Subject: Social Studies
Lesson Length: 40 - 45 mins
Topic: How The U.S. Government Works
Brief Description: Students will learn about the three branches of government and be able to differentiate between them.
Know Before You Start:
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This lesson works well as an introduction to the three branches of government.
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The Pixton lesson on “Checks and Balances” serves as a great companion to this activity.
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Vocabulary e.g., constitution and democracy.
Hook:
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Begin a discussion by asking: “Who is in charge of the United States government?”
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Use this discussion as a springboard to introduce the three branches of government and why the nation’s founders decided on this method of governing.
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Read and discuss the sample comic.
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Which branch of government is represented in the comic?
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What are the duties of this branch of government?
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Activity: It’s time to discuss the branches of government in a comic!
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Have students select one of the three branches of government.
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Using the sample comic as a guide, have them demonstrate their knowledge of that branch in a two-panel comic.
The comic should include:
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Which branch they selected.
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Who leads this branch.
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What the job of this branch of government is.
Closure: Use the Jigsaw method to group students. Have students present their comics to the group to teach other group members about their branch of government.
Differentiation:
- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
Resources:
- Comic to print or display: Comic.