Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Lesson Plan

Name: Rachel Bland (& Katie Stokes)

Grade: 3rd Grade
Topic/Concept: Local Government
Materials/Resources: 30 minutes

Teaching Behavior Focus: promote collaboration

Learning Objectives (measurable): Students will be able to state the functions of the branches
of the local government, the positions within each branch, and the people who hold those
positions in the local Raleigh government.

Standards: 3.C&G.1.2 Describe the structure of local government and how it functions to serve
citizens.

Assessment Plan (How will you know that your students met the objective?): At the end of the
lesson we will give each student a specific scenario giving them a local government position and
a description of something that has happened. The students will explain what they would do as
this government official in response to the scenario and submit as an exit ticket.

New Vocabulary:
o Local government
o Federal government
o Legislative branch
o Executive branch
o Judicial branch
o Mayor
o City Council
o Judge
o Courts

Note: A detailed lesson plan is specific enough for another teacher to read and teach
effectively. There should not be any question regarding what to do or how to do it.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Lesson Development (hook/engage/launch, step by step in real time, include questions you will
ask in real time, closure/revisiting learning objectives):

Launch:
 We will divide the class into groups based on their tables. We will give each table the
levels of government sort and ask them to cut it.
 Students will observe the pieces and put them in the correct category: federal, state, and
local.
 We will discuss the sort as a class.
Lesson:
 After the students have completed the launch, we will discuss the difference between
federal, state, and local government. We will tell them that today we will be learning
about our local government.
 We will go over each branch of government and ask the students what they know about
each branch.
o “When we think about the legislative branch, what comes to mind?”
o “What do people in the legislative branch do?”
o “Who are the officials in the local legislative branch, and who currently occupies
that position?”
o ***Repeat this with all branches***
 Teacher will discuss how the local government is different from the federal government.
 Teacher will model and discuss the following sentence starters in their journals.
o Our federal government governs the United States of America.
o Our state government governs North Carolina.
o Our local government governs Raleigh, NC.
 Teacher will give each student the graphic organizer in the materials.
 Students will glue their graphic organizer in their social studies notebooks.
 Teacher will model with the students what could be included in their graphic organizer.
o Each box under their three branches of local government will include the role of
the position and who serves in the position
 Executive
 Mayor
 Raleigh’s Mayor: Nancy McFarlane
 Enforces laws
 Legislative
 City council
 Makes laws
 Judicial
 Court
 Explains laws
Assessment:
 At the end of the lesson we will give each student a specific scenario giving them a local
government position and a description of something that has happened. The students will
explain what they would do as this government official in response to the scenario and
submit as an exit ticket.