Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Grade Level/Subject: 5th/Social

Central Focus:3 Branches of Government
Studies
Essential Standard/Common Core
Objective:5.C&G.1.2 Summarize the organizational
Date submitted:
Date
structures and powers of the United States
taught:
government (legislative, judicial, and executive
branches of government).
Daily Lesson Objective:With the help of the booklets that the students made, they
should be able to complete a quiz at the end of the lesson that summarizes the three
different branches of government. To be successful, this quiz should be taken with one
or no wrong answers.
21st Century Skills:
Academic Language Demand (Language Function
and Vocabulary): Language function: Complete a
quiz based on 3 branches of government.
Vocabulary: Legislative, executive, and judicial
branch of government.
Prior Knowledge: Students should know the structure, development, and function of
North Carolinas government.
Activity
1. Focus and
Review

2. Statement of
Objective
for Student

3. Teacher Input

Description of Activities and Setting

Yesterday, we read in our social studies books and
looked over some of the duties of the three different
branches of government. Can anybody tell me a role of
the three different branches?
Today, we are going to go more in depth breaking
down what each branch does and how they are
important to the government, and to us as people. We
are going to be making little booklets that will help you
remember this , and then have a quiz where you can
use the booklets for help.
Give each student a blank piece of paper, and three
colored pencils. I am going to show you how to make
the booklet, but I need everyones eyes on me as I do
each step. Dont go to the next step until we have all
completed the first step. This is what your book should
look like. (Hold up an end product of what the booklet
should look like. Also, the directions to the folding of the
book will be projected onto the board for everyone to
see.) Now, we will make this book together.

Time
3 min.

2 min.

5 min.

4. Guided Practice

With the directions on the board, students and teacher

30 min.
will make the foldable book together. There will
probably be at least one student who didnt follow
directions and their book will be in a few pieces. After
everyone is finished with the book, allow students about
three minutes to decorate the front of their book, title
each page with the three branches of government with
a different colored pencil, and the back page titles
vocab. Projected on the board should be what the
students should be writing in the book. Each page
should be done separately. This is what they will write
down:
Legislative Branch (law maker):

Also known as the congress

Congress made up of two houses: Senate and

House of Representatives

To make laws, congress writes bills, if president

doesnt approve, bill is sent back to congress and can
over rule president

Congress can collect taxes and create national

currency
Executive Branch (executes laws):

Head of executive branch is president

President can not make laws

President is in charge of armed forces, but only

the congress can declare war

The president is not a king

Judicial Branch (interprets laws):

Headed by the supreme court

Supreme court has 9 judges

The leader is the chief justice

They decide if a law conflicts with the constitution

Interpreting laws means to settle disagreements

about what a law means

They protect constitution and rights of Americans

Vocab:

Veto- to reject a bill which prevents it from

becoming a law- a power only the president can do

Cabinet- group of advisors to president- including

the heads of important departments in executive branch

Impeach- to accuse or charge a government

official, such as the president, with a crime or
misconduct
Students should now take about five minutes to look
over all of the notes they just took to prepare for the
quiz.
5. Independent
Practice

Using the helpful booklets you just made, I now want

you to take this quiz. Yes, you can use your books, but
you may not use your friends. This is what the quiz will
look like:

The 3 branches of Government

Draw a line from the appropriate branch to what it
does:
Legislative Branch

executes laws

Executive Branch

interprets laws

Judicial Branch

fmakes laws

12 min.

1.

Which branch is also known as the congress?

2.

The president is the head of which branch?

3. How many judges does the supreme court consist

of?
4. True or False: The president can make laws for the
country.

5.

What document does the judicial board protect?

6.

The congress is made up of what two houses?

7. True or False: In the legislative branch, if the

president does not approve a bill, then it becomes a
law.

8. If a president vetoes a bill, what is the next step

that is done?

9.

Which branch declares war?

10. What is the name if the leader of the judicial

branch?

11. Who is in the presidents cabinet?

***Extra Credit*** What is the first and last name of the
current president?

Mastery- Students complete the quiz with either no wrong

answers, or only one wrong answer.
6. Assessment
Methods of
all
objectives/skills:

7. Closure

Partial mastery- Students complete the quiz with two-four

mistakes, showing some knowledge of the topic of the three
branches of government
No mastery- Students miss more than four questions showing no
effort or knowledge of the topic, since the quiz questions come
word-for-word from the booklet.
The three branches of government are very important
to our society when it comes with making laws. Without
laws, the country would be a mess, because there
would be no guidelines to follow. Each branch is a huge
part of the law making process, and now we know that
the president doesnt have as much to do with this as
we thought.

8. Assessment
Results of
all
objectives/skills:
Targeted Students
Modifications/Accommodations:

Student/Small Group
Modifications/Accommodations:Students are
already in ability groups by class, so no extra
modification will need to be made. For ELLs,
the information that needs to be copied will
be in their native language.

Materials/Technology: Paper, colored pencils, information sheet, and quiz(provided

above)
(Include any instructional materials (e.g., worksheets, assessments
PowerPoint/SmartBoard slides, etc.) needed to implement the lesson at the end of the
lesson plan.)
References: None
Reflection on lesson: