Information for Teachers

Welcome

Your Local Government

State and Federal
Government

Famous Citizens

Teacher Resources

Unit Overview, Lesson Plans, and On-Line Textbook

Internet Websites Bibliography

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Unit Overview: This unit has been developed to support you as you teach your students about their government. This unit aligns completely with California State Social Studies Standard 4 for Grade 3: Students understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives and the basic structure of the United States government:

Benchmark 1: Why we have rules, laws, and the US Constitution...
Benchmark 2: The importance of public virtue and the role of citizens, including how to participate in a classroom, community and civic life
Benchmark 4: the three branches of the federal government
Benchmark 6: the lives of American heroes who took risks to secure freedoms.

There are three parts to this unit: Local Government, State and Federal Government, and Famous American Citizens. The unit was designed to be completed sequentially, but each part can stand alone.

Lesson Plans:

Part 1: Local Government

Part 2: State and Federal Government

Part 3: Famous American Citizens.

Lesson Plans:

Part 1: Local Government

Scavenger Hunt

Objective:The students will gather information about the City Council of Lafayette, a suburban city in Northern California. Most cities and towns now have websites , so teachers may customize this activity by modifying the scavenger hunt and finding information about the students’ own community.

Materials:

Worksheet for scavenger hunt found on our website.

Internet access is essential.

Procedure

1. Prior to using this website, students should have knowledge of what a city council is and does. Utilize your textbook for this introduction.

2. Direct your class to our website, Great Government for Kids and tell them they will use this website to learn facts about a city council.

3. Assign pairs of students, or individuals, to complete the scavenger hunt worksheet. Make a printout of the worksheet for the students to use. The worksheet answers can be found on the Lafayette City Council website.

Evaluation

Correct completion of the worksheet. You should go over the answers with your students after they are through with the scavenger hunt.

City Council Simulation

Objective: To take part in a simulated city council meeting to learn firsthand how local government operates.

Materials:

Worksheets for biography and speech outline

podium and gavel (if you can)

different hats and nameplates for the council members

nametags for the speakers

Procedure

A detailed description of the procedure can be found at the simulation start page of our website.

Evaluation:

You may use the following rubric to assess your students:

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Part 2:
State and Federal Government - webquest and project

Objective: In this section, students will work in cooperative teams using Internet resources to gather information about the structure of the government at the state and federal level and to learn about the people and places of importance in their governments. Please note that the state websites provide information about the state of California.

Materials:

On-line textbook

Internet access

Webquest links

Activity Sheets

Procedure

1. Quest 1: Develop background knowledge by utilizing grade-level appropriate textbook or our on-line textbook to read and discuss the history and structure of the federal government. Make connections between the local government structure and the federal structure.(ie. executive branch: the mayor compared to the president) All students will complete the activity sheet for Quest 1 using webquest links provided.

2. Quest 2:There are three groups: White (Executive Branch) is the most concrete and easily understood. Red (Legislative) and Blue (Judicial) provide more challenging, abstract concepts. Determine which students will work in each group depending on their ability and/or interest.Each team will be responsible for using the webquest links provided to complete Quest 2.

3. Project: After completing Quest 1 and Quest 2, students will create a project to share what they have learned with their classmates. The project will be geared to the student's ability and/or interest. The students can work individually, in pairs, or as a group on the project. The teacher may provide choices for the projects such as:

multimedia presentation using KidPix or Powerpoint

a scrapbook including pictures and captions

a poster including graphics and text

a mini-book describing the function of their branch of the government

a song with lyrics that describe the way in which their branch of the government works

Evaluation

Quest 1 and 2

Review and discuss the activity sheets and correct with students.

Project

You may use the following rubric to assess your students:

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Part 3:
Famous American Citizens - biography project

Objective: In this section, students will work in teams to do research using hotlists that have been developed for each of ten famous Americans. The websites on the hotlists have been coded for the teacher’s information so that you may differentiate the content based upon student reading skill level: Students will create project that will demonstrate the important contributions these individuals have made to American society.

Materials:

Biography worksheet

Internet access

Hotlists:

For hotlists about the following famous Americans go to this website:
Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Blackwell, Ben Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Cesar Chavez

For hotlists about the following famous Americans go to this website:
Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglas, Jane Addams and Roger Williams

Resource materials

Procedure:

1. Each student is assigned a famous American to research utilizing the biography worksheet.

2. At the end of the worksheet are differentiated presentation assignments for three ability levels. The Red presentation assignment is the most concrete and the least challenging, the Blue presentation assignment is for students of average ability, and the White presentation assignment is the most abstract and challenging.

3. The teacher will determine the format of the presentation, oral, written, multimedia, etc

4. Students will prepare a presentation using the biography worksheet, hotlists, and other resource materials appropriate for their reading level.

Evalulation:

Biography Worksheets may be individually assessed for accuracy of content.

You may use the following rubric to assess your students' presentations:

4	Excellent understanding of the famous American and his/her contributions, work is neat, creative, correct, and includes all important key concepts.
3	Good understanding of the famous American and his/her contributions, work is neat, correct, and includes most of the important key concepts.
2	Some misunderstandings of the famous American and his/her contributions, work is somewhat neat and correct, and includes some key concepts.
1	Poor understanding of the famous American and his/her contributions, work is careless, incorrect, and does not include key concepts.

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