TITLE: Branches of Government
TASK DEVELOPER: William Parker
GRADE AND CONTENT AREA: Grade 9-12, Social Studies
SCHOOL: Harbor City High School - East
STANDARDS:

Social Studies Core Learning Goals, Expectations, and Indicators
Government: Grades 9-12

Goal 1 Political Systems: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the historical development and current status of principles, institutions, and processes of political systems.

Expectation 1.1: The student will demonstrate understanding of the structure and functions of government and politics in the United States.

Indicator 1.1.2
The student will evaluate how the principles of government assist or impede the functioning of government.

Assessment Limits:
  1. Concepts: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial review, representative democracy, limited government, rule of law, individual rights and responsibilities, consent of the governed, majority rule, popular sovereignty, equal protection, and eminent domain.

  2. Federal and Maryland state government: Legislative, Executive and Judicial - powers, structure and organization.

  3. Local government will be assessed in terms of powers and responsibilities.

  4. Selection of National and Maryland state leaders: Electoral College and election/appointment processes.

Back to top
PERFORMANCES:

The students will understand several keys to the Legislative Branch of Government by cooperatively completing poster boards concerning several key points about this branch of government and presenting the results to the class.

Back to top
SETTING:

Real World Setting: Government

You are a student who needs to learn about the basic functioning of the legislative branch of government. Your goal will be to respond in groups to several guide questions concerning the legislative branch of government. Upon completion of the group work, a spokesperson will give their results to the class.

Back to top
INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Topic - Legislative Branch

Objective: The students will understand several keys to the Legislative Branch of Government by cooperatively completing poster boards concerning several key points about this branch of government and presenting the results to the class.

Instructions:

  1. You will work in groups to respond to the following bullets.
  2. Write your responses on the poster board supplied by the teacher.
  3. You will complete this work in groups.

Define:

  • Representative Government
  • Separation of powers
  • Checks and Balances

Answer:

  1. What are four main purposes of government?
  2. The main job of the legislative branch of Government
  3. What makes up the legislative branch of the federal government?
  4. What determines how many senators and representatives come from each state?
  5. What are the qualifications one must meet in order to run for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives? What are their terms of office?

True or False?

  1. The legislative branch of government creates laws to allow the government at all levels to meet changing needs of society.
  2. The law-making process is essential to limiting the power of government and ensuring popular sovereignty.
  3. The law making process is used to protect rights of individuals and groups.

Critical Thinking:

Pick one of the three true-false statements and explain in writing what the statement means.

Describe:

How does a bill become a law? (two ways)

Back to top
SCORING:
Maryland High School Social Studies Rubric: Goal One
LEVELS
DESCRIPTION OF PERFORMANCE
LEVEL 4

This response shows an understanding of the historical development and/or current status of principles, institutions, or processes of political systems. The response is insightful, integrates knowledge and demonstrates powerful application.
LEVEL 3

This response shows some understanding of the historical development and/or current status of principles, institutions or processes of political systems. The response is thorough with accurate documentation. Appropriate application demonstrates some evidence of higher order thinking skills.
LEVEL 2

This response shows knowledge of the historical development and/or current status of principles, institutions, or processes of political systems. The response is acceptable with some support or key ideas. The response shows little or no evidence of application.
LEVEL 1

This response shows minimal knowledge of the historical development and/or current status of principles, institutions, or processes of political systems. The response is related to the question but is inadequate, with significant misconceptions and/or absence of key ideas.
LEVEL 0 The response is completely incorrect or irrelevant. There may be no response.

Back to top
RESULTS:

Organize: I developed a chart showing the breakdown of the males, females, and all students according to their proficiency levels.

Findings: The number of males that performed at the advanced performance level were two, at the proficient level were four, and the number of males that performed below proficiency were three. All three females performed at the advanced performance level. All together, 75% of the class performed at or above the proficiency level.

Analyze: The students that attend school on a regular basis performed at or above the proficient level. The students that have marginal attendance did not perfrom as well. In addition to this, there were 15 sudents absent for this lesson.

  • Trends: In conclusion, the students that are present most every day performed well on the group lesson. They were also able to assist others in their group to perform at a higher level.

Reflect: The students that were present did a good job on the cooperative learning strategy. A follow up activity based on the group lesson with all 12 of the students scoring at or above the proficiency level was given the next day as a warm-up activity. Others that were absent on the previous group assignment were able also to complete the reinforcement activity using the poster boards that were displayed in the classroom from the group activity. The participating students have a better understanding of the functions and composition of the Legislative Branch of Government.