United States Government

Unit Plan Reflection

Rebecca Gumpel, Ryan Mcnulty, Hayley Campbell, MaryKate Moran, Allie Broomall
Reflect on the type of school it was created for, but also how it could be adapted for other school
environments.

The unit plan was designed for universal instruction and with inclusion in mind.
The lessons found within the unit is acceptable for virtually any school. (public,
charter, and/or private school)
Additionally, each individual lesson recommends accommodation and
modifications that make learning more equitable for students with a disability
However, there is one change that I can think of that need to be made to best fit
a less financially stable school environment.
For example, schools with less funding may not have the assistive technology to
conduct certain lessons, thus they may need to use alternative resources in their
community, such as books.
Overall, the intentional design of the unit plan makes adaptations for other school
quick and easy.
 Reflect on how you differentiated the full unit of study (what type of learners are you
meeting throughout the unit)

All lesson plans were created with inclusion in mind. The overall goal was to have engaging activities that
address the needs of multiple learning types.

1. Kinesthetic - Included VR field trips that require movement, regular field movement, simulations, and mock
elections/trials that required movement.

2. Visual Learners- Included multiple graphic organizers, videos, VR field trip and guest speakers.

3. Auditory learner- included clearly spoken directions, videos with audio, discussions and guest speakers.

4. Musical - Included music in anticipatory set, instructional activities (songs), and in videos.

5. Interpersonal- included discussion, group work, grouping strategies, collaboration, guest speakers

6. Intrapersonal- included chances for independent work, reflection, and self-motivation.

7. Linguistic- Included a variety of books and used challenging grade level vocabulary

8. Math- Integrated mathematics and science into the lessons to satisfy this learner.
Assessments
Throughout our United States Government Unit Plan, various formative and summative
assessments were used.
Formative:
Students are assessed formatively through:
Reflection in journals and notebooks on lessons, content, and experiences
Worksheets and hands-on activities to check for student understanding
Exit tickets
Summative:
Two summative assessments were implemented to check student understanding at
the end of the unit. These include:
A checklist for monitoring student progress in meeting benchmarks and the three
overarching unit plan goals
A paper/pencil exam
Incorporation of Technology
Throughout the unit, technology has been incorporated into the lessons through:
a. Teacher presentations with the use of the SMARTBoard, videos, and
PowerPoints
b. Student presentations with the use of kid friendly apps and videos
c. Student research on iPads and computers
i. Various websites for teacher and student research are used
d. Virtual field trips
Reflect on how you are engaging students in the learning of social studies through
different activities (i.e. field trips, speakers, current events, simulations, etc.) that
makes your unit unique.

Our use of Field Trips, speakers, current events and simulations helped our
student build on their content knowledge as well as link their content
knowledge real life.
Using this different activities helped students bring to life the content they
were learning.
These activities were used to help students understand the Three Branches
of Government and how they function in our society.
Reflect on how was this experience different from writing one individual lesson?

1. This experience was different from writing on individual lesson in many ways.
a. One way was having to stretch and build on content across multiple
lesson.
b. A Second way was having to organize many ideas and lessons into a
one sound piece.
Resources
Textbook (Social Studies in Elementary Education by Walter C. Parker)
The text was used mainly to help each of us through the process of developing our lessons.
We made sure to include content for diverse learners as well as activities for students to make
connections and relate the content to their own personal lives.
Strategies were also something that we incorporated into the unit. We wanted students to be
cooperative and to participate in collaborative group work. We felt that having hands-on
activities would really engage all learners and provide students with an interactive experience
of learning.
Content Decisions
Because the topic of government is so broad, we decided to focus specifically on information
about the three branches of government and their role in lawmaking.
We broke up the branches so that each would be taught over the course of three days.
First Day: Function, Second Day: People, Third Day: Process
We also felt that checks and balances was an important topic to include in the unit so we
decided to incorporate a lesson about this topic on Day 11.
Planning Challenges
The Branches of Government
Our original idea was to focus on the founding fathers, however, we had some trouble
because the topic seemed too broad. We eventually switched to the three branches of
government which had some challenges of its own.
One challenge we faced was splitting up information about the three branches over the course
of twelve days.
We also had trouble figuring out what content to include in each lesson about the branches.
Science and Math
Incorporating science and math into the unit was a bit challenging as well especially with the
topic of government. It was difficult to find an area of focus that would go along with our topic.
Overall Unit
As we began working through each lesson, there were many times where we would become
confused on which direction to take. I think that having help and guidance from group
members allowed us each to develop an understanding of how the unit should be presented.
What was the most fun about the experience? What aspect of it did the
group enjoy planning the most? Why do you think that was?

The most fun part of this experience was getting the chance to work collaboratively as a group during class time. We

were able to work together and get things done while also enjoying our time together.

The group enjoyed planning the classroom laws the most. These were fun to plan because we got the chance to

think back on what would have been important to us when we were in third grade. It was fun to do because we could

think up some fun and exciting classroom laws and figure out how to get the class involved with them.
How was it planning with 5-6 other people? How was the collaboration
something you might need to consider when working in a school and
collaborating with other colleagues?

Planning with 5 people in a group can be a daunting task. It can be hard to keep each other on track and find time to
meet up and make sure everyone is okay with what they are doing. We did not find that to be the case with this
project. The group worked extremely well together and every member did what they had to do for the unit in a timely
and well done manner. It was a pleasure to work with each other.
Some things to consider when collaborating with other colleagues is to make sure everyone knows what they have to
do. There should be no questions on what the responsibilities are for each team member. You should also consider a
time when the whole group can sit together and work. This was extremely beneficial for our group as we were able to
get most of our work done during class time when we could sit and collaborate.