Professional Documents
Culture Documents
80 Lesson Plan
Lesson Title: The Jobs of the President Number: 2 Author: Gabrielle Walls
Social Sciences
Concepts:
Chief of state: refers to the President as the head of the government. He is the symbol of all
the people. In the United States, the President also rules over the government. In many
countries, the chief of state reigns over government but does not rule.
Chief executive: vested by the Constitution with broad executive powers. This power is
used at home on domestic issues and also extends to foreign affairs. The executive power is
Chief administrator: the President is in charge of the executive branch of the federal
Chief diplomat: the main author of American foreign policy. Everything the President says
Commander in chief: of the armed forces. This power gives the President direct and
Chief legislator: the President shapes public policy. The President may suggest, request,
and insist that Congress enact laws he believes are needed. Sometimes, Congress does not
agree with the President and decides against legislation. Working with Congress takes up a
The Constitution: The Constitution is the highest law in the United States. All other laws
come from the Constitution. It says how the government works. It creates the Presidency. It
primary document.
Skills:
Using a T-chart
Participating in class discussion
Goals of Lesson:
To be able to understand the jobs of the president so they can further learn and understand
Taking the perspective of a leader to access how one would perform in that role.
Practice developing the skills to write opinion pieces with supporting details from outside
sources.
Objective One: Students will be able to list and describe the roles of the president
Objective Two: Students will understand the difference between primary and secondary
documents
Objective Four: Students will be able to support their opinions through research
Objective Five: Students will be able to score a three or higher on the Pennsylvania Writing
Assessment Domain Scoring Guide when writing a three to five paragraph essay
III. Standards PA Civics, History, Economics, Geography & NCSS Themes 1 - X with
subthemes:
Standards:
Standard - 5.2.4.C: Describe the roles of leadership and public service in school,
Standard - 5.1.4.D: Identify key ideas about government found in significant documents:
Standard - CC.1.2.4.A: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported
Standard - CC.1.4.5.I: Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details; draw from
Standard - CC.8.5.6-8.I: Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source
on the same topic *Using for prior exposure for spiral curriculum*
Themes:
Theme Six: Power, authority and governance. The understanding of who holds authority
Hello class! Today we will be learning about the many jobs of the president. *Pull up a
Yes the president has many responsibilities which are often referred to as the jobs of the
president.
Posted around the room are some of these jobs, but there are also some made up jobs too. It
is up to you to determine which are real and which are not. *Point to the posters that are
On your desk is a T-chart with a column for you to write whether the job is true or false.
*Point to handouts on desks and refer to example paper projected onto Smartboard*
When I dismiss you from your tables, you will walk around the room in small groups of three
or four so you can read each of the posters. we will use the galley style walk that we have
done before in science and language arts. *Pull up and point to gallery walk chart on
Smartboard*
*Refer to closest poster* Each poster has the title of a job on it and then the description
under the pull-up flap. *Pull up flap* It is up to you to decide which jobs are the presidents
You may discuss and debate with your classmates but you must have a solid reason for your
claim. Make sure to keep your volume to a minimum so everyone can hear their group
members. *Give students 20 minutes to complete activity, students should look at each of the
compare our answers as a class. As I state each job posted around the room please make a
thumbs up and keep it up if you thought it was a job of the president and make a thumbs
down if you thought it was not. *Record majority rule for each job on the T-chart displayed
on the Smartboard* Were your answers a lot different then those of the class? *Accept
2. How do you think we could check to see if our answers are right? *Call on one student* To
check our answers I would first look to where the roles came from. The first place the jobs of
the president were listed is the primary document. A primary document is where the
information was first written. The jobs of the president were picked out and listed on the
Constitution. *Walk over to point to poster of the Constitution posted during the first lesson*
In article two of the constitution the roles of the president are listed. However, is the
Constitution can be hard to read and difficult to understand. Because of this, we will check
3. *Pull up the secondary source example* [Objective Two] A secondary source is where the
primary document was dictated. You will learn more in-depth information and techniques on
how to analyze primary documents when you get to sixth grade but for now I am introducing
you to them so you can identify the difference. *Pull up side by side labeled primary and
4. The secondary document that we will be using is a chapter in Pearson entitled The
Presidents Job Description. *Pull up example article on Smartboard next to T-chart* In your
tables I would like you to skim the document to find evidence to support or deny the classes
answers listed here on the board. Remember to use your skimming skills that we learned in
math the other day while covering how to dissect a word problem. We are looking for and
underlining the important information that we need to solve our problem. *Pull up example
highlighted document* Mark down your group findings on the back of your paper. *Flip
student paper on desk and tap on Smartboard so that front filled-out T-chart graphic flips to
the clear T-chart graphic made to represent the back of their papers* You may begin. *Give
5. Now that you have used your secondary source to determine your answers we will review
them as a class. *Refer back to article on Smartboard* [Objective Three] The article that
you used is a credible source. Next year you will learn how to find your own credible sources
but for now I will introduce them to you so that you will have that background knowledge for
fifth grade. I provided you with a credible secondary source. I know that it is credible
6. [Objective One] *Pull up clear T-chart next to article* From skimming through the source I
found the first answer here that chief of state is a job of the president. *Highlight where this
information is found and underline the job title* It goes onto explain that the President is the
head of the government and rules it. He is the symbol of all the people. In many countries,
the chief of state reigns over government but does not rule. Examples of this can be found in
England, Denmark, Japan, Italy, and Germany. You may remember similar information that
was presented in our previous lesson on democracy versus other forms of government.
7. Group one where did you find the next answer in your article? *Take answers and reasoning
from groups until all answers are justified or proven wrong. Have students highlight and
underline information on Smartboard as modeled* Now that we know and understand the
roles of the president its time to start thinking about how we would lead in these roles
because remember, it could be you leading one day in that position or one like it.
8. [Objective Four] This week we will work on writing a three to five paragraph essay about
how you would lead in one of these roles. I will be grading your papers according to the
Pennsylvania Writing Assessment Domain Scoring Guide. *Pull up picture of scoring guide*
To guide you in writing your paper I will show you a model of how to organize it. *Circle the
full four point section of the rubric and pull up the sample paper*
9. *Pull up example papers first paragraph* In language arts we reviewed format, style, and
sourcing but I want to show you a model for organization. In your first paragraph you could
state which job you will be discussing. *Underline on the Smartboard where in the example
10. In your one to three body paragraphs you will find and talk about a current event. This
current event should be about the president doing the job you picked. *Scroll down in paper
to body paragraphs* You will then compare how you would handle that situation and your
11. In this paper the author discusses how they would lead in the role of chief executive. In their
first body paragraph they explained what the role of chief executive is. *Bracket first body
event. *Bracket second body paragraph and pull up article next to paper*
13. Then in their last body paragraph they explain how they would lead in that situation in
14. To conclude they restated their main points and made their closing arguments. *Scroll down
in paper to fifth paragraph and underline the main points and circle closing statement* In
order to assist you I have provided a graphic organizer that walks you through the steps to
complete your paper. *Students have graphic organizers organized in their binder according
to ability level and specific learning needs. All students can choose the graphic organizer of
their choice but it is up to the teacher to encourage and instruct according to the best graphic
VI. Differentiation:
Content:
In order to make content assessable to all my students I will provide my ELLs and
students who struggle in aspects of literacy a list of vocabulary words before the lesson so
they can review important concepts. By having this background knowledge they will be
able to apply this prior knowledge. This will allow them to keep pace when completing the
activities with their fellow classmates and not be lost during independent work.
As each aspect of the lesson is taking place the teacher will use visual, verbal, and
physical representations to explain the information. In order to reach all students the teach
must use multiple means to explain the information. Anytime the student doesn't
understand something the teacher said verbally they should be able to use the context clues
of what the teacher is doing/pointing to, and the pictures on the Smartboard/posters.
It is also important that students who are visually impaired and handicapped are thought
of while planning and setting up. Posters should be low so students in wheelchairs and of
all heights can see and lift the flaps. All print and visual aids should be large so all students
Process:
When completing their T-charts, students with learning disabilities or ELLs will be
allowed to bring their vocabulary sheet with them. Their vocabulary sheets, previously
mentioned, will have spaces where they should have put their own definition of the word
During group work the students are required to contribute but will be given the
opportunity to express themselves in a variety of ways. To contribute to the group they can
highlight where they find key information or share information that they have from their
vocabulary sheets. This way they can show the group what they know instead of having to
communication.
When results are being tallied for the T-chart it is important for the teacher to point first
to the statement they are talking about and point to each word as they read it. Then make a
thumbs up sign in front of the true section on the T-chart and record the number of students
who made a thumbs up. Then make a thumbs down sign in front of the false column and
record the number of students who put their thumbs down as well. This is a physical way
of conveying meaning to your students along with visual and verbal cues.
Product:
When completing the T-chart students will have a word box in which each job is matched
with a number, my ELLs and students who struggle in aspects of literacy can then use this
to write down the number of the job they are discussing instead of having to write it all the
way out. It will save them time so they can focus on the task at hand and not worry about
writing fast enough. They will have already had to practice writing it for homework when
they completed their vocabulary sheet so they can focus on the quality of the work and not
All students must complete the graphic organizer but these will be differentiated
according to how the student will complete their assignment. Different product= different
graphic organizer. ELLs, students with varying learning disabilities, and students with
ADHD will be given alternative options for what they produce. Students can draw pictures
to add to what they write, they can orally tell the teacher the information they obtained, or
they can make a song and dance that they record. By creating options for alternative
assessment students of all abilities and learning needs will have the opportunity to display
the knowledge they obtained. The teacher can assess the students learning and they can
I would like you to split into groups of three and share with one another what job you chose,
the title and source of the article you covered, and how you would have done differently or
the same in that role. *Write these instructions on the board while stating them*
*Allow students 15 minutes to share in their group, explain that each student should share for
roughly 5 minutes. Walk around the room to observe and assist students. At the end of the 15
minutes tell students to wrap up discussion and then call silence within one minute of these
instructions*
I would like each group to share one aspect that you found notable about someones paper
from your group. *Allow each group to share for one minute or so*
Wow, those are all great ways to lead in those roles and I think you will all make wonderful
Formative:
During class discussion the teacher should observe students participation and
Individual questioning should be used to guide students who are lost or need help.
Walking around the room to assist students and observe their progress during independent
IX.Material/Equipment:
Student Materials:
T-chart handout
Article handout
Graphic organizer
Pencils
Teacher Materials:
Flip posters
Constitution poster
Teacher Notes:
Chief of state: refers to the President as the head of the government. He is the symbol of
all the people. In the United States, the President also rules over the government. In many
countries, the chief of state reigns over government but does not rule.
Chief executive: vested by the Constitution with broad executive powers. This power is
used at home on domestic issues and also extends to foreign affairs. The executive power
Chief administrator: the President is in charge of the executive branch of the federal
Chief diplomat: the main author of American foreign policy. Everything the President
says and does is closely followed, both at home and in other countries.
Commander in chief: of the armed forces. This power gives the President direct and
Chief legislator: the President shapes public policy. The President may suggest, request,
and insist that Congress enact laws he believes are needed. Sometimes, Congress does
not agree with the President and decides against legislation. Working with Congress takes
The Constitution: The Constitution is the highest law in the United States. All other laws
come from the Constitution. It says how the government works. It creates the Presidency.
a primary document.
Credible Source: A reliable source for academic research.
References:
assets.pearsonschool.com/asset_mgr/legacy/200938/
section1_jobdescription_26523_1.pdf
Primary and Secondary Sources. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from
https://library.ithaca.edu/sp/subjects/primary
The Constitution for Kids (4th-7th Grade) - The U.S. Constitution Online. (n.d.). Retrieved
The Constitution of the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution
Welcome to the Purdue OWL. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/02/
X. Technology:
Computer
Smartboard
Projector
Reflecting on planning now that I have written my lesson plan I did not expect it to take
as long as it did to write. I have created other lessons at the fourth grade level before but never
have I been so in-depth or careful in my planning. The review sheets we received during our peer
reviews helped me as a check list to make sure I included all necessary aspects. It started as a
simple lesson to teach my students about the jobs of the president but over the course of planning
turned into additional far reaching goals, some even as far as previews for fifth and sixth grade.
If I were to improve my lesson I would further elaborate on all practices and where I learned
them so I could use this in the future as reference for activities and teaching techniques.
The potential successes include the opportunity for students to to be able to understand
the jobs of the president so they can further learn and understand current events and history
pertaining to this subject. Students could be taking the perspective of a leader to access how one
would perform in that role. They could begin developing background knowledge of primary
sources, secondary sources, and credible sources for further learning in grades to come. Students
may practice developing the skills to write opinion pieces with supporting details from outside
sources. They could continue social growth for group and class participation.
My concerns for lesson implementation are clarity and timing. I am always concerned
about my students understanding the lesson content and objectives and that they have enough
time to absorb the skills. I often remember feeling like I was rushed through activities in school
and could never quite process all of the information. I want to make sure that my students have
enough time to both process and retain the information. It can be especially confusing for ELLs
Smale, A., & Higgins, A. (2017, March 12). Putin and Merkel: A Rivalry of History, Distrust and
europe/vladimir-putin-angela-merkel-russia-germany.html?rref=collection