Drexel Lesson Plan Template
Lesson Plan Format
Teacher: Rosanna Vitiello
Grade: 2nd
Content Area: Social Studies
1. Content and Standards: 6.1.2.CivicsPI.6: Explain what government is and its function.
6.1.2.CivicsPI.3 Explain how individuals work with different levels of government to make rules.
2. Prerequisites: 6.1.2 CivicsPI.1: Describe roles and responsibilities of community and local
government leaders (e.g., mayor, town council). 6.1.2.CivicsPI.2: Investigate the importance of services
provided by the local government to meet the needs and ensure the safety of community members.
3. Essential Questions: What is government? What is a branch of government? What are the three
branches of government? How are laws made?
4.Materials and Equipment: Tree Worksheet, Video, Whit board
5.Instructional Objective*: 2nd grade students will be able to identify the three branches of government
and the individuals in charge of the three branches of government with 85% accuracy.
6.Instructional Procedures:
Before (15 min): I will call the students to the carpet. I will ask the students what government is? I will
tell students that it is a group of people living together in a country, state, city or local community and
that they have to live by certain rules. How are laws made? The people who make and enforce the rules is
called a government. I will tell the students we are all part of the United States government. I will write
on the white board: Executive Branch, Judicial Branch and Legislative Branch.
I will discuss the different branches of government with the students:
Legislative Branch: House of Representative/Senate which together form the United States Congress.
They make sure the President is making good laws. They write bills so that the president can sign them
into law.
I will tell the students that the legislative branch makes the laws. Congress introduces bills to make into
laws. But the bills don’t get passed until the executive branch approves the bill.
The Executive Branch: The President. He signs a bill proposed by the legislative branch which becomes a
law. He can also veto a law and say he will not sign the bill into law. Executive branch enforces laws.
Judicial Branch: Courts, Judges. judicial branch reviews laws to make sure they are fair. They decide if
the laws made by the legislative branch and signed into law by the executive branch are legal.
I will show the students a video to wrap up the lesson and to reiterate the different levels of government.
The video has a few questions at the end.
During (15 min): Students will be given a craft activity. They must cut out a tree and paste it together.
They will match the different levels of government with the correct definition.
After (10 min): I will ask if they could be a part of any of the different levels of government which one
would they choose. Why?
7.Assessment: Students will be assessed on their ability to appropriately put the different levels of
government with the correct definition onto their tree. Students understanding of the different levels of
government during our discussion on which level they would like to be a part of will give me an accurate
measurement on whether they understood the levels correctly.
8.Differentiated Instruction: Certain students will be given additional time to work on the completion of
their tree. Some students will have a difficult time cutting and gluing and will need more time to complete
this. They will be given more time in the morning to complete it. Some students can support each other by
helping them identify which branch matched with the definition.
