Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Lesson Plan

Name: Kara Horton & Katherine Lynch

Grade: 3rd
Topic/Concept: Social Studies - Government
Materials/Resources:
- Explore Website - https://bensguide.gpo.gov/a-what-are-branches
- Explore website:
https://www.ducksters.com/history/us_state_and_local_governments.php
- Scavenger Hunt worksheet to help guide through the website.
- What are the 3 branches of government?
- Insert a table: What is the purpose of the legislative branch? What is the purpose
of the executive branch? What is the purpose of the judicial branch?
- Graphic organizer - similarities and difference between state and federal
government.

Teaching Behavior Focus:

Align Tasks with Learning Goals: Select tasks in a manner that provides coherence between
what you want students to learn and what you ask them to do and utilize measurable learning
outcomes.
Orchestrate Discussions: Ask questions to elicit, assess, and connect student learning. Provide
wait time of +3 seconds (after question by teacher and after question by learner). Integrate
learner experiences/interests and acknowledge and integrate into discussion. Utilize cooperative
learning and provide equitable response opportunities

Learning Objectives (measurable):

Students will be able to name each branch of the government and describe their purpose.
Students will be able to research local government officials and understand how they help our
community.

Standards:
3.C&G.1.3 Understand the three branches of government, with an emphasis on local
government.

Assessment Plan (How will you know that your students met the objective?):
Students will “do history” by writing a narrative about what they would experience if they were
to run for a government position. Students will first use their graphic organizer to determine if
they are going to run for a position to be part of their local, state, or federal government. They
will then use the information they collected from the website to draw conclusions about what the
roles and responsibilities are as that government official.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Prompt: Pretend you are running to be a part of your local, state, or federal government. Describe
what type of job you would have and why it is important. What type of responsibilities would
you have as this government official?

New Vocabulary:
- Legislative
- Judicial
- Executive
- Local government
- State government
- Federal government

Note: A detailed lesson plan is specific enough for another teacher to read and teach
effectively. There should not be any question regarding what to do or how to do it.

Lesson Development (hook/engage/launch, step by step in real time, include questions you will
ask in real time, closure/revisiting learning objectives):

1. HOOK/LAUNCH (20-30min):Tell students that there will be a visitor in the classroom

and that they are going to guess what this person's job is.
a. Have a local government official visit the classroom and have the students play
“Guess Who” (or 20 questions) (if they cannot visit the classroom, use Skype or
just have their picture on the board).
2. If the visitor has time, ask them to read aloud If I Were President, by Catherine Stier
(Author) and Diane DiSalvo-Ryan (Illustrator)
3. (10 min) When the speaker leaves, tell students that today they will be learning about the
different branches of government. Possible questions to ask:
a. Ask: “What is the government?”
b. Ask: “Have you ever been to the North Carolina Capitol building downtown?”
Show a picture
c. Ask: “What do we mean by ‘branches’ of the government?”
d. Ask: “Who is part of the government?”
4. There are 3 types of government - local, state, and federal.
a. Ask: “What type of government was our visitor part of?”
5. (20min) Right now we are going to explore the parts of the federal government. You are
going to use your iPads/Chromebooks to explore the website called Ben’s Guide to the
U.S. Government.
a. Show students the website and scroll around to help them get comfortable with
the set up.
b. “As you explore the website you will do a scavenger hunt! You will work with a
partner to do this.”
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

c. Pair students.
d. Before passing out the worksheets, explain the directions and read the questions.
Ask if students have any questions about what they are about to do.
i. Ask students to come up with their partner to get the worksheet. This will
promote some classroom management and make sure students know who
their partner is. LINK TO WORKSHEET
https://myworksheetmaker.com/8985/website-scavenger-hunt
e. Remind them that they are to use technology appropriately during this time.
6. Release students to begin the worksheet.
7. If students complete the worksheet, allow them to explore the website a little more.
8. (20) When everyone is done, have the students come to the carpet for a discussion about
what they learned. Allow them to bring their papers to the carpet to use for the
discussion.
a. Ask: “What was something interesting you learned from the scavenger hunt?”
b. Ask: “Has anyone ever been to Washington D.C. where our U.S. capitol is
located?” Show a picture.
c. Allow students to share and lead the discussion with their thoughts and
wonderings about the government.
d. Review this website with the students about local government:
https://www.ducksters.com/history/us_state_and_local_governments.php
i. Ask: “Do you notice any similarities or differences between local, federal,
and state government?”
ii. Ask: “Why is it important to know about our local government?”
9. (20-30 min)Now that students have learned about the local, state, and federal government
systems, they are going to write a narrative.
a. Review with students the main parts of a narrative:
i. Has a clear plot and clear sequence of events.
ii. Is well-organized and has a point of view.
iii. Uses details from the sources to support your story.
iv. Uses clear language.
v. Follows rules of writing (spelling, punctuation, and grammar usage).
b. Put the prompt on the board for students to refer to when writing in their
notebooks: Pretend you are running to be a part of your local, state, or federal
government. Describe what type of job you would have and why it is important.
What type of responsibilities would you have as this government official?
10. EXTENSION: Take a field trip to the capitol building.