Student Resources:

• The Constitutional System of Government Essay
• The Constitutional System of Government Graphic Organizer
• Internet capable device

Teacher Resources:

• Elementary Lesson Development of the Constitution Video
• Separation of Powers and Major Responsibilities of Each Branch Interactive Infographic
• I Have, Who Has Game

Facilitation Notes

• Many students will have learned very basic information about the three branches of government and checks and balances in elementary school. This lesson plan helps students assess their prior knowledge, fill gaps, and build more detailed knowledge of the branches of government, separation of powers, and checks and balances. It functions as a jumping off point to build additional knowledge of constitutional government structures and civil society for other lessons.

Anticipate

Prior Knowledge Brain Dump

• Distribute the lesson graphic organizer to students.
• Ask students to brain dump everything they know about our Constitutional system of government in the “K- What I know” column of the graphic organizer. Students should identify what they already know about the three branches of government from elementary school or other social studies classes.
  • Set a timer for 3 minutes. Ask students to look at their paper, hold their pencil, and think silently during the brain dump activity for the whole 3 minutes.
  • Give students the first minute to think and write quietly on their own.
  • If students begin to slow down their writing offer some prompts like:
    • What do you know about the executive branch?
    • Does the Supreme Court sound familiar to you?
    • How does Congress connect to the Senate and the House of Representatives?

Engage

Guided Video

• Development of the Constitution BRI Jr. Video
• Stop at processing questions embedded in the video

Teacher note: The video will act as a trigger to remind students of additional things they might know about the constitutional system in preparation to identify gaps in their knowledge. It also levels the playing field for students who have no prior knowledge by giving them some information to work with.

Identifying Gaps

• Next, ask them to identify some gaps they think they have in their knowledge, either things they never learned, or things they have forgotten since the last time they learned about the constitutional system.
• Have students write these thoughts, ideas, concepts, and vocabulary words in the “W-What I want to know” column.

Explore

Completing the Graphic Organizer and Essay

• Distribute the Constitutional System of Government Essay.
• Instruct students to read the essay independently while completing the “L- What I learned” side of their graphic organizer handout.
  • There are fill-in-the-blank prompts as well as space for students to keep freeform notes.

Assess & Reflect

Option 1: “I have, Who has…”

• This self-checking formative assessment allows you to gauge student understanding of the content of the lesson in a low-stakes, interactive way.
  • The game has 18 cards. If you have more than 18 students, you should print multiple copies of the game and divide the class into groups to play the game.

AND/OR

Option 2: Create a short video or video script for Elementary Schoolers

• Ask students to write a simple video script with a beginning, middle, and end that describes the constitutional system for younger students.
• Encourage students to consider the most important information to share, how to make the content engaging, and how to simplify the information for younger students.
  • If time allows, have students create the videos and host a head-to-head competition to choose one video to share with a colleague at an actual elementary school.

Extend (Optional)

• Play the game Branch Battle
• To extend students’ knowledge of a single branch, consider using this lesson from our Being an American curriculum