Oral Language: Propose a bill to the
-A Balancing Act: A Look at Checks and Balances
class and have them debate it as if they
were in Congress.
Vocabulary: Students will have a
vocabulary wall to reference and add
to as the unit goes on. They will add
their own words and definitions they
feel are important and need to
remember.
Social Studies: Students will
participate in a simulation of the
branches of government modeling how
the system of checks and balances
works.
Careers: Students will research the
careers of one person from each
branch of government. Have a
classroom discussion about each
branch as a career.
Math: Students will use percentages and
ratios to represent the number of
Congressmen per state.
Problem Solving: Students will be
assigned a document in groups that
predates the Constitution. Have them
read it and propose ways for it to give
more rights and responsibilities to the
people. Compare to Constitution.
Reading/Literature:
(How Government Works) by Kathiann M. Kowalski
-We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the
United States by David Catrow
-A More Perfect Union: A Story of Our Constitution
by Betsy and Giulio Maestro
-The Constitution and You by Syl Sobel
-A Kids Guide to Americas Bill of Rights: Curfews,
Censorship, and the 100-pound Giant by Kathleen
Krull
-The Bill of Rights by Lucia Raatma
5th Grade Social Studies
Lauren Silver
Standard 3: Students will understand the rights and
responsibilities guaranteed in the United States Constitution and
Bill of Rights.
Objective 1: Assess the underlying principles of the US
Constitution as the framework for the United States form of
government, a compound constitutional republic.
Music: Teach the students the
SchoolHouse Rock song for the
Preamble.
Art: Students will design a flowchart
showing how a bill becomes a law.
Health: Students will create a bill to
propose a new nutrition plan for the
school.
Creative Writing: Students will write a
classroom Constitution.
Students will write a journal entry as if
they were a member of one of the three
branches of government.
Technology: Students will create a stop
motion animation video explaining some
aspect of self-government.
Science: Students will create their own
parchment paper after learning about the
process of making it. They can write their
own Constitution or something similar on it.
Projects: Students will work as a class to
create a large poster of a tree with three
branches representing the branches of
government. Throughout the unit as they
learn more facts about each, they will add
more and more to the poster.
Field Trip: State Capitol
Guest Speakers: Have someone from
the State Capitol/Utah State government
give a presentation on their roles and
responsibilities as a member of their
branch. This could be a Senator, judge,
mayor, etc.