Unit 3: Founding the Nation |
Themes
Essential Questions
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Civics1.2.1 Understands the organization of the United States government.
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Social Studies5.1.1 Understands the purpose of documents and the concepts used in them.
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History4.2.3 Understands how technology and ideas have affected the way people live and change their values, beliefs, and attitudes.
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Learning TargetI can identify the roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government.
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Learning Target
I can explain the purpose of the Bill of Rights and the concept of one of the ten amendments.
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Learning TargetI can explain how one of the amendments have affected the way people live and how it has changed their values, beliefs, and attitudes over time.
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Success CriteriaWhen given a list of different roles and responsibilities, students will identify and place each description under the correct branch of government.
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Success CriteriaStudents will demonstrate their knowledge of one of the ten amendments by drawing a political cartoon.
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Success CriteriaWhen assigned an amendment, students will create a flow chart to demonstrate how the amendment has affected the way people live, their attitudes, beliefs, and values over time.
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Strategies
Graphic OrganizerWhat? Graphic organizers serve as a way to organize different information through visual representations. It helps students simplify information and make connections and structure their thinking. Why? Graphic organizers help students distinguish the different roles and responsibilities between each branch of government. It enhances their learning and understanding of the relationship between the three different branches of government. Extensions: Students can create their own mind mapping tool to organize their information of the three branches of government. Students can think of different responsibilities that each branch of government may cross over. Modifications: Instead of writing each role and responsibility, teachers can provide students with a graphic organizer that is partially filled out. Students will fill in the blank in order for students to focus on key words. |
QuizletWhat? Quizlet is a free online learning tool that allows students to study a variety of subjects. Students can study through flashcards, take quizzes, and practice different ways to recall a great amount of information such as the three branches of government.
Why? This allows students to practice recalling a great amount of information at their own rate. Students will quickly recall different information about the Bill of Rights. Extensions: Teachers can assign students to create their own flashcards or have students play against each other for accuracy and fluency. Modifications: Teachers can use this as a collaborative tool for the whole classroom if students do not have an electronic device at home. |
Timeline What? Students can create a timeline to show different events and display what's happened that has affected different aspects of people's lives.
Why? This shows that students can identify, classify, organize, and identify patterns among a timeline. Extensions: Teachers can ask students to add extra events. Modifications: Teachers can display different events with the dates on them. Students can use those labels to glue onto a timeline Circle Map What? This strategy helps students organize and display their knowledge about their amendment with how it has shaped the beliefs, values, attitudes, and lives of others. Students can use this to put the amendment in the middle and how it has affect different aspects of people's lives. Or, students can also use this to write down different pieces of contextual evidence to support their ideas.
Why? This is important because it allows students to visually organize all of their information. This diagram can be used to structure the thinking of a group to brainstorm and group their ideas into categories. Students can use this in a variety of ways. Studen Extensions: Teachers can not only have students categorize their information, but make it visually categorized as well. Modifications: Teachers can create sentence stems or label different parts of the circle map for students to fill in. |
Formative Assessments
Shepperd SoftwareWhat? Students will organize each role and responsibility under the correct branch of government.
Why? Using Shepperd Software is a great tool for teachers to formally assess their students without having to take much preparation time. Adjustments? For extensions, teachers can ask students to think of more roles or responsibilities on their own to add on a separate piece of paper. For modifications, teachers can provide students the link to the game and have students practice online beforehand. How to Assess? Students will have met the learning target when they can correctly place the correct roles and responsibilities with each branch of government. Teachers can easily identify the number of items students did correctly. |
Historical CartoonWhat? Students will create a political cartoon that illustrates one of the ten amendments.
Why? Political cartoons are a creative, engaging, and challenging way for students to fully understand the content. Cartoons require a lot of thought, knowledge, and in-depth analysis of a given topic. Adjustments? For extensions, students can be assigned more than one amendment to illustrate. Teachers can ask students to think outside the box and to add appropriate humor into the cartoon. For modifications, teachers can provide a template for students. These templates can include a picture, empty speech bubbles, or teachers can even provide students with a caption. Teachers can show students different historical cartoons that students have done in the past. How to Assess? Students will choose one of the ten amendments to demonstrate their understanding through illustrating a cartoon. Using the rubric below, students will have met the learning target based on their knowledge of concept, visual expression of ideas, organization and preparation, as well as following directions. Rubric:Rubric taken from:
http://www.bpi.edu/ourpages/auto/2013 /9/13/55839482/Political%20Cartoon%20Rubric.pdf |
Flowchart What? Students will create a flow chart to describe how one amendment has changed the way people live, attitudes, beliefs, values. The flow chart will include:
Why? Flow charts can help students visually demonstrate not only a sequence of events, but to also elaborate on how those events affected the way people live. Adjustments? For extensions, teachers can have students create their own flowchart online. Teachers can also ask students to provide more than 3 ways on how the amendment has affected different aspects of people's lives over time. For modifications, teachers can provide a template for students to follow for their flowchart. The template could be labeled in order to accommodate for organization. How to Assess? Students will create a digital flow chart to display their knowledge of the material. Teachers will use the rubric below to measure if the students have met the learning target. |
Summative Assessment
Students will create a booklet for someone who has recently immigrated to the United States. Inside the booklet, students will write an explanation as to how the US branches of government works together. They will describe the roles and responsibilities of each branch in family-friendly words. Students will also include a brief description of each of the amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. Lastly, students will explain how the Bill of Rights have affected the lives of others and how it affects them today. Students will be graded on content material, organization of information presented, visual appeal, and creativity.
Resources
Flocabulary--Three Branches of Government
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Flocabulary is a great resource for students to learn more about the three branches of government in a very engaging way. This upbeat-rap type of video offers a visual support and organizes the content in a way for students to understand the legislative, executive, and judicial branch individually. This is a fun way to get students hooked! The website also provides a variety of strategies for students to gain a full understanding of the content.
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A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution
This book, written by Betsy Maestro, offers children a basic way to understand the background knowledge of how the Constitution and the Bill of Rights came to be. The illustrations are great and add student interest into the history of the Bill of Rights.
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Life Without Bill of Rights
This is an online tool for students to visually understand how the first, third, and fourth amendments impact lives of people. This computer stimulation game allows students to explore how each amendment works in society today. It also provides an opportunity for students to distinguish some of the different amendments.
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Congress for Kids
Congress for Kids is an interactive website for students to gain more information on the branches of government and Bill of Rights. It gives a variety of teaching tools, strategies for students to gather a full understanding of the content, games, and quizzes. Teachers can use this tool inside the classroom for whole group instruction and students can access this website to study or practice outside of class.
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