A.

Summary of the Lesson Plan: This social studies lesson is designed for fourth grade students to learn about the three branches of government in the State of Nevada. This lesson will go more in depth about the executive and legislative branches. B. Target Population: Grade Level: 4th Grade Skill Level: students at all learning levels Grouping: Whole group for reading and discussions; table groups for activity; partner sharing; individual for assessment. C. Materials: KWL Chart from previous lesson. Class set of Lapbooks created in previous lesson YouTube video clip ready to play link: http://youtu.be/FFroMQlKiag (Schoolhouse Rock, Im Just A Bill) Class set of crayons, pencils, glue sticks, and scissors. Popsicle sticks with student names to use for random selection of students for answers. Class set of How a Bill Becomes a Law. 3 per student Cluster Word Web 3. (one for each branch) Student worksheets from Governor Sandoval Day. Class set of quiz sheets. D. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards written on board o C14.4.5 Name the three branches of state government

Student-Friendly Standards C14.4.5 I can name the three branches of our state government and describe the responsibilities of each.

E. Procedure: 1. Class discussion: Discuss the three branches of government, and briefly review the facts that were read yesterday about the state branches. 2. Review the KWL chart. Review with students what they KNOW about the state government. Review what they WANTed to know. Ask if after yesterdays lesson there is anything else that they want to know about any of the branches. Add anything that the students want to know more about.

3. Add to key vocabulary: bill, law, legislature, assembly, senate, governor, lieutenant governor, election, veto, committee, floor, house 4. View the Schoolhouse Rock video Im Just A Bill. Video is 3:21 minutes long. 5. Ask students to do a think-pair-share with their table partner and discuss the steps that a bill takes before it can become a law. 6. Pass out the How a Bill Becomes a Law sheet. Ask students to read aloud one step at a time. Take time to pause between steps and answer questions. Encourage students to take notes on this sheet if needed. Ask students to point out parts of this that were mentioned in the video. 7. Pass out the Cluster Word Web sheets. Have the students write Legislative Branch for the topic of the first sheet, Executive Branch in the second, and Judicial Branch in the third. 8. Ask students to get out their Lapbooks from the previous day. They will use the guide sheet inside as a resource for the next activity. 9. Cooperative table groups: have students use their lapbooks and the information from the How a Bill Becomes a Law sheet to help them fill in the Legislative branch cluster web. 10.As you notice groups are finishing (5-10 minutes at most), project a blank word web onto the front board. Using random selection, call on students to tell you one thing they have written on the web. Call on another student in that table group to tell why that word was chosen. 11. Return to table groups: have students use information from the guide about the governor, and information from Governor Sandoval Day to fill in the word web for the executive branch. 12. Repeat: as groups finish, project blank executive branch word web onto front board and do the same thing you did in step 10. 13. Return to table groups: pass out green leaf templates, and plain leaf templates. Students will create one booklet for each branch of government to attach to the tree in their lapbook. Ask them to cut out, and create 3 booklets using at least 3 plain pages for each. Have them use their graphic organizers for the legislative and executive branch to write at least one fact on each page within the book. Book just needs one staple to hold it together. Students can then staple, or use glue stick to attach booklet to the corresponding branch . See photos at end of lesson. 14. Clean up: from creating the leaf books. 15. Short answer quiz. Students to complete independently. Students turn in when finished.

F. CLOSURE: Class discussion. Review KWL chart. What did we learn today? Fill in on the KWL chart as students give you responses. Read class objectives aloud. Quick thumbs up/thumbs down on whether or not we met our objective goal. G. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? Todays lesson will use the KWL chart as a pre-assessment, and the short answer quiz as the end assessment. Going back to the KWL at the end will also be an assessment. Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. As students complete the word webs with key vocabulary and responsibilities of the branches studied, I will see how they comprehend the concepts. The quiz will also allow me to see how well they comprehend the concepts on an independent level. H. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? The review of the previous lesson will be the easiest. 2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? I think the most challenging part will be the discussion of How a Bill Becomes a Law. This will most likely bring some things up that I might have difficulty explaining in a way that my students will understand. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? I think it might be interesting to follow a bill that is being considered in the legislature during a session year. There are links online to find bills, and follow them as they progress through the process. Another extension would be to divide the class into two parts. One will be the assembly and the other the senate. Have each introduce a bill to be considered and act out the process of committee hearings, floor action, amendments, and then governor approval. Maybe ask the principal to act as the governor to either sign the bill into law, or veto it. 4. What will you do for students who dont grasp the concepts?

Students who dont grasp the concepts will come to me in small groups. We will re-read the guides and worksheets from the lessons and highlight key vocabulary and important concepts. We might also review the vocabulary on cards to be added to the social studies word wall for the unit, creating pictures to place with the words, and brief definitions. I would also use leveled readers, or books from the unit study library to read and help build a stronger base of background knowledge. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? Until I actually teach this lesson in front of a class, I dont know of anything that needs to change. I might consider taking one day for each branch rather than combining two in one day. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? I had some difficulty with finding information on just the state government branches. Most items that I found to work with were on the federal level and needed to be adapted to state. Resources:

Figure : asm.leg.state.nv.us/Assembly/ElementarySchool.aspx

Completed Leaf for tree Copy template below on Green construction paper for the cover. Can white out the veins and copy on plain or lined paper so that students can have pages for the booklet. Students should have at least 9 plain leaves to add at least 3 details in each branch booklet.

sources and websites used to create this lesson:

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/government/branches.html http://www.onlinenevada.org/nevada_state_government:_an_overview http://leg.state.nv.us/ http://youtu.be/x5M50xBz1cU Three Ring Government Our Government Unit by Christina Cottongame, purchased and downloaded from Teachers Pay Teachers websiteportions used and adapted for this lesson. Branches of Government Activity Packet, purchased and downloaded from Teachers Pay Teachers websiteportions used and adapted for this lesson.