Blended Learning Lesson Plan

Lesson Title:
U.S. Government – How it works
Objectives:
Students will be able to identify the three branches of government.
Students will be able to show the steps that are taken for a bill to be passed
Students will be able to tell who makes up each branch of government.
State Standards:

Standard 1-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the principles of American
democracy and the role of citizens in upholding those principles.

1-3.1 Describe the fundamental principles of American democracy, including respect for
the rights, opinions, and property of others; fair treatment for all; and respect for the rules
by which we live.

Context: It is in the first-grade standards that students know about the government and how it
effects each family’s life. Before this lesson on the government students learned about
neighborhoods and identifying different ones on maps. This will tie in of how the government
effects different areas of the world differently. Also students have just learned about how the
government creates and decides on laws for the country. Once the students have learned about
the government, they will start to learn about more types of jobs in society.
Materials:
Introduction – computer and projector (to show the tutorial on the website)
Independent- headphones, ipad/devices
Teacher- note book or devices to take notes, pencil/pen
Collaborative – pencils/pen, highlighter
Procedures:
Introduction ( 10 minutes):
I will start out the lesson by reminding them of what we talked about last week.
This will consist of each of the different types of communities there are. I will quickly
introduce the three different stations that they will be working at today. For the
independent-digital activity I have selected a website that allows you, the student, to act
as the judicial branch, the executive branch, or the legislative branch. I will give them a
short tutorial on how they are to navigate through the website and use it correctly.
Teacher Directed (25 minutes):
I will start by asking the group of students to name all of the things that they
already know about the government, I will write these on the board as they are calling
them out. We will then together watch this video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMQ_OSRL0YE about who makes up the three
branches of government. I will ask again if there is any more words that they want to add
to the list on the board. After we will then watch a three minute video from the school
house rock. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EISWIY9bG8 This will give students a
more in-depth look on how the government works. I will continue with showing a power
point about the notes they need from out of the textbook. They will need to write their
notes in their notebook or take notes on their devices.
Collaborative (25 minutes):
Students will get into groups of two or three and have a few worksheets to
complete about the three branches of government. There is some reading that can be
done and goes along with the questions. They are allowed to highlight what they think is
important in the readings. They have a worksheet with blanks every few words that they
are to put the correct words into. (I will have the words cut out already so they can move
them around easier.) The example of the government is of a seesaw, trying to balance the
country. https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/teacher_lessons/3branches/7.htm If
they have additional time, I have another worksheet activity. They are to take the pieces
of cut out papers that have different steps of how to pass a law and put them into the
correct orders.
https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/teacher_lessons/3branches/15a.htm

Independent Digital ( 25 minutes):

Students will go onto the website and they get to pick what the ‘face’ of the
executive, legislative, and judicial branches look like. They next pick two values that is
important to them that they want their country to value. Students will choose three issues
from the education and youth tab that they are worried about. Students now will be able
to walk around the community as which ever branch, deal with issues, hold press
conferences, and see how laws go into effect. https://www.icivics.org/games/branches-
power
Closure (10 minutes):
I will get all the students back to their seats and take any additional questions they
might have. They will work on a word search of some of the words they learned today
dealing with the branches of government. https://wordmint.com/public_puzzles/9254 I
 will go over how we will continue to learn more about the three branches of government,
laws, and bills, etc. over the next week.
Rationale:
(https://www.icivics.org/games/branches-power ): This website is good for children to
have a sense of being independent while still working towards bettering the community.
It is important for them to learn and decide early on what they think is the most important
things for their community and how they are able to help these issues. This website is
good because it shows what each branch of government does. Once the students go
further on, into debates and press conferences there is questions asked that the students
answer. They learn the whole process from an idea that stemmed up all the way to
passing a bill.

(YouTube videos (from teacher directed) ): These two different videos start to give an
insight on how the government works. Having these played while they are in the group
with me will allow for them to ask more questions and have a discussion about it. One is
a short video that just explains the 3 branches and the next goes much more into detail
about what each branch does.