EGP 335.

80 Lesson Plan

Dr. Leaman, Spring 2017

I. Lesson Plan Details:

Lesson Title: The Jobs of the President Number: 2 Author: Gabrielle Walls

Expected Duration: (1 hour and 35 minutes)

Social Sciences

Concepts:

The roles of the president

Primary versus secondary documents

Credible versus non-credible sources

Reading an article for important information

Writing opinion pieces

Vocabulary and operational definition:

Chief of state: refers to the President as the head of the government. He is the symbol of all

the people. In the United States, the President also rules over the government. In many

countries, the chief of state reigns over government but does not rule.
 Chief executive: vested by the Constitution with broad executive powers. This power is

used at home on domestic issues and also extends to foreign affairs. The executive power is

limited, however, by our governments system of checks and balances.

Chief administrator: the President is in charge of the executive branch of the federal

government. This branch employs more than 2.7 million civilians.

Chief diplomat: the main author of American foreign policy. Everything the President says

and does is closely followed, both at home and in other countries.

Commander in chief: of the armed forces. This power gives the President direct and

immediate control of the military.

Chief legislator: the President shapes public policy. The President may suggest, request,

and insist that Congress enact laws he believes are needed. Sometimes, Congress does not

agree with the President and decides against legislation. Working with Congress takes up a

major part of the Presidents time.

The Constitution: The Constitution is the highest law in the United States. All other laws

come from the Constitution. It says how the government works. It creates the Presidency. It

creates the Congress. It creates the Supreme Court.

Article II: Talks about the roles of the president.

Primary Document: Where something was first written of recorded.

Secondary Document: Where something was dictated or translated in order to understand a

primary document.

Credible Source: A reliable source for academic research.

Skills:

Using a T-chart
 Participating in class discussion

Skimming an article for information

Participating in small group activities

Writing an opinion paper

Goals of Lesson:

To be able to understand the jobs of the president so they can further learn and understand

current events and history pertaining to this subject.

Taking the perspective of a leader to access how one would perform in that role.

Begin developing background knowledge of primary sources, secondary sources, and

credible sources for further learning in grades to come.

Practice developing the skills to write opinion pieces with supporting details from outside

sources.

Continue social growth for group and class participation.

II. Integration of Learning Outcomes/Objectives:

Objective One: Students will be able to list and describe the roles of the president

Objective Two: Students will understand the difference between primary and secondary

documents

Objective Three: Students will understand what a credible source is

Objective Four: Students will be able to support their opinions through research

Objective Five: Students will be able to score a three or higher on the Pennsylvania Writing

Assessment Domain Scoring Guide when writing a three to five paragraph essay
III. Standards PA Civics, History, Economics, Geography & NCSS Themes 1 - X with

subthemes:

Standards:

Standard - 5.2.4.C: Describe the roles of leadership and public service in school,

community, state, and nation

Standard - 5.1.4.D: Identify key ideas about government found in significant documents:

United States Constitution

Standard - CC.1.2.4.A: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported

by key details; summarize the text.

Standard - CC.1.4.5.I: Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details; draw from

credible sources. *Using for prior exposure for spiral curriculum*

Standard - CC.8.5.6-8.I: Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source

on the same topic *Using for prior exposure for spiral curriculum*

Themes:

Theme Six: Power, authority and governance. The understanding of who holds authority

and why and what they do.

IV.Anticipatory Set: (Duration: 25 minutes)

Hello class! Today we will be learning about the many jobs of the president. *Pull up a

picture of the president onto the Smartboard*

 Can anyone tell me what the president does? *Accept student suggestions*

Yes the president has many responsibilities which are often referred to as the jobs of the

president.

Posted around the room are some of these jobs, but there are also some made up jobs too. It

is up to you to determine which are real and which are not. *Point to the posters that are

hung at student height level around the room*

On your desk is a T-chart with a column for you to write whether the job is true or false.

*Point to handouts on desks and refer to example paper projected onto Smartboard*

When I dismiss you from your tables, you will walk around the room in small groups of three

or four so you can read each of the posters. we will use the galley style walk that we have

done before in science and language arts. *Pull up and point to gallery walk chart on

Smartboard*

*Refer to closest poster* Each poster has the title of a job on it and then the description

under the pull-up flap. *Pull up flap* It is up to you to decide which jobs are the presidents

and which ones arent and record them on your T-chart.

You may discuss and debate with your classmates but you must have a solid reason for your

claim. Make sure to keep your volume to a minimum so everyone can hear their group

members. *Give students 20 minutes to complete activity, students should look at each of the

ten posters for roughly two minutes*

V. Procedures: (Duration: 45 minutes)

1. *Call students back to seats* Ok now that you have recorded your individual results lets

compare our answers as a class. As I state each job posted around the room please make a

thumbs up and keep it up if you thought it was a job of the president and make a thumbs

down if you thought it was not. *Record majority rule for each job on the T-chart displayed

on the Smartboard* Were your answers a lot different then those of the class? *Accept

informal answers from students for about a minute or two*

2. How do you think we could check to see if our answers are right? *Call on one student* To

check our answers I would first look to where the roles came from. The first place the jobs of

the president were listed is the primary document. A primary document is where the

information was first written. The jobs of the president were picked out and listed on the

Constitution. *Walk over to point to poster of the Constitution posted during the first lesson*

In article two of the constitution the roles of the president are listed. However, is the

Constitution easy to read? *Accept 30 seconds of informal confirmation or denial* The

Constitution can be hard to read and difficult to understand. Because of this, we will check

our answers in a secondary source.

3. *Pull up the secondary source example* [Objective Two] A secondary source is where the

primary document was dictated. You will learn more in-depth information and techniques on

how to analyze primary documents when you get to sixth grade but for now I am introducing

you to them so you can identify the difference. *Pull up side by side labeled primary and

secondary document example pictures on Smartboard*

4. The secondary document that we will be using is a chapter in Pearson entitled The

Presidents Job Description. *Pull up example article on Smartboard next to T-chart* In your
 tables I would like you to skim the document to find evidence to support or deny the classes

answers listed here on the board. Remember to use your skimming skills that we learned in

math the other day while covering how to dissect a word problem. We are looking for and

underlining the important information that we need to solve our problem. *Pull up example

highlighted document* Mark down your group findings on the back of your paper. *Flip

student paper on desk and tap on Smartboard so that front filled-out T-chart graphic flips to

the clear T-chart graphic made to represent the back of their papers* You may begin. *Give

students 15 minutes to complete assignment and observe progress*

5. Now that you have used your secondary source to determine your answers we will review

them as a class. *Refer back to article on Smartboard* [Objective Three] The article that

you used is a credible source. Next year you will learn how to find your own credible sources

but for now I will introduce them to you so that you will have that background knowledge for

fifth grade. I provided you with a credible secondary source. I know that it is credible

because it comes from a national textbook company.

6. [Objective One] *Pull up clear T-chart next to article* From skimming through the source I

found the first answer here that chief of state is a job of the president. *Highlight where this

information is found and underline the job title* It goes onto explain that the President is the

head of the government and rules it. He is the symbol of all the people. In many countries,

the chief of state reigns over government but does not rule. Examples of this can be found in

England, Denmark, Japan, Italy, and Germany. You may remember similar information that

was presented in our previous lesson on democracy versus other forms of government.
7. Group one where did you find the next answer in your article? *Take answers and reasoning

from groups until all answers are justified or proven wrong. Have students highlight and

underline information on Smartboard as modeled* Now that we know and understand the

roles of the president its time to start thinking about how we would lead in these roles

because remember, it could be you leading one day in that position or one like it.

8. [Objective Four] This week we will work on writing a three to five paragraph essay about

how you would lead in one of these roles. I will be grading your papers according to the

Pennsylvania Writing Assessment Domain Scoring Guide. *Pull up picture of scoring guide*

To guide you in writing your paper I will show you a model of how to organize it. *Circle the

full four point section of the rubric and pull up the sample paper*

9. *Pull up example papers first paragraph* In language arts we reviewed format, style, and

sourcing but I want to show you a model for organization. In your first paragraph you could

state which job you will be discussing. *Underline on the Smartboard where in the example

paper this is written*

10. In your one to three body paragraphs you will find and talk about a current event. This

current event should be about the president doing the job you picked. *Scroll down in paper

to body paragraphs* You will then compare how you would handle that situation and your

reasoning behind this.

11. In this paper the author discusses how they would lead in the role of chief executive. In their

first body paragraph they explained what the role of chief executive is. *Bracket first body

paragraph where this information is located*

12. They then went on to discuss an article about the president acting as chief executive in an

event. *Bracket second body paragraph and pull up article next to paper*

13. Then in their last body paragraph they explain how they would lead in that situation in

comparison. *Bracket last body paragraph*

14. To conclude they restated their main points and made their closing arguments. *Scroll down

in paper to fifth paragraph and underline the main points and circle closing statement* In

order to assist you I have provided a graphic organizer that walks you through the steps to

complete your paper. *Students have graphic organizers organized in their binder according

to ability level and specific learning needs. All students can choose the graphic organizer of

their choice but it is up to the teacher to encourage and instruct according to the best graphic

organizer for each student*

VI. Differentiation:

Content:

In order to make content assessable to all my students I will provide my ELLs and

students who struggle in aspects of literacy a list of vocabulary words before the lesson so

they can review important concepts. By having this background knowledge they will be

able to apply this prior knowledge. This will allow them to keep pace when completing the

activities with their fellow classmates and not be lost during independent work.

As each aspect of the lesson is taking place the teacher will use visual, verbal, and

physical representations to explain the information. In order to reach all students the teach

must use multiple means to explain the information. Anytime the student doesn't
 understand something the teacher said verbally they should be able to use the context clues

of what the teacher is doing/pointing to, and the pictures on the Smartboard/posters.

It is also important that students who are visually impaired and handicapped are thought

of while planning and setting up. Posters should be low so students in wheelchairs and of

all heights can see and lift the flaps. All print and visual aids should be large so all students

can see them.

Process:

When completing their T-charts, students with learning disabilities or ELLs will be

allowed to bring their vocabulary sheet with them. Their vocabulary sheets, previously

mentioned, will have spaces where they should have put their own definition of the word

and anything else that helps them to understand the concepts.

During group work the students are required to contribute but will be given the

opportunity to express themselves in a variety of ways. To contribute to the group they can

highlight where they find key information or share information that they have from their

vocabulary sheets. This way they can show the group what they know instead of having to

verbally tell them. It is important to provide students with multiple means of

communication.

When results are being tallied for the T-chart it is important for the teacher to point first

to the statement they are talking about and point to each word as they read it. Then make a

thumbs up sign in front of the true section on the T-chart and record the number of students

who made a thumbs up. Then make a thumbs down sign in front of the false column and
 record the number of students who put their thumbs down as well. This is a physical way

of conveying meaning to your students along with visual and verbal cues.

Product:

When completing the T-chart students will have a word box in which each job is matched

with a number, my ELLs and students who struggle in aspects of literacy can then use this

to write down the number of the job they are discussing instead of having to write it all the

way out. It will save them time so they can focus on the task at hand and not worry about

writing fast enough. They will have already had to practice writing it for homework when

they completed their vocabulary sheet so they can focus on the quality of the work and not

the speed in which they produce it.

All students must complete the graphic organizer but these will be differentiated

according to how the student will complete their assignment. Different product= different

graphic organizer. ELLs, students with varying learning disabilities, and students with

ADHD will be given alternative options for what they produce. Students can draw pictures

to add to what they write, they can orally tell the teacher the information they obtained, or

they can make a song and dance that they record. By creating options for alternative

assessment students of all abilities and learning needs will have the opportunity to display

the knowledge they obtained. The teacher can assess the students learning and they can

obtain academic points.

VII. Closure: (Duration: 25 minutes)

 [Objective Five] After reading your papers I am very impressed and hope to see many or all

of you in leadership roles.

I would like you to split into groups of three and share with one another what job you chose,

the title and source of the article you covered, and how you would have done differently or

the same in that role. *Write these instructions on the board while stating them*

*Allow students 15 minutes to share in their group, explain that each student should share for

roughly 5 minutes. Walk around the room to observe and assist students. At the end of the 15

minutes tell students to wrap up discussion and then call silence within one minute of these

instructions*

I would like each group to share one aspect that you found notable about someones paper

from your group. *Allow each group to share for one minute or so*

Wow, those are all great ways to lead in those roles and I think you will all make wonderful

leaders some day.

VIII.Formative/Summative Assessment of Students:

Formative:

During class discussion the teacher should observe students participation and

understanding. [Objective Two and Three]

Individual questioning should be used to guide students who are lost or need help.

Walking around the room to assist students and observe their progress during independent

and group work.

 Summative:

T-chart handout [Objective One]

Graphic Organizer [Objective Four]

Final paper [Objective Five]

IX.Material/Equipment:

Student Materials:

T-chart handout

Article handout

Graphic organizer

Pencils

Teacher Materials:

Wipe board markers

Flip posters

Constitution poster

Teacher Notes:
 Chief of state: refers to the President as the head of the government. He is the symbol of

all the people. In the United States, the President also rules over the government. In many

countries, the chief of state reigns over government but does not rule.

Chief executive: vested by the Constitution with broad executive powers. This power is

used at home on domestic issues and also extends to foreign affairs. The executive power

is limited, however, by our governments system of checks and balances.

Chief administrator: the President is in charge of the executive branch of the federal

government. This branch employs more than 2.7 million civilians.

Chief diplomat: the main author of American foreign policy. Everything the President

says and does is closely followed, both at home and in other countries.

Commander in chief: of the armed forces. This power gives the President direct and

immediate control of the military.

Chief legislator: the President shapes public policy. The President may suggest, request,

and insist that Congress enact laws he believes are needed. Sometimes, Congress does

not agree with the President and decides against legislation. Working with Congress takes

up a major part of the Presidents time.

The Constitution: The Constitution is the highest law in the United States. All other laws

come from the Constitution. It says how the government works. It creates the Presidency.

It creates the Congress. It creates the Supreme Court.

Article II: Talks about the roles of the president.

Primary Document: Where something was first written of recorded.

Secondary Document: Where something was dictated or translated in order to understand

a primary document.
 Credible Source: A reliable source for academic research.

References:

Chapter 13 Section 1 The President's Job Description. (n.d.). doi:https://

assets.pearsonschool.com/asset_mgr/legacy/200938/

section1_jobdescription_26523_1.pdf

Primary and Secondary Sources. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from

https://library.ithaca.edu/sp/subjects/primary

The Constitution for Kids (4th-7th Grade) - The U.S. Constitution Online. (n.d.). Retrieved

March 21, 2017, from https://www.usconstitution.net/constkids4.html

The Constitution of the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution

Welcome to the Purdue OWL. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/02/

X. Technology:

Computer

Smartboard

Projector

XI. Reflection on Planning

Reflecting on planning now that I have written my lesson plan I did not expect it to take

as long as it did to write. I have created other lessons at the fourth grade level before but never
have I been so in-depth or careful in my planning. The review sheets we received during our peer

reviews helped me as a check list to make sure I included all necessary aspects. It started as a

simple lesson to teach my students about the jobs of the president but over the course of planning

turned into additional far reaching goals, some even as far as previews for fifth and sixth grade.

If I were to improve my lesson I would further elaborate on all practices and where I learned

them so I could use this in the future as reference for activities and teaching techniques.

The potential successes include the opportunity for students to to be able to understand

the jobs of the president so they can further learn and understand current events and history

pertaining to this subject. Students could be taking the perspective of a leader to access how one

would perform in that role. They could begin developing background knowledge of primary

sources, secondary sources, and credible sources for further learning in grades to come. Students

may practice developing the skills to write opinion pieces with supporting details from outside

sources. They could continue social growth for group and class participation.

My concerns for lesson implementation are clarity and timing. I am always concerned

about my students understanding the lesson content and objectives and that they have enough

time to absorb the skills. I often remember feeling like I was rushed through activities in school

and could never quite process all of the information. I want to make sure that my students have

enough time to both process and retain the information. It can be especially confusing for ELLs

in class so I am hoping that my differentiations in presentation will help all to understand

through either the verbal, visual, or physical instruction.

XII. Current Events Program:

 The job of the president compared to the job of a dictator. Example Putin in Russia and

his executive decisions as a dictator.

Smale, A., & Higgins, A. (2017, March 12). Putin and Merkel: A Rivalry of History, Distrust and

Power. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/world/

europe/vladimir-putin-angela-merkel-russia-germany.html?rref=collection

%2Ftimestopic %2FPutin%2C Vladimir