Social Studies Lesson Plan Template

Group Members/Group Name: _Amber Alcock, Jaclyn Michel, Kathryn Dobring, Meridith Doerstling, Marielle Cox
Thematic Unit Theme/Title/Grade Level: __4th Grade__________________________________________________
Group Wiki space address: ___http://branchesofgovernmentucf.weebly.com/________________________________
Daily Lesson Plan Day/Title: __Day 3/ The Legislative Branch___________________________________________
Lesson Length (ie. 30 minutes): __30 to 45 minutes____________________________________________________
Rationale for Instruction
A rationale is an essential part of
thoughtful planning of classroom
instruction. This is a brief written
statement of the purpose for instruction
and the connection of the purpose to
instruction that has come before and will
follow.

Learning Objectives
What will students know and be able to
do at the end of this lesson? Be sure to set
significant (related to NGSS Themes,
CCSS, and NGSSS), challenging,
measurable and appropriate learning
goals!

NCSS Theme/Next
Generation Sunshine State
Standards/Common Core
Standards (LAFS/MAFS)
List each standard that will be addressed
during the lesson. Cutting and pasting
from the website is allowed. You must
have a minimum of 3 standards that
represent multiple content areas identified
in this portion of the lesson plan.
These can be downloaded from the
Florida Dept of Education
www.cpalms.org/homepage/index.aspx.

Rationale:
-

Elementary students should have an accurate understanding of the division of American government that make the
United States. As U.S. citizen students should develop an understanding of each branch of government the roles and
responsibilities each branch and how they all work together.

Learning Objectives:
-

The student will be able to identify the responsibilities of the legislative branch.
The student will be able to describe the overall structure of how a bill becomes a law.
The student will be able to explain how the three branches of government work together to provide for the people
and the reason for the government.

Standards:
-

SS.4.C.3.1 Identify the three branches (Legislative, Judicial, Executive) of government in Florida and the powers
of each.
LAFS.4.RI.2.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of
events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
VI. Power, Authority, & Governance
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create and change
structures of power, authority, and governance, so that the learner can:
b. explain the purpose of government
c. give examples of how government does or does not provide for the needs and wants of people, establish order
and security, and manage conflict

Modified 5/15 Van De Mark from document created by L. Spaulding

Social Studies Lesson Plan Template

Student Activities &
Procedures
Design for Instruction
What best practice strategies will be
implemented?
How will you communicate student
expectation?
What products will be developed and
created by students?
Consider Contextual Factors (learning
differences/learning environment) that
may be in place in your classroom.

Resources/Materials

Assessment
How will student learning be assessed?
Authentic/Alternative assessments?

Lesson Procedures:
1. Introduction: Today, we are going to learn about the third and final branch of government, the Legislative Branch.
Ask: Has anyone ever wondered where laws come from and how they become laws? Well by the end of today you
all will be able to answer that question.
2. Use Legislative PowerPoint for support in lecture/teaching about the legislative branch. On the House of
Representatives page of the PowerPoint, have children look at the map and ask them, How many Representatives
are in the state that you live in? answer: 27; Which state has the largest number of Representatives? answer:
California with 53; Why do you think there is such a big difference between California, which has the most
representatives, and Vermont with only one representative? Answer: California must have a much larger population
than Vermont giving them more representatives. If child answers because California is so much bigger than
Vermont, point out that Montana has only one Representative also, which is more comparable in size to California,
so the children can understand that the size of the state does not have an effect on the number of Representatives for
that state. Continue on with the rest of the PowerPoint and show them the Im just a bill video.(ESOL
Accommodation: Visuals on PowerPoint)
3. Now it is time for the activity. For the activity, start by asking the children, If you were able to put in place a law
for school, what would it be? Write all of the childrens answers on the board. (ESOL Accommodation: Allow
cooperative work with partner) You need at least a few written on the board so the children can narrow them
down and decide on which ones they want to introduce to the House of Representatives. They must narrow it down
to one, write the chosen bill on a piece of paper. Use the whole class as the committee, discuss and debate on the bill
chosen, discuss the positives and negatives of it becoming a law, write on the paper if there was any changes made
to the bill. Next, Split the class into House of Representatives and Senators, the teacher is the President (Gifted
Accommodation: Allow for student to be Speaker of the House or Vice President to lead the H.O.R. or the
Senate). Have the bill be sent to the House of Representatives to be voted on. Have the representatives place a vote
by having them stand up if they vote yes and stay seated if they vote no. If the majority of the students say yes pass
the bill to the Senate to be voted on and repeat the process. If the majority of the students do not vote yes for the bill
then explain to the students what would happen next to the bill if it does not pass in the house. If it is passed in the
senate then the bill goes to the President (the teacher) where the teacher can pass the bill into law or veto it the bill
and have the H.O.R. and Senate revote on it and get 2/3 vote to get the bill passed into law.
4. Assessment: After the activity is over, the students will completing the Congressional Comments worksheet as an
assessment of what they learned from this lesson.
5. Closure: We have just finished learning about the last of the three branches of government, the legislative branch
and tomorrow you will be learning about how all three branches work together to create our government.
Materials:
- Legislative Branch PowerPoint
- Congressional Comments Worksheet
- Paper and black marker (to use for the bill)
Resources:
- Congress for kids: [legislative branch]: Introduction to the legislative branch. (n.d.). Retrieved June 14, 2015, from
http://www.congressforkids.net/Legislativebranch_index.htm
- Congressional comments social studies worksheet. (n.d.). Retrieved June 17, 2015, from
http://www.theeducationcenter.com/magazines#!/editorial/congressional-comments
-

Unit Pre-Assessment: Students will be taking a pre-assessment test to see how much they know about the three
branches of government before the unit begins. Assessment is found at the end of this document, as well as this
Modified 5/15 Van De Mark from document created by L. Spaulding

Social Studies Lesson Plan Template

Does your assessment align with your
objectives, standards and procedures?
Informal assessment (multiple modes):
participation rubrics, journal entries,
collaborative planning/presentation
notes

Exceptionalities
What accommodations or modifications
do you make for ESOL, Gifted/Talented
students, Learning/Reading disabilities,
etc.
These accommodations and/or
modifications should be listed within the
procedures section of the lesson plan as
well as in this section of the document.

Additional Comments and

Notes

webpage http://branchesofgovernmentucf.weebly.com/ under the assessment tab.

-

Unit Post-Assessment: Students will be taking a post-assessment test to see what they have learned about the three
branches of government at the end of the unit. Assessment is found at the end of this document, as well as this
webpage http://branchesofgovernmentucf.weebly.com/ under the assessment tab.

Daily Lesson Plan Assessment: Students will be completing the Congressional Comments Worksheet as an
assessment of what they learned from this lesson.

ESOL:
- Use a flow diagram with pictures of how a bill becomes a law, so they can see the process visually, while the
activity is taking place.
- Use visuals (ex. H.O.R. map on PowerPoint)
- Have ELL discuss possible bills with a partner.
- Use visuals and simple explanations to explain unknown terms of the government.
- For the Congressional Congress Assessment, have pictures that go along with the phrases or have ELL work with
partner on the assessment.
- Repeated instruction
Students with Learning Differences:
- Allow for extra time
- Repeated instruction
Gifted/Talented:
- Add more phrases/points on the Congressional Congress Assessment to work on.
- Give student additional assignments, like the extension below.
- Allow student to be speaker of the house or vice president to lead the House of Representatives or the Senate during
the activity.
Extension/Ideas for Homework:

Students can create their own flow chart of how a bill becomes a law using construction paper or poster board. It is
recommended that they make their flow chart colorful and draw pictures to go along with the steps the bill goes through to
become a law.

Modified 5/15 Van De Mark from document created by L. Spaulding

Social Studies Lesson Plan Template

The Three Branches of Government Pre/Post Test
Executive Branch:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

______________ is the head of the Executive Branch.

The Executive Branch ___________ laws.
A term is ______ years for the president.
The president has a limit of _____ terms allowed to serve.
To run for president you must at least be ____ years old.
List the three things the president can do when they receive a bill:
1.
2.
3.

Legislative Branch:

7. The legislative branch is in charge of _________ laws.

8. ____________ is the head of the legislative branch.
9. Congress is made up of _________________ and _____________.
10.The number of House of Representatives are based on each states ______________.
11.There are ___ House of Representatives in Florida.
12.There are ___ senators per state for a total of ____ senators in all 50 states.

Judicial Branch:

13.The Judicial Branches job is to __________ laws and make sure they are ____________.
14.The Judicial Branch is made up of ____________ and ___________.
15.____________ is the head of the judicial branch.

Short Answer Responses:

After learning about the three branches of government explain why we have the three branches of government. Why
do you think the founding fathers put this system in place? What do you think would happen if one of the branches
had more power than the other two?

Think about something that you would like to become a law either something in schools or outside of schools. Now,
create your own bill and describe the process it would take to get it to become a law.

Modified 5/15 Van De Mark from document created by L. Spaulding