Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Name: Nathan Sherrill Central Focus/Big Idea of the Lesson:

E pluribus unum: Out of many, one
Grade Level/Subject: 5th Grade Social Studies/ELA
Essential Standard/Common Core Objective
:5.C&G.1.2: Summarize the organizational structures and powers of the
United States government (legislative, judicial and executive branches of
Date taught:
government).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining
what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Daily Lesson Objective: Students will be able to properly identify and describe each branch of government and their
roles.
21st Century Skills: (Go to this link for more info about these skills: Academic Language Demand
http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/P21_Framework_Definiti
ons.pdf) Language Function: Describe

Critical Thinking and Communication Vocabulary: legislative, executive, judicial, local,

state, national, mayor, governor, president

Discourse:

Syntax: Video -as an Anchor Chart, flow chart, 3

branches of govt PPT slide
Prior Knowledge: Students should be able to recognize the President as the leader of our country, as well as, the basic

Activity Description of Activities and Setting Time

Pre Assessment sticky note quickwrite Inquiry Question: - One your index
card answer the following:
How many branches does our government have?
What are the names of the three branches? If you dont know, take a
guess.

1. Focus and Review
Teacher will introduce the three branches of government and the idea of
checks and balances. Commented
8 min [1]: Have a ppt slide with the 3 branches
listed on it.
http://www.rightsofthepeople.com/education/governme
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11ylLrSAY3n1wpG0Ft9wVeoCTR505 nt_for_kids/images/icons/branches.jpg
tUG9GSGosj8cfVA/edit#slide=id.p5

2. Statement of Objective Today we will define the differences between the three branches of 30 sec

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 for Student government and identify the responsibilities of each branch.
Pass out government guided notes to follow along with the video.
Show:
https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernment/branchesofgovern
ment/ (Video for Guided Notes)

Teacher: During the video that I just showed, the three branches of
government were listed. On the handout I passed out follow along and write
down notes about each branch. Okay so the Executive Branch, Is the
president of the United State. Does anyone know who the president is?
Student: Donald Trump. Teacher: Correct! The Executive branch also consists
of the Vice President and the cabinet, these are the people that are
nominated by the president to serve as advisors on the decisions that will be
made. These members must be approved by the senate.

The Senate is part of the legislative branch, this branch also includes the
House of Representatives. The senate includes, two elected Senators per
state, totaling 100 Senators. A Senate term is six years and there is no limit to
the number of terms an individual can serve. The House of Representatives
3. Teacher Input include, 435 elected Representatives, which are divided among the 50 states 15 min
in proportion to their total population. There are additional non-voting
delegates who represent the District of Columbia and the territories. A
Representative serves a two-year term, and there is no limit to the number
of terms an individual can serve.

Finally, the Judicial Branch. The judicial branch interprets the meaning of
laws, applies laws to individual cases, and decides if laws violate the
Constitution. It's comprised of the Supreme Court and other federal courts.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. The Justices of
the Supreme Court are nominated by the President and must be approved by
the Senate.The court is comprised of nine members, a Chief Justice and eight
Associate Justices. Currently, there is one Associate Justice vacancy. A
minimum or quorum of six justices is required to decide a case. There is no
fixed term for Justices. They serve until their death, retirement, or removal in
exceptional circumstances.

The teacher will finish by passing out an article with 5 questions

corresponding to the article. Students will complete or 80% will show
mastery on this topic.

Day 2 activity: The teacher will divide the class into groups of at least 4, or if
they are already grouped by their seating students may be placed into their
table groups. The students can use this website https://www.usa.gov/how-
4. Guided Practice 20 min
laws-are-made or use independent research within their groups. Students
must delegate within their groups to decide who will be the speaker of their
group to speak upon their bill and then as a class they will vote to see if their

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 bill will pass for the classroom with the president (teacher) having the power Commented [2]: have some ideas already listed to
to sign or veto the bill into effect. All group member will be encouraged to help the kids think of ideas for their bills

participate in the presentation.

The teacher will help guide students in their delegation of tasks by iterating
the importance of the each job within the group and suggesting students
come up with ideas that they feel are important to their own personal
learning environment. If some student come up with similar ideas, they could
combine groups to come up with a more powerful argument to present to
the class. Also, the teacher will review the importance of checks and balances
system. This system allows each branch to check eachothers decisions and
keep a balance of power within the government.
Students will complete assignment passed out in teacher input. Students will
5. Independent Practice have each group share out their idea and 2 arguments for why that is an 10 min
important idea.
Day1: Students need to answer 4 out of 5 questions correct to show mastery.
6. Assessment Methods of
Day2: Students will be graded for their role in the group presentation, students must
all objectives/skills:
show their research and how they participated. 80% will show mastery.
Go over 3 branches of government and cover any questions on the topic
7. Closure 5 min
before ending class.
8. Assessment Results of
all objectives/skills:
Targeted Students Modifications/Accommodations: Student/Small Group Modifications/Accommodations:

ELL: Dictionaries, translation websites, and alternate Students may create a classroom bill of rights, instead of
resources will be available if needed. individual laws. Let the students lead and see where the lesson
goes.

Early Finishers: Student can research international

governments and how they do things differently compared to
the US.

Struggling Students: Additional time will be given depending

on the case. If necessary, presentations could be made the
next day or this activity could be broken up into multiple days
to allow extra time.
Materials/Technology: Resources:
https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernment/branchesofgovernment/ (Video for Guided Notes)
http://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/branches-of-government/view/ (Branches of Gov. Worksheet)
http://www.lauracandler.com/filecabinet/socialstudies/ClassroomBillofRights.pdf (Bill of Rights)

(Include any instructional materials (e.g., worksheets, assessments PowerPoint/SmartBoard slides, etc.) needed to implement the lesson at the end of the lesson plan.)

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 References: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/2868
https://www.usa.gov/branches-of-government-lesson-plan
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-S2000/Ashcroft%20&%20Pettit/lesson%20plan.html
Reflection on lesson: (Write several paragraphs about what you learned from this lesson. What were the strengths?
What were the weaknesses? What did you learn about teaching and student learning? How would you teach this lesson
differently in the future?

http://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/branches-of-government/view/