Learning to use Inspiration and Kidspiration software

2nd grade Newsletter promoting literacy/reading aloud

4th grade - Lesson plan for Judicial Branch of Government

Name: Emma Swartz

Lesson 4 of 5

Grade: 4^th Grade       

Topic: Branches of Government – judicial

Purpose:

      Teacher Purpose: The Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) for fourth grade require teachers teach their students about the three branches of the United States government and explain how each of the branches come to and use their power, what their responsibilities are, and how they are structured.  In addition, standards from the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) require similar things of Social Studies teachers.  It is important to begin to foster awareness and knowledge of the government of the United States as teachers begin to foster values of democratic citizenship in their students.

      Student Benefit:  Students are not only children sitting in a classroom, they are also future citizens who will be called upon to vote and make informed decisions that involve the laws, policies, and leaders of the United States.  It is important that they begin to gain knowledge of how the political system of their country operates so that they can begin to form an understanding and appreciation and prepare to take on the role of democratic citizenship as informed participants in the government.

Objectives:

·         After learning about the judicial branch of government, students will be able to orally answer questions about this branch of government

·         Students will write down two facts about the Supreme Court.

·         Students will write one reason why the Supreme Court is important to the government of the United States.

·         Students will be able to write a brief letter to a Supreme Court justice, correctly identifying the justice they were assigned.

·         Students will write neatly and using correct spelling on their letter.

Lesson Alignment:

      Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations

4 – C2.0.1 Explain how the principles of popular sovereignty, rule of law, checks and balances, separation of powers, and individual rights (e.g., freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of press) serve to limit the powers of the federal government as reflected in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

4 – C2.0.2 Identify situations in which specific rights guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights are involved (e.g., freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of press).

4 – C3.0.1 Give examples of ways the Constitution limits the powers of the federal government (e.g., election of public officers, separation of powers, checks and balances, Bill of Rights)

4 – C3.0.3 Describe the organizational structure of the federal government in the United States (legislative, executive, and judicial branches).

4 – C3.0.4 Describe how the powers of the federal government are separated among the branches.

4 – C3.0.6 Describe how the President, members of the Congress, and justices of the Supreme Court come to power (e.g., elections versus appointments).

      NCSS Standards

VI. b. Describe the purpose of government and how its powers are acquired, used, and justified.

VI. e. Identify and describe the basic features of the political system in the United States, and identify representative leaders from various level and branches of government

Core Expectations for Teaching Diverse Learners:

High Expectations for Student Achievement

      Special Needs: Accommodations and modifications for assisting students with special need are listed in the “Special Needs” section at the end of this lesson plan.

      Assessment:  A plan for assessing the students, including a rubric and grading scale, are listed in the “Teacher Grading Plan” section of this lesson plan.

      Bloom’s Taxonomy Level Attained: Evaluation

      Attitudes and Values:

d. lesson design   provides opportunity for all students to value the importance of the topic and to experience success.

      Content Focus:   

e. content presented allows students to learn about positive role models with whom they may identify

f. content presented allows students to examine the contributions made by people who are ethnically diverse or mentally or physically challenged

      Materials:   

a.       materials provide opportunities for students to identify with others who are like themselves regarding ethnicity, gender, and/or ability

Prerequisites and/or Pre-assessment Plan: Students will need a working understanding of how the three branches of the government of the United States function based on the previous three lessons.  They will also need a basic understanding of the concept of letter writing.

Vocabulary:

·         Constitution – a document made by our country’s leaders when the United States of America was still new that contains a list of all the country’s rules and laws.

·         judicial branch- one of the three branches of government that makes sure that the laws in the constitution that were created by the executive and legislative branches are fair and that they are upheld.

·         The Supreme Court- the highest court in the country that makes important decisions that protect people’s rights and defends the constitution.

·         justice- one of the nine people who serve on the Supreme Court and makes decisions about the cases presented.  Justices are different from the members of the other branches of the government, though, because they are not elected.  Rather, they are chosen by the president then approved by the Senate.  Also, they serve for live (or until they choose to retire) so they don’t have to worry about losing their job over a decision in a case. 

·         unconstitutional – a law or rule that disobeys one of the freedoms or rights given to people by the constitution.

·         appreciate – to be thankful for what someone has done or said

·         unanimous – when everyone deciding on an issue decides or votes the same way

Materials Needed:

·         green construction paper cut into the shapes of leaves

·         black marker

·         a picture of the current Supreme Court justices

·         scotch tape

·         stapler

·         Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse

·         other resource books about the Supreme Court

·         typed and printed form letter (one per student) *see attached*

·         pencils, crayons, and colored pencils

·         strips of paper with the names of the nine justices *see attached*

·         dry erase marker

·         Large manila envelope to mail the letters in

Teacher Preparation:

·         Type and print copies of the letter

·         Type, print, and cut out strips of paper with the justices’ names

·         Label leaves for judicial branch portion of the bulletin board

Anticipatory Set:

      Remind the students that were are talking about the three branches of government and ask for volunteers to raise their hand if they can name one of the branches of government.  Then have them raise their hands if they can tell me something about the legislative branch and the executive branch of government. Write “Constitution” on the board and review what the constitution is.  Ask the students what would happen if a law was passed by the legislative branch that was unfair and people didn’t like.  Tell them briefly that this is the job of the judicial branch and the Supreme Court.  Write “judicial branch” and “Supreme Court” on the board and define and explain the judicial branch and the Supreme Court.  Ask two students to place the Supreme Court leaf and the leaf that explains the judicial branch’s job on the judicial branch of the bulletin board.  Tell the students that we are going to read a book that explains the judicial branch.  Write the vocabulary words on the board and explain that these are important words we are going to listen for.

Lesson Body:

1.      Call table groups one at a time to come sit at the carpet.

2.      After all the students are on the carpet, show them Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse and explain that this book will explain the judicial branch, just like the other mouse book that Miss Brittany used for her lesson about the legislative branch.

3.      Draw their attention to the list of terms on the board, orally read the list, then tell them that they will need to pay attention to the story and listen for these words.

4.      Tell the students that when we hear one of the vocabulary words we will pause and go over that word’s meaning. 

5.      As the vocabulary words come up, I will call on students to explain each word, and then elaborate on their explanation, if necessary, to give the definition listed above.

6.      When I am done reading Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse I will ask the students to raise their hands if they can tell me what the job of the Supreme Court is.

7.      Review the terms on the board.

8.      Elaborate on how justices come to power and briefly mention Sandra Day O’Connor and Thurgood Marshall and explain why they are significant.

9.      Tell them that one of the most famous cases that the Supreme Court made a decision on was call Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in 1954. 

a.       Explain what the problem was in this case.

b.      Explain what the justices decided and why it was such an influential case.

10.  Dismiss the students from the carpet to return to their seats.

11.  Explain that the justices of the Supreme Court are currently in session right now, hearing and making decisions on important cases.

12.  Explain that in order to make these decisions, they need to leave their homes from October to June to go to Washington D.C. to all meet together and talk about all of the 100 cases they need to decide on each year.

13.  Show the students the form letter and explain to the students that each student is going to write a letter to a Supreme Court justice, telling them that our class just learned that about the judicial branch of government and that we appreciate what they do.

a.       Ask students to raise their hand if they can tell me what appreciate means.

14.  Ask for four volunteers to pass out the letters and strips of paper

15.  Explain that the name on that strip of paper is the name of the justice that they will write a letter to.

16.  Have the students follow along as I read the letter out loud to them and explain what they will need to fill in.

17.  Explain to the students after they complete their letters, I am going to collect them and they are actually going to be sent to the Supreme Court justices, so I will remind them to use their best handwriting and spelling.

18.  Ask the students if they have any questions.  Tell them that if they have a question while writing their letter to be sure to raise their hand and ask me or Miss Hannah, Miss Brittany, or Mr. Matt.

19.  As most students are finishing up, I will ask for volunteers to read their letter aloud to the class then collect the completed letters.

Filler:  If students finish early, they will be told that they can turn their letter over and draw a picture on the back or write an additional message to their Supreme Court justice.  In addition, they will be able to look at facts about the current Supreme Court justices or look for the hidden turtles in Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse.

Closure:  Remind the students that we just learned about the judicial branch of government and briefly review what the Supreme Court does, how they come to power, and explain the vocabulary terms.  Remind them that we wrote letters to the Supreme Court justices to let them know that we learned about the judicial branch and to thank them for the work they too.  Tell students that they can write letters to other official in the other branches of government, especially when there is a public issue that we think they should know about.  Tell the students that the next time Mr. Matt, Miss Hannah, Miss Brittany and I come to their classroom, we will be reviewing the three branches of government and that we will have a fun activity for them.  Finally, remind the students that if they did not finish their letter in class, they should finish it at home or in free time so that I can collect it the next time we are in their classroom and send it to Washington D.C.

Teacher Grading Plan:

      Grading Rubric

Student’s Name:	Excellent: 2 points	Good: 1 point	Needs Work: 0 points
Student wrote facts about the Supreme Court	Student wrote two true facts about the Supreme Court on his or her letter	Student wrote one true fact about the Supreme Court on his or her letter	Student did not write any true facts about the Supreme Court on his or her letter
Student wrote a reason why the Supreme Court is important	Student wrote one good reason why the Supreme Court is important	-----------	Student did not write one good reason why the Supreme Court is important
Student addressed his or her to a Supreme Court justice	Student correctly addressed the Supreme Court justice they were assigned	Student addressed the Supreme Court justice they were assigned, by with some spelling errors	Student did not address the Supreme Court justice they were assigned
Spelling and Handwriting	Student’s letter is free of spelling errors and uses neat handwriting	Student’s letter has a few minor spelling errors or some sloppy handwriting	Student’s letter is not legible
			total points:        /8

      Grading Scale:

8 points = A

7 points = B

6 points = C

5 points = D

4 points = F

Special Needs:

      Students below grade level reading level:  The form letter is written simply and is easy to understand.  The other TE 341 student and I will be readily available in the classroom to offer the students assistance with reading or spelling and will encourage them to ask for help if they need it.  Students will be given plenty of time both in and outside of class to complete the assignment.

Dear _______________________________________________,

          My 4^th grade class at McAlear–Sawden Elementary School in Bay City, Michigan just learned about the three branches of the United States government.  Today we studied the judicial branch.  Two things that I learned about the Supreme Court are:

·       _________________________________________________________

·       _________________________________________________________

I think your job is very important because_______________________________________________________________

My class and I wanted to let you know that we appreciate everything you do for our country and we are thankful that you and the other justices are working to protect the constitution.

                                                          Sincerely,

                                                               __________________________________