MYP unit planner

Unit title Unit 5: US Government

Teacher(s) Myla S. Liljemark

Subject and grade level US History 8th Grade

Time frame and duration 4 weeks

Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of

interaction and unit question

Area of interaction focus Significant concept(s)

Which area of interaction will be our focus? What are the big ideas? What do we want
Why have we chosen this? our students to retain for years into the
future?

 Government is necessary to protect the

Community and Service rights of the people.
Students will explore their place in society  Understanding governments will help
and government. They will understand how you understand your rights and
their actions can contribute to their town, responsibilities as a citizen
state, and country, and how the government
 Governments distribute power in a
can affect their lives.
variety of ways.

MYP unit question

How does my government affect me? How do I effect my

government and society?

Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?

Summative Assessment #1: There are two possible options for the summative assessment of knowledge
and skills in this unit.
1. Current Issue Research Project - Students choose one topic that is currently in the news (gun
control, legalization of marijuana, gay marriage, immigration reform, etc.) They apply their learning
of the major topics in government to the topic, teach their parents, and then write a reflection about
their conversation with their parents concerning the topic.
2. Letter to a Senator – ANWR – Students will research a local Alaskan issue like ANWR and write a
letter to a Senator that demonstrates their understanding of the legislative process, the relationship
of state and national government, and their overall position on the topic.
Summative Assessment #2: US Government Unit Test (multiple choice test)

Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?

A - Knowing and Understanding
 Use humanities terminology in context
 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of subject-specific and concept
appropriate to the age level, using descriptions, explanations and examples
C- Thinking Critically
 Analyze concepts, events, issues, models and/or arguments

Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?

A – Knowledge and Understanding

3 Branches Superhero Formative Assessment
Articles of Confederation and Federalism Formative Assessment
Current Issue Research Project Summative Assessment
Citizenship Project + Reflection Summative Assessment
B – Thinking Critically
Bill of Rights in Action Formative Assessment
Purpose of Government Formative Assessment
Current Issue Research Project Summative Assessment

Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the

learning activities through inquiry
Content
What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit
question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the
significant concept(s) for stage 1?

The students will know:

 How the concept of natural rights contributes to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
 Powers and weaknesses of the three branches of government
The purpose of government
 That power distribution in a country changes depending on the government that is established
The student will be able to:
Integrate visual information with other information in print and digital texts (Literacy R7)
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific
to domains related to history/social studies (Literacy R4)
Identify key steps in a text’s description of a process related to history/social studies (Literacy R3)
Use the rights guaranteed under the first 10 Amendments.
Alaska State Performance Standards
Priority Standards:
History A5 – Understand that history is a narrative told in many voices and expresses various perspectives
of historical experience
History C2 – Use historical data from a variety of primary resources, including letters, diaries, oral accounts,
archaeological sites and artefacts, art, maps, photos, historical sites, documents, and secondary research
materials, including almanacs, books, indices, and newspapers
Government A1 – understand the necessity and purpose of government
Government B1 – understand the ideals of this nation as expressed in the Declaration of Independence,
the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights
Supporting Standards:
History A 8 – Know that history is a bridge to understanding groups of people and an individual’s
relationship to society

History B1e – Comprehend the forces of change and continuity that shape human history through the
following persistent organizing themes: major developments in societies as well as changing patterns
related to class, ethnicity, race, and gender

Government A2 – understand the meaning of fundamental ideas, including equality, authority, power,
freedom, justice, privacy, prosperity, responsibility, and sovereignty.

Government B2 recognize American heritage and culture, including the republican form of government,
capitalism, free enterprise system, patriotism, strong family units, and freedom of religion

Government B3 – understand the United States Constitution, including separation of powers, the executive
legislative, and judicial branches of government, majority rule, and minority rights

Government B4 – know how power is shared in the United States’ constitutional government at the federal,
state, and local levels

Learning Targets:
1. I can describe natural rights and the role they play in the purpose of government.
2. I can explain state and federal power distribution and the conflicts and compromises that brought our
government to that position.
3. I can describe the three branches of government, their powers and weaknesses, and their relationship
through checks and balances.
4. I can explain the role citizens can and must play in their society and the impact of that role on the
society.
5. I can connect freedoms that I experience with the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution.

Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?

Students will investigate power in the form of the government and themselves. They will understand how
power is managed and used to govern a country and will investigate how the management of that power
affects their lives.

Learning experiences Teaching strategies

How will students know what is expected of them? Will
they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise
the skills required? How will they practise applying
these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will
we know?
How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback
during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have
we made provision for those learning in a language other than their
mother tongue? How have we considered those with special
educational needs?

Rubrics will be provided. Modelling and
examples of work will be provided.
Students will practice the skills through the
formative assessment hand-outs.
Formative Assessment #1: Purpose of Government,
Natural Rights vs. State of Nature (3 days)
Purpose of Government Handout
Students will do an image analysis of state of nature,
and participate in collaborative work groups to determine
what “natural rights” are. They will be introduced to
Pre-test and post-test will be given to check for John Locke’s philosophies on natural rights.
prior knowledge and determine learning and
Students will then participate in a natural rights speed
achieving the learning targets.
dating activity in order to explore different governments
around the world and determine whether or not the
government protects the natural rights of the people they
govern.
Students must review their assigned country’s human
rights record and date other countries to determine a
government they would go on a date with again, and a
government they would not go on a date with again
specifically describing how that country handles
protection of natural rights.
Formative Assessment #2: Federalism
Students will analyse how power is shared between
state and federal governments under the Articles of
Confederation. Students will teach each other about the
4 conflicts and compromises of the Constitutional
Convention and how the power struggles of those
conflicts lead to the power distribution that is mandated
in the Constitution. They will then complete the “can
they do that” Federalism hand-out that provides practice
on the state and federal powers under the Constitution.
Formative Assessment #3: 3 Branches of
Government
Students will choose (or be assigned) one branch of
government. They will be allowed to work in groups of 3
and will create a Superhero. Powers and weaknesses
of the superhero will be clearly displayed through a
poster of the superhero.
Formative Assessment #4: Bill of Rights in Action
After learning about the Bill of Rights, students will break
each Amendment down into an easy to understand
phrase. They will then apply each Amendment to a real-
life scenario.

Teaching methods: Individual and small group work.

Class presentations, Art/Visual analogies, Critical
thinking, Speed Dating – movement around the room,
image analysis, individual research (determined by
choice)
Accommodations: ESL and SPED tutors are in the
class. Articles on the research projects have been found
at various Lexile reading levels from www.newsela.org.
Steps to multi-step assignments have been broken
down. Vocabulary on assignments/directions has been
evaluated to ensure that it is clear and not too
advanced. Videos and images are available for
learning instead of just reading. Students are able to
“talk out” what they know on some assignments rather
than just read and write.

Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during
the unit?
Amnesty International (weblink)
Human rights info for each country (weblink)
Human Rights Watch (weblink)
Declaration of Human Rights (weblink)

Ongoing reflections and evaluation

In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There

are further stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for
teaching and learning” section of MYP: From principles into
practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated
action?

Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make
sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Are we prepared for the next stage?

Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?

When students are doing their final research for Summative Assessment #1, they need to keep a
bibliography of the sources of their information. This will continue to reinforce their bibliography
making skills, but will also allow you (as the teacher) to see what types of sites they are getting
their information from. It will also shed light on the extent of their research.

There is some potential for connecting this to the state or city level of government. Who could you
schedule a visit from?

Make sure students have enough time to create their superhero. I gave them about 3 days. They
could have used 4.

Make sure to give students enough time to do their research for the summative assessment. If you
don’t they will get stressed out.

Create a pre and post-test (not to be graded)