I.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Lesson plan overview and description

40 minutes
U.S. National Government
The Three Branches
Legislature, Executive, Judicial
Record learned information in an organizer according to its
specific branch of government
The Students will be able to describe the roles within each
branch of government.

II.
Content Outline
A. National Government
Three Branches make up the government
o Executive
President
Enforces laws
Approves bills
Directs military
Makes foreign policy
Writes federal budget
Commands army, navy and air force
Takes care of land
Helps build highways and bridges
Help keep food, water, and air clean and safe
o Legislative
Congress: Senate and House of Reps
Makes nations laws
Juggles bills
Can overturn vetos
Impeach president
Decide taxes
Approve budget
Approve or reject presidents appointments
Declares war
o Judicial
Supreme Court
Interprets laws
Decides if laws are constitutional
Decides court cases
Settles cases between 2 or more states
III.

Standards
1. PDE SAS Standards- civics/government

5.3.3.A= 5. Civics and Government. 3. How Government

Works. 3. GRADE 3. A. Identify the roles of the three branches
of government.
2. NCSS Themes and Subthemes
X.A. = X. Civic Ideals and Practices. A. Assist learners in
understanding the origins and continuing influence of key
ideals of the democratic republican form of government, such
as individual human dignity, liberty, justice, equality, and the
rule of law
IV.

V.

Lesson Objective
1. The students will identify the Executive, Legislative and
Judicial branches of government by recording information in
an organizer.
2. The students will identify at least one new fact about the
Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government
through the use of an exit card.
Teaching Procedures
1. Anticipatory Set/ Introduction
To engage the students in this lesson I will begin by playing
a video that briefly explains who makes up each branch of
government and what each branchs job is.
2. Lesson Input
Three sections will be written on the board titled
executive, legislative, and judicial
The teacher will ask students if they can remember who
each branch of government is made up of from the
video.
The teacher will write President, Supreme Court, and
Congress under their respective categories.
The teacher will then describe each branch of
government and its duties for our country and write
them on the board.
The teacher will pull information from the book How The
U.S. Government Works by Syl Sobel, which the class
has previously read during the week as well as add in
new information about each branch.
3. Guided Practice
The students will then practice what they learned by
playing the Three Branches of Government computer
game as a class.

The teacher will ask Where does enforces laws

belong? and call on a student for an answer.
Everyone will place this description in the executive
column.
The class will continue this for each description in the
game.
The teacher will observe students placing the
descriptions of each branch in its correct column.
To challenge different learners the teacher may ask
them to try a few descriptions on their own before
the class decides as a whole and the answer is given
out.

4. Independent Practice
The students will work in pairs on a three branches
guessing game.
Each student will write down 2 descriptions from
each branch of government onto their organizer to
quiz their partner on.
One partner will state one of their descriptions and
the other raises one of the 3 paddles with the
corresponding branch on it.
The partners will take turns until all descriptions are
guessed.
5. Differentiation
This lesson will be accommodated according to each
individuals learning and behavioral needs.
6. Closure
The students will be given an exit card to write down
one new piece of information they learned about
each branch of government during the lesson.
VI.

Teacher and Student Resources and Evaluation of Resources

A. Student Reading Resources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=-EISWIY9bG8,
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/usa_game/government/bra
nches_government.htm,
B. Teacher Reading Resources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=-EISWIY9bG8,
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/usa_game/government/bra
nches_government.htm, How The U.S. Government Works by
Syl Sobel,
C. Evaluation of Teacher Resources

Resource Title

Influence

Characteristics

Accessibility

Overall Rating

https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=-EISWIY9bG8

MI

All

Great
introductory for
topic

http://www.sheppardsoftware.co
m/usa_game/government/branc
hes_government.htm

SI

Informative,
reliable,
straightforward
Organized,
informative,
reliable

All

How The U.S. Government

Works

SI

Informative,
published,
reliable

all

Great to learn
about and
organize
branches
Great visual aid
to go along with
topic

VII.

Formative and Summative Assessment of Students

Formative assessment will consist of the teacher
observing of each student places the descriptions in
the correct column during the class computer game.
This is an informal way to make sure that all students
are on track, paying attention, and understanding
the new information coming in.
The summative assessment will consist of students
filling out an exit card identifying each branch of
government as well as one new piece of information
about each.
The checklist for this assessment will include
Can the student identify the executive Branch?
Can the student identify the Legislative Branch?
Can the student identify the Judicial Branch?
Can the student correctly identify one piece of
information about the Executive Branch?
Can the student correctly identify one piece of
information about the Legislative Branch?
Can the student correctly identify one piece of
information about the Judicial Branch?

VIII.

Technology/Materials/Equipment
Computer for each student
Smartboard
How the U.S. Government Works by Syl Sobel
Index card for each student
3 branches organizer

IX.

Reflection on Planning
This is the introductory lesson to National Government in the
U.S. Government Unit plan. I feel that the way I set up this

lesson will introduce the three branches of government to the

students and prepare them for the rest of the lessons to
come. Due to the fact that this was an introductory lesson it
was easier to plan because the teacher is relaying the
information for the first time so a lot of repetition was
necessary. The potential challenges with this lesson may be
that students get the jobs associated with each branch mixed
up.