Design for Learning

Instructor: Emily Kelley Grade Level: 2nd

Lesson Title: 3 Branches of Government Date: April 11, 2014
Curriculum Area: History Estimated Time: 60 minutes

Standards Connection: 9.) Explain how inadequacies of the Articles of
Confederation led to the creation and eventual ratification of the Constitution of
the United States.
Describing major ideas, concepts, and limitations of the Constitution of the
United States, including duties and powers of the three branches of government

Learning Objective(s): When given a graphic organizer, students will be able to
correctly identify which duty and power matches with each branch with 95%
accuracy.

Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language: Today, friends, we
are going to be learning about the 3 branches of government so that we can can
know their jobs and what powers they have.

Evaluation of Learning Objective(s): To evaluate the objective, the teacher will
provide a graphic organizer separated into the 3 branches of government. The
duties and powers of the branches will be list below. Students will be able to
correctly place the duty/ power into the branch it belongs to.

Review:
Good morning class! I hope you all enjoyed reading the first part of Chapter 10. It
is all about how this nation became what it is today. Let's all open up to page 338
in our textbooks please. Now, everyone follow along as I read "You Are There"
box on page 338. I want everyone to imagine they are in the 1770's. You left a
nation that was corrupt and abused their power, now you are in a new nation and
a new government is being formed. How do you feel as I read this? Teacher will
read the "You Are There" section of the textbook with engaging enthusiasm. Turn
and talk to your neighbor and tell them how you feel about this new government
coming into place. Last night, you should have read about how the Articles of
Confederation were ratified. I need help defining those two terms. Can someone
tell me what the Articles of Confederation did? Student will discuss how this was
the new plan of government for the nation and declared that states would have
freedom and independence and joined by a strong league of friendship. Very
good! That is correct. Now what does ratify mean? The student will say it means
to approve something. Perfect! It was ratified, or approved, in 1781.

Engagement:
At that time, they had Congress as their one and only branch of government. But
they needed to separate the power, they didn't want one place to have all the
control. So they came up with the legislative branch, the executive branch, and
judicial branch. Anyone listen to rap? Well, I actually have a rap for you all! I'm
not going to rap it.. But these guys will! So listen up, because I am going to ask
you about which branch has the most power. Because they all think that their
branch has the most power! Listen carefully. Teacher will play the 3 Branches of
Government Rap on Youtube using the projector.

Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
Students, raise your hand if you think the legislative branch has the most power?
Raise your hand if you think the executive branch has the most power? Raise
your hand if you think the judicial branch has the most power? Now.. Raise your
hand if you think they all share the power? There we go! That's right! Like we
said earlier, the new nation ran from the a government that had complete control,
so after many debates, plans, and compromises, they came up with a plan. They
were going to divide the power within 3 groups. Do you remember the names?
The students will try and recall the names of each branch. Good! Now, I need
some help teaching from you all. Is that ok? The teacher will separate students
into 3 groups. Alright so this group is going to be the legislative branch, this
branch is the executive branch, and then this group is the judicial branch. There
are about 8 of you in a group, so here are 8 jobs for each person in the group.
1. Captain- Directs group discussion
2. Word Wizard- Defines unknown terms
3. Timer- Keeps track of time for the group, make sure group stays on task
4. Reader- Reads worksheet aloud to the group
5. Recorder- Writes important facts for the group
6. Passage Master- If something is important in the text, they make it known to
the group
7. Connector- Makes a connection between reading and real life
8. Presenter- Presents the information to the rest of the class.
Here are the sheets with your groups information. Make sure you get the main
facts (like who is it made up of, duties, powers) because you will be teaching the
class about your branch! Ok, get started.
The teacher will allow students some time around 10 minutes for each group to
do their reading. When the allotted time is completed, the timers will make it
known to their group that their time is up. Then each group will present the
information they deemed important to the class. Wow, y'all are better teachers
than I am! Now let's take what we just learned, and make something that will help
us remember it!
II. Opportunity for Practice:
Please go back to your tables, you will be working with your table groups for this
activity. I am passing out these hangers that have "The 3 Branches of
Government" at the top. We are going to write about each section and branch off
the facts we just learned. The teacher will hand out materials (hangers,
construction paper, stapler). The students will write down who makes up each
branch, their powers, and match up their picture with each branch. When the
students complete the assignment, they will review the information then hang it
up in the classroom.

III. Assessment:
After the students complete the hanger activity, they will return back to their
seats. Then the teacher will hand out a tri-fold graphic organizer to each student.
The student will write their name on the front. They will open it up to see a word
bank full od people and duties. The students will open the tri-fold and put each
word in the correct section according to what branch it belongs to. They can also
fill in additional information they learned. The students will turn them in to the
teacher when they are done and the teacher will look for at least a 95% accuracy
rate. The teacher will hand back the assessment after the data is taken. The
students can look at their mobiles in the classroom or their tri-fold to review and
reflect on what they learned.

IV. Closure:
Class you have done so well today and seem to really know your branches of the
government! So if I said the President, which branch would he belong to?
Executive! What about Congress? Legislative!
Then the teacher will ask a few more, confirming that the students full understood
the lesson. See! You all are experts on the 3 branches of government!

Materials and Resources:
History book
Reading on each branch (3)
Hangers
Construction paper
Stapler
Tape
Pictures of each branch

Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):
HL- Go into checks and balances. See how each branch can overpower the
other. (Page 349)
LL- Have the student draw pictures instead of write words to display information.
(Ex. Draw the president and put it in Executive).

Data Analysis:
The students seemed more receptive to the assessment because it was not the
usual question and answer assessment. It was the tri-fold and they had to
organize the information. After looking back over their assessments, about 90%
of the class had 100% accuracy. The other 10% simply rushed through their work
and then were asked to try again and they also succeeded.

Reflection:
This lesson went really well! The engagement rap was entertaining for the
students I was with, I should take into account my students interest and play a
video that fits their interests. One thing that needs improvement are the jobs.
Students need to be made aware of what these are before the lesson. They
should also be given what their jobs are instead of choosing them to avoid
conflict. The hangers looked great in the classroom!! If I had enough supplies, I
would love for each student to make a hanger instead of table groups.


Samford University
Design for Learning