PROJECT DESIGN: OVERVIEW page 1

(1)

PROJECT DESIGN: OVERVIEW

^{page 1}

Name of Project: Government for ALL Duration: 3 Weeks

Subject/Course: Language Arts Teacher(s): Hannah Field Grade Level: 3

Other subject areas to be included, if any: Social Studies

Key Knowledge and Understanding

(CCSS or other standards)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.8

Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.10

By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

History Social Science Content Standards:

(2)

3.4 Students understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives and the basic structure of the U.S. government.

1. Determine the reasons for rules, laws, and the U.S. Constitution; the role of citizenship in the promotion of rules and laws; and the consequences for people who violate rules and laws.

2. Discuss the importance of public virtue and the role of citizens, including how to participate in a classroom, in the community, and in civic life.

4. Understand the three branches of government, with an emphasis on local government.

6. Describe the lives of American heroes who took risks to secure our freedoms (e.g., Anne Hutchinson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr.).

Success Skills (to be taught and assessed)

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving x Self-Management x

Collaboration Other: Political Advocacy x

Project Summary (include student role, issue, problem or challenge, action taken, and purpose/beneficiary)

Students will explore civil rights issues in the 20th and 21st centuries and the ways in which role model citizens such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Cesar Chavez, have taken a stand and changed the course of history. After looking at civil rights in a historical context, students will be asked to look at injustices that prevail in their local communities. Students will learn about how local government works and the ways that they can influence change.

Students will write persuasive letters to local government suggesting ways to preserve civil rights in the local community.

The letters will be mailed in to the addressees (or if possible, students will deliver them in person to City Hall).

Driving Question How can we participate in government?

(Adapted from Benchmark Advance Unit 1 Essential Question, “Why do people participate in government?”) Entry Event The teacher will simulate a tolerance exercise in lieu of Jane Elliott’s blue eyes/brown eyes diversity lesson

(http://www.janeelliott.com/). Depending on the population of the students, they can be split into groups divided by eye color, hair color, or t-shirt color. For the first two hours of the day, students in one group will be treated with privilege and the other group will be treated unjustly. The privileged group will get preferential treatment, including desirable seating, new pencils, greater autonomy, more teacher attention, early dismissal to recess, etc. The underprivileged group will be somewhat ignored by the teacher, given dull pencils, seats in the back of the classroom, asked to clean up after privileged students, etc. After recess, the treatment will switch for two hours and the underprivileged group will then be given preferential treatment. After lunch, the teacher will host a discussion with the students about how the day felt and what emotions they experienced. The teacher will introduce the word “tolerance” and lead students to make conclusions about the effects of injustice on the human spirit.

Products Individual:

● Three Branches of Government Graphic Organizer

● Government Letter Graphic Organizer

● Persuasive Letter to Local Government

● End of Project Reflection

Specific content and competencies to be assessed:

● Persuasive Opinion Writing

● Support an Opinion with Evidence

● Letter Writing

● Addressing an Envelope

(3)

● Ability to Assess Problems in Local Community and Present Realistic Solutions

● Self-Assessment Team:

● Community Issues Brainstorm

● Government Flow Chart

● Class Constitution

Specific content and competencies to be assessed:

● Ability to Assess Problems in Local Community

● Basic Inter-workings of the Three Branches of Government

PROJECT DESIGN: OVERVIEW

^{page 2}

Making Products Public

(include how the products will be made public and who students will engage with

during/at end of project)

During this project, students will engage with members of local government. Students will write to their local congressman or congresswoman with suggestions on how to improve the local community. If possible, students will visit City Hall to deliver letters in person.

Resources Needed On-site people, facilities:

none

Equipment:

Computers, laptops, or iPads with keyboards Materials:

Benchmark Advance Third Grade Unit 1 Student Text Paper

Pencils

Community Resources:

Local district councilman or councilwoman

City Hall (to determine if an in-person delivery is possible)

Reflection Methods (how individual, team,

Journal/Learning Log Focus Group

(4)

and/or whole class will reflect during/at end of project)

Whole-Class Discussion x Fishbowl Discussion

Survey x Other:

Notes: The class will participate in Way of Council meetings at least twice a week to reflect on their development through the project. As the topic of tolerance may be a sensitive one, especially for third grade students, the teacher will provide time for students to express confusions, new

understandings, emotional difficulties, etc. (http://regenerationeducation.org/educational-philosophy/social-technologies/way-of-council)

(5)

Name: Date:

Government for ALL Project TimelineGovernment for ALL Project Timeline How can we participate in government?

Date

Date Class ActivitiesClass Activities Due TodayDue Today Week 1:

Monday ● Entry event: Tolerance Simulation

● Way of Council Reflection Week 1:

Tuesday ● Introduction to the Three Branches of Government

● “Working Together” Analyze Cause and Effect (Benchmark Advance)

Week 1:

Wednesday ● Three Branches of Government Election

● “Working Together” Analyze Cause and Effect (Benchmark Advance)

● Candidate Speeches (optional)

Week 1:

Thursday ● Three Branches of Government Simulation

● “Election Day” Key Details and Main Idea (Benchmark Advance)

● Class Constitution

Week 1:

Friday ● Group Brainstorm: Problems in Our Community

● “Election Day” and “Working Together” Compare and Contrast (Benchmark Advance)

● Community Problem Brainstorm Poster

Week 2:

Monday ● Government Letter Graphic Organizer

● “It’s My Right!” Key Details and Main Idea (Benchmark Advance)

● Government Letter Graphic Organizer

Week 2:

Tuesday ● Writing a Business Letter Workshop

● “It’s My Right!” Key Details and Main Idea (Benchmark Advance)

Week 2:

Wednesday ● Government Letter Rough Draft

● “It’s My Right!” Draw Inferences ● Government Letter Rough Draft

(6)

(Benchmark Advance) Week 2:

Thursday ● Government Letter Editing and Revising

● “Thomas Paine” (Benchmark Advance)

Week 2:

Friday ● Government Letter Editing and Revising

● “It’s My Right!” and “Thomas Paine”

(Benchmark Advance)

Week 3:

Monday ● Government Letter Final Draft

● “Winning the Right to Vote” Main Idea and Key Details (Benchmark Advance)

● Government Letter Final Draft

Week 3:

Tuesday ● Typing Government Letter

● “Winning the Right to Vote” Main Idea and Key Details (Benchmark Advance)

Week 3:

Wednesday ● Typing Government Letter

● “Winning the Right to Vote” Close Reading (Benchmark Advance)

● Government Letter (typed)

Week 3:

Thursday ● Envelope Workshop

● Address Envelopes

● “One Nation from Many”

(Benchmark Advance)

● Addressed Envelope

Week 3:

Friday ● Presentation of Learning (mail letters or deliver to City Hall)

● “Winning the Right to Vote” and

“One Nation from Many” Compare and Contrast (Benchmark Advance)

● End of Project Reflection

(7)

Three Branches of Government Simulation Lesson Plan

How do the three branches of government work together to create and pass laws?

Candidate

Hannah Field March 31, 2018 ^Date Grade Level

3

Subject Area & Topic

Social Studies

☒ Single-day lesson

☐ Multi-day lesson ☒ Whole-class lesson ☐ Small-group lesson English Language Development levels of students in the class or group: Name of Instructional Model

☐ Direct instruction

☒ Inquiry or problem-based lesson ☒ Other Interactive role-play lesson

☐ Emerging

☒ Expanding

☒Bridging OR

☒ English only

☐ IFEP (Initially Fluent English Proficient)

☒ RFEP (Redesigned Fluent English Proficient)

☐ ELD 1 (Beginning)

☒ELD 2 (Early Intermediate)

☒ ELD 3 (Intermediate)

☒ ELD 4 (Early Advanced)

☐ ELD 5 ^(Advanced) Formal Lesson Evaluation?(rubric, criterion list)

☐ Yes ☒ No

Lesson Objective(s):

Students will role-play the three branches of government and the system of checks and balances in order to gain a better understanding of how laws are created and passed.

Lesson’s Language Objective:

Students will listen to directions and to each other during the interactive lesson and whole class discussion. Students will speak to each other and to the teacher in acting out their role and recreating the system of checks and balances.

Social Studies Standards:

3.4. 2. Discuss the importance of public virtue and the role of citizens, including how to participate in a classroom, in the community, and in civic life.

California English Language Development Standard(s):

Part I: Interacting in Meaningful Ways A. Collaborative

1. Exchanging information and ideas with others through oral collaborative discussion on a range of social and academic topics

B. Interpretive

5. Listening to actively spoken English in a range of social and academic contexts

Materials, Including technology and visual aids:

Classroom Management Strategies, Including room arrangements and student grouping plan:

This is a project-based learning curriculum in which students are expected to complete both independent and small group work with maturity, respect, and concentration. The

(8)

first month of the school year was spent participating in activities to develop classroom management. The students are very familiar with the classroom setting and understand the teacher’s behavioral expectations. They understand that if they choose to practice irresponsible behaviors during project time, they will no longer get to work in a seat of their choice and they will complete a Behavior Log to reflect on poor choices.

Communication is encouraged, but the teacher does have a “Volume Meter” with “Ninja Silent,” “Library Quiet,” and “Inside Voice” selections which children are expected to adhere to at all times. To gain the attention of the class, the teacher will use auditory queues including “1, 2, 3 eyes on me,” and rhythmic clapping. During independent working time, the teacher will circulate the room to ensure that students are engaged and on task.

Strategies for Differentiation, Modification, Adaptation, SDAIE, and varied Communication Mode to be implemented: To help every child access the curriculum of this lesson, I have implemented SDAIE strategies and varied modes of

communication. Struggling learners will have the advantage of extended think time to help them to organize their thoughts before volunteering to participate. They will be able to talk to their classmates to gain insight from one another as well. The teacher will circulate the room to facilitate conversation and ensure that struggling learners are able to participate. During whole class discussion, the teacher will model proper use of academic language. The teacher will write important words and key points on the white board for reference by students who are visual rather than auditory learners as well as for those students who need information repeated in order to digest it. Throughout the lesson, the teacher will check in with learners for understanding before moving forward.

Vocabulary and Academic Language:

checks and balances, legislative branch, executive branch, judicial branch, government, politics, bill, law, vote, majority

Assessment Plan:

Students will be informally assessed based on their active participation in the lesson.

Sequence of Lesson Procedures Background Knowledge:

● The last time the class met, the class learned about the three branches of government, the system of checks and balances, and how laws are created and passed. They were briefed on today’s activities and in preparation, students voted on a group president who selected a vice president and Supreme Court justice (students are aware that there are 9 supreme court justices, but that we will only have one in order to be proportionate to our class population). Two students were selected as senators and the rest were assigned to the House of Representatives.

Opening

● The teacher will remind students that today they will be acting out the three branches of government and checks and balances in order to better understand how laws are created and passed.

(9)

● The teacher will announce that first they need to review what was learned in the last lesson. The teacher will divide the whiteboard into three columns and ask students for the names of the three branches of government, who is in each branch, and what their jobs are. Through an interactive conversation, the class will compose the following graphic organizer for review (all of this information has been previously learned):

Legislative Executive Judicial

Senate

House of Representatives

Write bills Vote on them

Send bills that pass a majority vote to the executive branch

Vetoed bills can be revised and begin the process again OR

2/3 Super Majority Vote overrides the veto and it becomes a law

President Vice President Cabinet

President signs bills and they become laws OR Vetoes bills and they go back to the Legislative Branch

Vice President and Cabinet help the president to make decisions

Supreme Court Justices

Explain laws Interpret laws Ensure that laws are constitutional

● The teacher will explain that each branch meets in a different building and will add the names of the building under each column.

US Capitol Building White House US Supreme Court Building Body of the Lesson

● The teacher will say that our first step is to get into the correct buildings with our branches. To check for understanding, she’ll ask students to raise their hand for each branch (i.e. “If you’re in the legislative branch, raise your hand,” etc.).

● The teacher will point to the right of the carpet and say, “This side will be the US Capitol Building, the middle will be the White House, and the far left will the Supreme Court Building. Please find your building and have a seat with your branch.”

● When students are seated, the teacher will use guiding questions and prompting to facilitate the process of creating bills and passing laws. Below are a list of

questions the teacher will ask and the actions that will follow:

● “First things first, where do laws originate or come from?”

● The legislative branch

● “Great, and what do we call laws before they actually become passed as laws?”

● Bills

● “Excellent, and who is in charge of writing bills?”

● The house of representatives and senate/congress

(10)

● “Perfect. So now I’m going to hand a slip of paper to each member of

congress and your job as a member of the legislative branch will be to write a bill that you think would make our classroom a better place.”

● Students will have about five minutes to independently write a bill proposal.

When they are all done, they will be collected anonymously in a basket.

● “What happens with the bills when they are written?”

● Congress votes on them. If a majority votes on a bill, it gets passed on to the executive branch, if it does not pass, it can be thrown away or revised (today, for the sake of time, we will not be revising bills that do not pass.

● The teacher will read each bill out loud and the members of congress will raise their hand if they think it should pass. Students will help add up the number of students to figure out what number qualifies as the majority and they will help the teacher decide which bills to place a in a “pass pile” and which bills to discard.

● When the voting is done, the teacher will ask, “Now we have a stack of bills that passed in congress, but are these laws yet?”

● No—they need to be signed by the president so we need to send them along to the executive branch.

● The teacher will pass the bills from the “capitol building” to the “white house” and hand the bills over to the president. Before he/she does anything, the teacher will ask the class what happens in the executive branch. Students will explain that the vice president and cabinet (which we do not have today) help the president decide on which bills to pass. Today, the president will discuss each bill with the vice president. If they agree with the bill, the president will sign their name on it. If they disagree, they will write the word

“VETO.”

● When the executive branch has finished, the teacher will hold up the stack of signed bills and ask the class, “What happens with these bills that the

president signed?”

● They become laws!

● “What happens to the ones that were vetoed?”

● They go back to the legislative branch and they vote again. If they get a supermajority (2/3) the veto is overridden and the bill becomes a law.

● Students will help the teacher calculate how many people will need to vote for a law in order for it to pass with a 2/3 majority and the students in congress will vote again.

● The teacher will again hold up the stack that was voted on and add them to the stack of laws signed by the president and announce that these will be our new class laws. The teacher will ask what happens with the ones that did not pass and students will explain that in real life, they would be revised by congress and begin the process again, but today they will be discarded for the sake of time.

● The teacher will ask what should happen with bills that passed and the students will say that we should hand them over to the Supreme Court so that the laws can be interpreted, explained, and determined constitutional.

(11)

● The teacher will hand the laws to the supreme court justice who will read each law out loud, give an example of how it would be enforced, and explain whether or not it is constitutional and why (the teacher will provide

assistance since this student will be alone in their job).

Closing

● While the Supreme Court justice is reading the laws, the teacher will be typing them in a font that resembles the US Constitution prefaced by the original

preamble. To conclude the lesson, the teacher will print out the document, read it to the class (explaining the meaning of the preamble) and each child (beginning with the president) will sign the class constitution, which will then be upheld as official classroom rules.

● The teacher will ask the class, “Raise your hand if you have a better

understanding of how laws are created and passed after doing this activity,” and will call on a few students to share what they learned.

● The teacher will ask “How can we used what we learned today to help us write persuasive letters to our city councilman to help our local community?” She will guide students to come to the conclusion that we can propose bills that the

congressman can share with city council and hopefully write up as a formal bill to be voted on and sent through the system of checks and balances.

(12)

Name: Date:

The Three Branches of Government

Legislative

Legislative ExecutiveExecutive JudicialJudicial

Who is in this branch?

Who is in this branch? Who is in this branch?

What are their duties?

What are their duties? What are their duties?

Where do they meet?

Where do they meet? Where do they meet?

(13)

Name: Date:

How can we participate in government?How can we participate in government?

Brainstorm problems in your community and possible solutions.

What is a major problem in your community?

What is the cause?

What is the effect?

Why is it a problem?

What is a possible solution?/What can the government do to help?

(14)

Name: Date:

Government for ALLGovernment for ALL Project Reflection Project Reflection

On a scale of 1-5 how much effort did you put into this project? (Circle one)

1 2 3 4 5

No effort Above and Beyond

How would you rate your letter?

1 2 3 4 5

I’m not proud of it Extremely persuasive

What part of this project are you most proud of?

_________________________________________________________________________

What could you have done better?

_________________________________________________________________________

What was the most challenging part of this project for you? Why?

_________________________________________________________________________

(15)

What is your biggest takeaway from participating in this project?

_________________________________________________________________________

Is there anything else you would like me to know?

_________________________________________________________________________

(16)

Name: Date:

Government for ALL How can we participate in Government?

Project Rubric

4 3 2 1

Understanding of the Three Branches of Government

Student has a thorough and working knowledge of how the three branches of government work together to balance power and create and carry out laws.

Student has a basic understanding of how the three branches of government work together to balance power and create and carry out laws.

Student has some understanding of how the three branches of government work together to balance power and create and carry out laws.

Student is still developing an

understanding of how the three branches of government work together to balance power and create and carry out laws.

Persuasive Writing Student’s writing is extremely persuasive, featuring a well-stated problem in the local community and why it is problematic.

Their solution is realistic and includes a thorough explanation.

Student’s writing is persuasive, featuring a clear problem in the local community and why it is problematic. Their solution is realistic and includes an explanation.

Student’s writing features a problem in the local community and a solution to solve it.

Student’s writing does not state a problem in the local community and/or does not present a solution.

Business Letter Format Student wrote a business letter with a heading, inside address, greeting, body, closing, and signature, with no errors in formatting.

Student wrote a business letter with a heading, inside address, greeting, body, closing, and signature, with one or two errors in formatting.

Student wrote a business letter that is missing a heading, inside address, greeting, body, closing, or signature, with three to four errors in formatting.

Student wrote a business letter that is missing two or more of the following:

heading, inside address, greeting, body, closing, or signature, and/or has more than five errors in formatting.

Community Involvement by Proposing a Solution to Local Government

Student displayed upstanding citizenship by proposing a realistic solution for a problem in the local community, using a breadth of supporting evidence, in a compelling persuasive business letter to a member of local government.

Student displayed citizenship by proposing a solution for a problem in the local community, using some supporting evidence in a persuasive business letter to a member of local government.

Student displayed citizenship by proposing a solution for a problem in the local community in a letter to a member of local government.

Student wrote a letter to a local

government member, but did not propose a solution to a problem in the local community.

Revision and Mechanics of the Writing Process

Student utilized a working knowledge of the revision process, including proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and text formatting, with almost no mechanical errors.

Student utilized a working knowledge of the revision process, including proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and text formatting, with few mechanical errors.

Student used a developing knowledge of the revision process, including proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and text formatting, with some mechanical errors.

Student had difficulty using the revision process to edit their writing samples for spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and text formatting. Their work contains many mechanical errors.

Social Emotional Learning: Purpose

Student displayed a developed sense of purpose throughout the project. They made thoughtful goals to help the world around them. They were able to pursue their interests and explain, with deep understanding, the “why” behind their learning.

Student displayed a sense of purpose throughout the project. They made goals to help the world around them. They pursued their interests and can explain the “why”

behind their learning.

Student displayed a developing sense of purpose during the project. They pursued their interests, but had some difficulty explaining the “why” behind their learning.

Student was unable to utilize a sense of purpose in completing this project. They were unable to explain the “why” behind their learning.

Final Grade:

(17)

Teacher Notes:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.8, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.10, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.4, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.5, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.6

History Social Science Content Standards:

1. Determine the reasons for rules, laws, and the U.S. Constitution; the role of citizenship in the promotion of rules and laws; and the consequences for people who violate rules and laws.

2. Discuss the importance of public virtue and the role of citizens, including how to participate in a classroom, in the community, and in civic life.

4. Understand the three branches of government, with an emphasis on local government.

6. Describe the lives of American heroes who took risks to secure our freedoms (e.g., Anne Hutchinson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr.).