States. Retrieved June
8, 2017, from
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Vice_Pre
sident.htm
1.9 Technology
Laptop- video
2.1 Reflection on Planning
At the beginning of planning this lesson, I had trouble of thinking of activities
for the students to do to learn the material. In the past I have only planned
lesson for mainly kindergarten and first grade. Writing a lesson for fourth
grade students was a new task for me, but I feel that the lesson turn out
pretty well. One concern I have is having the students being able to find the
important information from the articles. I have provided them with a list a
question to focus on to hopefully avoid this from happening. I feel that that
closing activity is a great way wrap up the lesson especially, because I
included pictures from the anticipatory set as a material that the students
will use.
 Rubric:
Students are expected to list information and answer the folding questions on their
brochure to receive the full 25 points for this activity.

Listed on brochure: Possible Points Pointed Earned

List the three branches of 5

government name on top
of each folded section.

What is each branch of 5

government do?

What are the positions of 5

authority in each branch
do government?

How many positions of 5

authority are there in each
branch?

What is the presidents 5

role with or within the
branch of government?

- - Total Points: /25

Step One: Three Branches of Government

- The United States in divide into three parts or branches of government, each
branch is responsible for different duties but they all must work together.
-Congress makes law and the president can sign or veto bill
-Congress and try to vote to pass the law (2/3 vote)
-Supreme court and rule the law unconstitutional

Legislative: Makes Laws

-Congress is made up of:
-Senate
- 100 total, 2 per state
- 6 year term (voted in by the American people)

-House of Representatives
- 435 voting representatives
 - The number of representative from each state is based on the states
population
- Two year term and may be re-elected (by American people)
-5 Delegates, 1 resident commissioner
Judicial: Evaluates laws
- The court system of the government
-Supreme Court
-Highest court system in the country
- Nine justices are nominated by the president and must be approved by the
senate with 51 votes
-Other Federal Courts
-Lower court
- Not created by the constitution
-Congress established courts around the country to handle federal business
Executive: carries out laws
-President
-Head of the United States
-Head of the US government
-Commander-in-chief of the US military
-Keeping the country safe before and during wartime and peaceful periods
-Chief Executive
-Foreign policy, prepares national budgets, enforces federal laws, appoints
federal offices
-Foreign Policy Director
- Direct foreign policy, appoint ambassadors, make treaties, meet with
foreign leaders
-Legislative Leader
- power to veto that has been passed by Congress
-Vice President
-Supports the president
-Acts as the presiding officer of the Senate
- Final vote if the decision is split
-Will take over the presidents job if anything were to happen
-Cabinet
- Nominated by the president, must be approved by the senate (51 votes)
- Serves as Presidents advisor and head of departments and agencies
-15 Executive departments: Department of agriculture, department of
commence, department of defense, department of education, department of
energy, department of Health and Human Services, department of housing
and urban development of the interior, department of justice, department of
labor, department of transportation, department of treasury, department of
veterans affrair
References:
Ducksters. (2017). The United State Government The US Cabinet. Retrieved June 8,
2017, from http://www.ducksters.com/history/us_cabinet.php
Scholastic. (2017). The President and Vice President's Jobs. Retrieved June 8, 2017,
from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/presidents-
and-vice-presidents-jobs/

USA Gov. (2017, March 6). Three Branchs of Government. Retrieved June 8, 2017,
from https://kids.usa.gov/three-branches-of-government/index.shtml

US Government Publishing Office . (n.d.). What Are The Branches of Government .

Retrieved June 8, 2017, from https://bensguide.gpo.gov/a-what-are-branches

United State Senate. (n.d.). Vice President of the United States. Retrieved June 8,
2017, from
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Vice_President.
htm

Current Event:

http://time.com/4769931/emmanuel-macron-wins-french-election/?iid=sr-link7

Emmanuel Macron wins the French election for president now faces a
challenge of winning the majority of seats in the parliament in order to
keep up with his campaign promises.