Amber Hornick

I.

Lesson Topic Description/ Plan Overview

The focus of this lesson is on the types of local government and who is in the local
government, specifically: 1. mayors, 2. city government, and 3. county government.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Expected duration- one hour

Social studies- history/civics
The concept is the local government
Vocabulary:
A. Mayor - comes from the Latin maior, which means greater
B. Council a group of officials who make rules and laws. An assembly
means almost the same thing as council
C. County- Is an area of the state that includes several communities. Students
need to make sure they dont confuse county with country.

5. Skills: Work with others

6. Goals: To understand more about the local government, who people are and what
they do
II.

Content Outline
A. The Mayor the leader of a citys government.
The mayor needs to be elected by citizens
He/she makes important decisions that help the local government
run smoothly
Has many responsibilities
B. City Government
In almost all cities, citizens elect a city council
The council makes rules and laws
The council hires a city manager- who runs the city
City manager-doesnt make laws, just obeys the council
C. County Government
Counties have governments
Counties have multiple communities
County citizens vote for local officials
Commissioners run the county government
Commissioners make decisions for communities in the county
They make sure people get services

III.

Objectives:
In small groups, students will identify what the mayor does

IV.

The students will list who is in the city government and what they do
The students will list who is the county government and what they do

Standards PA civics, History, Economics, Geography; NCSS Thematic

Strands and performance Indicators
PDE SAS - 5.3 How Government Works 6th grade
Describe how local, state, and national governments provide services.
NCSS Thematic Strands

V.

Teaching Procedures:
A. Introduction/ Anticipatory Set
1. Before the lesson begins, hand out an outline to the students with
examples of what a mayor does, who is in the city government and
what they do, and who is in the county government and what they do.
2. Students will also be given a worksheet to complete.
3. Introduce the lesson by having a Talk-About-It discussing what they
think about the outline and what else they think the government does.
B. Input
1. For this lesson, a PowerPoint and a few videos will be the main
components. Then students will go into small groups at the end for
discussion then back to the whole class discussion.
2. As a class, discuss and talk about what the elected city council does and
what the county commissioners do. The teacher should be helping direct
the discussion. I will bring up new concepts and questions for the students
to think about and raise questions upon. During the discussion, students
should be adding to the outline that was handed out beforehand. The
students can also write down questions that they have as well as on the
outline.
3. Finally, any questions that the students have written down they may ask
now. Then the students will go into small groups to discuss this topic.
Then they will come back to whole class to have a whole class discussion.
This will allow the teacher to assess the students understanding of the
concepts.
C. Guided Practice
1. As a class, students will discuss the PowerPoint slides and
videos. They will add to their outlines by using the PowerPoint and
videos. They will also be working on their worksheet using the
PowerPoint, textbook, and outline.
D. Independent Practice
1. Students will read over the outline to themselves, skim the
textbook for bolded words and pictures and write down any

lingering questions. At this time, students may even use the

classroom technology to research this topic.
E. Differentiation
To differentiate this lesson, I will base it off of the
behavioral needs of my students. During independent
practice, I could spend one-on-one time with the students
who may need more help.
F. Closure
1. At the end of the class discussion, we will go around the room and
students will provide the class and teacher two facts that they had just
learned from this lesson.
VI.

Formative/ Summative Assessment(s)

1. Each student will be participating in the small group and whole class
discussions.
2. Each student will add to their outline and complete the worksheet
provided.
3. Each student will provide two facts from the lesson at the end.

VII.

Materials/Equipment:
Outline for the students
PowerPoint
Worksheet
Textbook

VIII. Technology:
Access to a computer
IX.

Reflection on PlanningSince this lesson has a lot to do with just simple information and new
vocabulary words I decided that making it a PowerPoint with videos was the
best way to go for the students. It will be teacher-directed so I can help direct
the discussion. Knowing the content will help the students later along the way
with following lessons.