UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH BRADFORD

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT - LESSON PLAN FORMAT

NAME OF STUDENT TEACHER Melissa Nye SCHOOL

LESSON SUBJECT / TOPIC Civics and Government GRADE LEVEL 3rd

1. OBJECTIVES
Objective A: Identify the roles of the three branches of government.
5.3.3.A. Identify the roles of the three branches of government.
Blooms Level: Understanding
Justification: Students are able to visualize what these places look like and have a
discussion with their peers and teacher to better understand.

2. MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

Gallery Walk Pictures
Worksheet
Construction paper (Two different colors)
Tape
Pencils
Fill in the Blank worksheet

3. STRATEGIES/METHODS OF TEACHING

a. ANTICIPATORY SET
TW have a picture of the Constitution, The U.S. Capitol, The White House, and
The Supreme Court hanging around the room.
SW take a gallery walk and see if they can identify any of these pictures.
This aligns with Objective A

b. SEQUENCE OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES

TW give each student a worksheet.
TW instruct students to turn their paper horizontal or landscape.
TW have an image on the smartboard of the three branches of government.
SW copy in information as teacher discusses it.
TW write “Constitution” on the top line then ask students “Has anyone heard of
the Constitution? If so, where and what does it do?”
TW note the Constitution contains rules for how the government works. It
created three separate parts with different duties.
TW write Legislative on the left line.
SW have two minutes to talk to a neighbor and identify what the Legislative
branch might do (Objective A).
TW write key words such as: Congress (federal and state) Senators,
Representatives, makes laws. Federal: creates military, can declare war and
explain them.
TW write Executive in the middle.
 SW have two minutes to talk to a neighbor and identify what the Executive
branch might do (Objective A).
TW write key words such as: President, Vice President, Governor, Cabinet,
carries out laws and explain them.
TW write Judicial on the right line.
SW have two minutes to talk to a neighbor and identify what the Judicial branch
might do (Objective A).
TW write key words such as: Supreme Court, judges, justices, interprets laws
and explain them.
TW ask students “Even though there are three equal branches of our
government defined by our constitution, do you believe that one has more
power over the other two and why?”
SW turn and talk to neighbor about this question.
TW ask “Why do you think it is so important for the three branches of
government to work together?”
SW turn and talk to neighbor.

c. CLOSURE
SW play human Tic-Tac-Toe
TW create a giant Tic-Tac-Toe board with tape in the middle of the room and
split the class into two teams.
TW ask students questions about the three branches of government. Questions
will go from team to team.
SW discuss with their team and have one person raise their hand to answer.
SW answer the question out loud and identify from which branch of government
the question was asking (Objective A).
SW grab their teams colored construction paper and sit on a Tic-Tac -Toe box.
TW ask questions to each team until one team has three of their colored papers
in a row across, up and down or diagonally. Tic-tac-toe!

d. INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
TW pass out worksheet to students.
SW complete the fill in the blank worksheet.
SW identify which branch of government is associated with each question
(Objective A).

4. DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES
Lower Level – Students will have parts of the notes filled in for them so they
do not have to right all of the notes. There will also be pictures for students to
look at to help them. During the game, they can use their worksheet.

Higher Level – Students will be given an extra paper with vocabulary words
and the next unit words. Teacher will push students to use new words during
Tic-Tac-Toe game.
5. ASSESSMENT

FORMATIVE
TW observe students as they are discussing the questions asked as well as
how much they remember during the Tic-Tac-Toe game.

SUMMATIVE
SW research one branch of government and identify the roles. Students will
write two-page paper on their findings. Students need an introduction, at least
one body paragraph, and conclusion. There must also be at least five accurate
facts to receive full credit.

6. EVIDENCE OF SPECIAL CRITERIA APPLICATION

Higher Level Questions – Has anyone heard of the Constitution? If so, where and
what does it do?” “Even though there are three equal branches of our government
defined by our constitution, do you believe that one has more power over the
other two and why?” “Why do you think it is so important for the three branches of
government to work together?”

Technology – Smartboard

Student Engagement – Students are using guided notes to stayed focused on the
topic during the learning. Students get to play a giant Tic-Tac-Toe game with a
team.
Name_____________________________

Fill in the blank:

1. I live in the state of _______________________________.

2. Our Governor is __________________________________.

3. Our two United States Senators are_____________________ 

and ________________________.

4. The United States Representative in my district 

is _______________________________.

5. The President of the United States is

________________________.