Ryan McNulty

EGP 335: Unit Plan Lesson Plan Template

Author: Ryan McNulty

Unit: Government

Lesson Plan: Executive Order & the Power to Veto

Lesson Preparations
I. Learning Objectives
a. The student will define the presidents power of veto in their own words.
b. The student will demonstrate the number of votes required by congressmen to
overturn a vetoed bill.
c. Students will represent the veto process.
II. Standards by Discipline & Content Themes
a. Social Studies
i. Standard - 5.3.3.A Identify the roles of the three branches of government
ii. Standard - 5.3.C.A Examine the process of checks and balances among
the three branches of government, including the creation of law
b. Math
i. Standard - CC.2.1.3.C.1 Explore and develop an understanding of
fractions as numbers.
c. NCSS Theme:
i. VI Power, Authority, & Governance
1. Distinguish among local, state, and national government and
identify representative leaders at these levels such as mayor,
governor, and president;
III. Academic Language
a. Executive Branch: the branch of government, led by the president, that enforces
the laws of the United States. The Government of the United States has an
executive branch.
b. The President: The highest elected or appointed officer or position within an
organization. The former president of the United States was President Obama.
c. Bill: A draft of a proposed law presented to parliament for discussion. The Bill
of rights is the first ten amendments of the constitution.
d. Judicial Branch: responsible for interpreting the laws passed by the
legislative branch. The supreme court is part of the judicial branch.
e. Veto: The power the president may reject a bill that has been passed by congress
in order to keep it from becoming law. President John Tyler vetoed/rejected a
bill in 1845
f. Disapprove: officially refuse to agree to.
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g. Congressmen: A member of the house of representatives. Charlie Dent is one of

PAs congressman.
IV. Technology, Materials, Resources
a. The presidents Work: A Look at the Executive Branch by Elaine Landau.
b. White Board
c. Dry Erase Makers
d. Dry eraser
e. Clip on Bowties
f. piece of paper
g. Pencil
h. Vetoed Bills (10+)
i. iPad
j. Exit slips

Instructional deliveries
V. Anticipatory set
a. The teacher will dress up in formal outfit and greet the class as the President of
the United States of America. He will explain to the class that he is in charge of
the executive branch, and that a bill was just given to him by congress (The bill
was created with the students in the beginning of the unit, and it states: the
teacher will give the students fifteen extra minutes of independent reading time a
day. The president will read the bill aloud to the class and explain that it is his
job to approve or veto the bill.
b. The president will now act confused and confess to the students that he
completely forgets what it means to veto a bill. Furthermore, he lost the book
that teaches him how to be a great president. The book is called The presidents
Work: A Look at the Executive Branch by Elaine Landau. The president will
now ask the students to stand up and help him find the book. (The teacher would
have placed it somewhere within the room). The lesson begins when the student
finds the book.
VI. Instructional Activities
a. I do: The teacher opens the book and flips to the chapter about the executive
branch and the power of veto. The informational text book says that veto means
to reject a bill that has been passed by congress in order to keep it from
becoming law. It also says that congress can ignore the presidents veto if 2/3rds
of their group vote to approve the bill. The teacher then puts the following chart
on the board, so that the students can process all the new information from the
chapter. The teacher draws the following table on the board:
Veto - The President Rejects the Bill
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Congress Votes on the Bill

2/3 Said YES to the Bill 2/3 or More Said NO to the Bill

APPROVED Disapproved
b. We do: The teacher will work through the chart with the students. S/he is still
pretending to be the President of the United States. The teacher will ask three
volunteers to be the members of congress. They receive clip-on bowties to
represent congressmen. The teacher introduces the following bill: students will
no longer have recess. He or she then will veto the bill/reject the bill. The three
students that volunteered will follow the steps on the board by voting for the
rejected bill. The students will raise their hands if they approve, or they will keep
their hand down to disapprove. The vote carries out and the teacher explains that
2/3rds of their vote was needed for the bill to pass. The teacher recaps the steps
listed above and will discuss the results with the students.
c. You do: The class will be divided into groups of three by counting off one by
one. Uneven groups will need to be merged with another group. The teacher will
explain that he or she just used their presidential power of veto to reject a bunch
of bills. The teacher hands out a worksheet with all the vetoed bills to each group
(see worksheet below). It is at this point that the teacher ask the students how
many votes are needed to overturn a veto. S/he will ask the students to raise one
finger for 1/3rd, two fingers fro 2/3, and three fingers for 3/3. (See formal
assessment). The students who are acting as congressmen will now vote on the
bills found. The student will vote by raising or not raising their hands like we
practiced above. When all the votes are in, the students will circle their answer,
and discuss why the bill passed or failed. The teacher will walk around and
facilitate where needed. Lastly, the teacher and students will come back together
to discuss their results.
i. The following is the direction for the video activity:

Circle Approve: if your group agrees with the bill on the slip. Circle Disapprove
if your group does not agree with the bill on the slip. Remember, 2 out of 3
congressmen have to say yes for the bill to be approved. Quietly discuss the
results with your fellow congressman while other are finishing their voting.
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The following is the 10 veto slips given to the students.

There will be no more report cards Approve Disapprove
Video games are illegal Approve Disapprove
Recess will be twice as long Approve Disapprove
The teacher will give no homework on Fridays Approve Disapprove
Pizza will be served every day for lunch Approve Disapprove
Field trips will be help once a month Approve Disapprove
Students can sit wherever they want Approve Disapprove
There will be no more recess Approve Disapprove
Dogs are now aloudNAME:
in the classroom. Approve Disapprove
Pajamas can be worn to class everyday Approve Disapprove
VOTE:

DEFINE the power of veto:

VII. Closure
a. The teacher will explain that the activity was a mock version of how a bill
becomes a law in the executive branch. The teacher will point to the chart in the
I do section, and remind the students that the president can choose to approve
or veto a bill. The teacher will recap the steps congress takes when a bill is
vetoed. The teacher and students will close out the lesson by seeing if the
classroom bill that they created together will be passed on to the judicial branch
(the classroom bill is as followed: the students will gain an extra fifteen minutes
of independent reading a day). The teacher vetoes the bill and has the class vote
with and exit slip on whether it passes or not. The student will also define the
power of veto as per the objective. The students will hand the slips to the teacher
on their way out the door. The results will be discussed the next day.
b. The teacher hands everyone the following exit slip:
Meeting All Learners
VIII. Differentiation
a. Auditory learners: the I do portion of the lesson thoroughly explains the new
information concisely.
b. Visual Learners: the you do do portion of the lesson implements a structured
graphic organizer for visual learners to can follow.
c. Kinesthetic Learners: the you do portion allows the student to move around
and act like congressmen.
d. Interpersonal Learner: the group portion of the lesson allows for multiple
learning styles to come together and collaborate towards a common goal. They
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will decide on how to vote, discuss the outcome of the voting, and share the
results with everyone in the classroom.
IX. Accommodation
a. Students with an IEP/504 will be given accommodations that meet their specific
needs. For example, a child with ADHD will be given extra time with voting,
and he/she will be paired with students who are patient enough to wait for the
vote. Additionally, print outs of the graphic organizers used in the lesson will be
available for the student, so his thoughts can be more clear and
compartmentalized.
X. Modification
a. The lesson will be modified for students with an IEP/504 by allowing them to
define the power of veto with a multiple-choice question instead of an open-
ended question.
Meeting Objectives
XI. Assessment
a. Exit slips will be used to check the students ability to write and explain the
power of veto.
b. Students will demonstrate the number of votes needed to overturn a veto by
holding up the correct number of fingers.
c. The students will complete a graphic organizer to represent the veto process.