Lesson Planning Form for Differentiating Instruction Education 305

Teacher Anna Claire Lambers and Emily Veenstra

Grade level and theme 4th Grade, Gaining through Campaigning, Global Government Thread/crossover

Civics

I. Objectives
What is the main focus of this lesson?
The main focus of this lesson is to look at the way that leaders are selected around the world.
How does this lesson tie in to your Big Idea
This lesson is the introduction to the unit on campaigning. Not all people have a say in who rules over them. Fair elections belong to
democracies.
What are your objectives for this lesson? (students will be able to.) Indicate connections to applicable national or state
standards (glces). Indicate themes from any threads addressed in this lesson (ex-Geography-human environment interaction)
1) Students will learn about the government of a country and share their findings with the rest of the class.
2) Students will compare governments of several countries.
3) Students will learn how the United States government functions.
Threads:
PoliticalStructure of Government
PoliticalPower
PoliticalDecision Making
GlobalConflict
Global--Change
GeographicLocation
Sociocultural--Class
Grade Level Content Expectations:
4 C1.0.1 Identify questions political scientists ask in examining the United States (e.g., What does
government do? What are the basic values and principles of American democracy? What is the
relationship of the United States to other nations? What are the roles of the citizen in American
democracy?)
4 C1.0.2 Explain probable consequences of an absence of government and of rules and laws.
4 C3.0.4 Describe how the powers of the federal government are separated among the branches.
4 C3.0.5 Give examples of how the system of checks and balances limits the power of the federal
government (e.g., presidential veto of legislation, courts declaring a law unconstitutional,
congressional approval of judicial appointments).
4 C3.0.6 Describe how the President, members of the Congress, and justices of the Supreme Court come
to power (e.g., elections versus appointments)
II. Before you start
Prerequisite knowledge and skills.
What are you assuming they know
or have already done.

Assessment
(formative and summative)

Key vocabulary for this lesson

(include key concepts from
individual threads ex- economicsopportunity cost etc)

Students need to be able to read at a 4th grade level.

Formative:
Listen to students initial thoughts on how one becomes President in the United States.
Walk around and see how students are working in their groups on their assigned
countries.
Listen to student reports on the different countries.
Listen to what students judgments on whether or not a type of government is good.
Listen to what students have to say about three branches of government.
Summative:
Read students reflective journals.
CIVICS:
Legislative, executive, judiciary
Congress, president, supreme court
Anarchy, dictatorship, theocracy, absolute monarchy, democracy

Materials-what materials (books,

handouts, etc) do you need for this
lesson and do you have them?

Opportunities for differentiation

White board and markers

Overhead projector/ ELMO
Worksheets for each student: (All included under Worksheets for Lesson 1 Global
Governments File)
What Type of Government Do You Have?
Government Types Grid
United States Government
Projector or some means of playing this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCB8EOY5d48
Research MaterialsGroups will need sources from which they can learn about their
countries government. In our theoretical classroom, students will be researching
online and will also have access to a variety of books that share information. Students
will be able to use these resources when learning about their assigned countrys
government. Here are some resources that would provide good information.
Books:
National Geographic Kids World Atlas (2013)
National Geographic Countries Series
Governments Around the World (Kids' Guide to Government) by Giesecke
Websites:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
http://www.countryreports.org/maps/country/World.htm
http://www.factmonster.com/world.html
http://www.timeforkids.com/around-the-world
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Students are working in groups and can be grouped to fit their needs.
Information is also being presented in a variety of ways in this lesson: video, music, speech,
text.
International students could be put on a team where they explore the country theyre from
allowing them to share about the country they come from.

III. The Plan

THIS LESSON IS DESIGNED TO BE TAUGHT IN CONJUNCTION WITH A LIBRARY PERIOD. DURING THE
LIBRARY PERIOD, THE LIBRARIAN WILL TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO FIND MATERIALS AND TO
CONDUCT RESEARCH ONLINE.
Time
The description of (script for) the lesson, wherein you describe teacher activities and student
Parts
activities
Motivation
Start lesson in the classroom with students sitting at desks. Begin by asking students, Who
(Opening/
do you think, out of all the citizens in the United States, has the most power? Allow
Introduction/
students to guess hopefully some students will say the president.
Engagement)
Ask, Pretend that I wanted to be President of the United States. What would need to
7 min.
happen in order to become president? Allow students to answer and write their answers on
the board.
Ask students to show thumbs-up or thumbs-down if they agree with the following
statements.
Presidents should be allowed to do whatever they want.
People should be allowed to do whatever they want.
There should not be any laws or government.
All countries have the same laws and government.
Explain to students that today you will be exploring the types of governments that other
countries have and the kind of government that we have in the United States.
Development

LIBRARY
PERIOD

15 min.

15 min.

15 min.

5 min.
Closure

Explain to students that they will be working in the library in a small group researching an
assigned country. They will need to work as a team to read as much information as they can
about that countrys government. Hand out the What Type of Government Do You Have?
Worksheet. Tell students that they will use this graphic organizer to decide what type of
government their country has. On the back of the worksheet they should write any relevant
or important details about their countries government.
Assign students to small groups and assign them a country. Here are some of the countries
that could be assigned to students:
Saudi Arabia (Absolute Monarchy)
United Kingdom (Parliamentary Democracy/ Constitutional Monarchy)
North Korea (Dictatorship/Theocracy)
China (Oligarchy)
Iran (Dictatorship/Theocracy)
Cuba (Dictatorship)
Mexico (Presidential Democracy)
Netherlands (Parliamentary Democracy/ Constitutional Monarchy)
Travel to the library, remind students of time constraints, and let them get started. Walk
around and monitor group work. Steer students in the right direction if they are erring.
After students have finished their projects. Return to the classroom. Take turns having the
groups present on the government of their country sharing what type of government they
believe it is and any important details about the government of that country.
Hand out Types of Government Grid worksheet and tell students to jot notes in the note
section as you further describe the types of government. Place a copy of this sheet on an
overhead projector/ ELMO. Go through each type of government with students and ask
students if they think each type is good or not. (You may want to ask students, Who is this
system good for?). Write students reasons in the Notes section of the grid.
Ask if students have any questions about other countries governments.
Next, handout United States Government handout. Ask students, Does anyone know the
names of the three branches of government in the United States? Write executive,
legislative, and judiciary on the board as students remember or if they dont know them.
We are going to watch a video which will explain how these three branches of government
work. Pay close attention because I am going to ask you questions about it afterwards.
Watch YouTube video.
After watching ask students, place handout on overhead projector/ELMO. Ask students to
recall what they remember from the video and fill in each circle appropriately. If necessary,
you may need to watch it again.
As an exit ticket, have students respond to these questions in their reflection journal:
Do we need a government? Why or why not?
What kind of government do you think is the most fair? Why?
How does the United States try to balance the power of its leaders?
Collect students journals.