Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Design Document for Lesson Plan

Name: Emily Barrett and Emma Wilson          

Grade Level: 5th
Concept/Topic: United States Government
Length of Lesson (in minutes): 30-40 minutes 
 
Learning Objectives:  What are your learning objectives?  (What new understandings will the
students have as a result of this lesson?  Make sure learning objectives are measurable.)

Students will be able to understand the federal, state, and local governments and how they work
together in unison for our country. 
Students will also be able to identify the term “checks and balances” and what it means in regard
to our country. 
Students will also be able to engage in discussion about the importance of each branch of
government. 
 
 
Under which standards from North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NC-SCOS) do these
learning objectives fall?
 
 5.C&G.1 Understand the development, structure and function of government in the United
States.

5.C&G.1.2 Summarize the organizational structures and powers of the United States government
(legislative, judicial and executive branches of government).

Key Tasks/Activities:  What are the key activities or tasks that you plan to use? 

The Key Activities that we plan to use is to first have an open discussion with students and draw
on background knowledge about the subject. Then, as a class we will all create individual posters
and use a tree activity where students can be creative and draw the 3 branches of government
along with taking notes about each branch of government as well as taking notes on checks and
balances. Afterwards, as a formative assessment after the lesson we will be doing a Kahoot
review. 
 
https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/3-branches-of-government/ 
 

What is your rationale for why you have selected these particular tasks/activities to meet your
learning objectives? 

This activity is interactive and creates a visual representation of the three branches of
government. It puts information in a creative drawing so that students are learning while also
getting the chance to be creative. It will be both interactive and engaging for the students. We
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

feel that the topic is very important for students to understand. This activity will give the students
important knowledge, but we can also use it as a building block for future units of study. 
 
 
Anticipating Students’ Responses:  How do you anticipate that students will respond to your
planned activities/tasks? 
 
We believe that students will possibly bring in biased background knowledge to the subject. The
subject of the three branches of government has a lot of information packed into it, so it can be
very possible that students know detailed information about the state, federal, and local
governments but are not precise with what information goes along with each branch? Political
parties could also possibly influence students' views on the three branches as well as parent’s
political views and the influence they put on their children. 
 
 
Responding to Students’ Responses:  Describe how you will provide scaffolding for students
who are stuck, and describe how you will extend the thinking of students who have a firm grasp
on the target content/objectives. 
 
We will be completing this activity with the students, so we feel as though they will not have any
problems with filling that out. With the Kahoot afterwards, we could put groups into teams to
help those who are a little bit stuck on the topic. For students who have a firmer grasp, they
could present their poster to another class and explain the branches in detail and the importance
of each one as well as what checks, and balances are. 
 

Development of Practices among Students: Which disciplinary practices does your lesson aim
to develop?  (e.g., “construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others”, “develop
and use models”) How do the task(s) develop the target practice(s)? 
 
We feel as though our lesson plan aims to develop students communicating conclusions and
taking informed action. Students are communicating conclusions with each other through the
beginning discussion as well as at the end of the lesson when doing the Kahoot. If we pair
students into teams, they will be communicating what they know about the topic to each other in
order to answer the question correctly. Students also will be taking informed action by using
their posters to go into other classes and talk about what they have learned about the three
branches of government and why it is important. 
 

Assessment:  Describe your assessment plan for the targeted learning objective(s).  What
specific data/information will you use, and how will that data/information tell you that the
students have/have not met the objective? 
 
 The assessment we will be using will be a Kahoot review. The Kahoot will contain questions
about the information they just learned on the 3 branches of government as well as check and
balances. This Kahoot will be completed in teams, and it will allow students to communicate
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

their knowledge with others and work together to find an answer. By doing this, students will
meet the standards as well as meet the target practices. If students and teams do not do well on
the review Kahoot, then we will be able to tell if they have understanding based on the
standards. 
 
Vocabulary/Language Function: Define vocabulary that students will need to know in order to
access the content and goals of your lesson.  Be precise and careful with your language. Please
attend to three types of vocabulary:
●  Content vocabulary (e.g., obtuse, molecule, civil rights)
●  Academic language (e.g., represent, model, compare)
●  Key non-content vocabulary that is necessary to understand the task/activity
 
Content Vocabulary: Executive Branch, Judicial Branch, Legislative Branch, Checks and
Balances, Federal Government, State Government, Local Government, President, Senate, House
of Representatives, Mayor, Governor, City Council 

Academic Vocabulary: represent, graphic organizer, similarities/differences or

compare/contrast 

 We did not find any non-content vocabulary that was needed to help understand this task. 
 
Classroom Management Plan:  Describe your classroom management plan.  Explain how you
will motivate students to engage in the lesson, how you will set and enforce expectations, and
how you will ensure that transitions are smooth and efficient. 
 
With our activity being pretty structures, it will be easy to keep students on track with the lesson.
Students will be creating their posters at the same pace as the teacher, so no student will get
behind or be distracted. When doing the Kahoot, the students will be in teams against each other
so their enforcement to stay engaged would be an incentive or prize such as a homework pass or
candy for the winners of Kahoot. All students will be rewarded in some way for doing the
activity, but for the teams who win Kahoot will receive something a little extra.