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Autobiography on the Mayor of West Chester Brianne Woop

I. Lesson plan overview and description:


1. Expected Duration: 45 Minutes
2. Social Sciences- Civics
3. Concepts- The concepts I want them to understand is about the mayor and the
city council and what they do for the city government.
4. VocabularyA. Mayor- the head of a city government, comes from the Latin work maior
which means greater
B. City Council- group of officials who make rules and laws; an assembly
C. Local Government- a group of people elected to run the town, county, or
district
D. Responsibility- something that is your job to do something about, or to think
about
5. Skills- To understand the civics information, and write a one to two paragraph
biography.
6. Broad Goals of Lesson- For students to understand the responsibilities of a
mayor and city council in a local government, and to be able to write a short
biography on the Mayor of West Chester.
II. Content Outline
Types of Local Government
- There are different types of government in different communities
- One type is a mayor: which is a leader of a citys government
City Government
- Mayor and council have different responsibilities but work together
- The Mayors responsibilities include overseeing a city's main
departments, including the police, fire, education, housing and
transportation departments with help from the council
- The city council- makes laws and policies for the city to follow, as well
as maintains the infrastructure of the city
III. Standards:
1. PDE SAS Standards
5: Civics and Government .3 How Government Works 3rd grade D. Identify positions of
authority at school and community.
1: Quality of Writing .5 Develop content appropriate for the topic 3rd grade B. Gather and
organize information, incorporating details relevant to the topic, Write a series of related
sentences or paragraphs with one central idea.
2. PDE Common Core
1: Reading Informational Text: .2 Range of Reading 3rd grade L. Read and comprehend
literary nonfiction and informational text on grade level, reading independently and
proficiently

1: Writing: .4 Response to Literature 3rd Grade S. Draw evidence from literary or


informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research, applying grade-level
reading standards for literature and info
3. NCSS
VI. G. Identify representative leaders from various levels and branches of the government
IV. Lesson Objectives:
- Students will be able to write the responsibilities of the mayor and the city council on an
exit slip
- Students will be able to write a one to two paragraph biography on the Mayor of West
Chester
V. Teaching Procedures:
1. Introduction/Anticipatory Set:
- I will ask the class if they can think back to the last lesson where we learned
about city governments, and for someone to remind us what city governments are.
- Then I will ask them if they can remember who runs the city government, and
who helps them run it. I will wait for them to answer the mayor and city council
or help them if they cannot remember.
2. Input:
- After the discussion is finished I will start the PowerPoint, but first hand out an
outline for students to fill in while I go over the information.
- I will then explain how the city government is part of our local government, and
it is important we know who runs it and what they do.
- Then I will talk about the city council, and how their job is to makes laws and
policies for the city to follow, as well as maintains the infrastructure of the city.
- Then I will talk about the mayor and that he or she oversees a city's main
departments, including the police, fire, education, housing and transportation
departments with help from the council.
- Lastly I will explain how the mayor and the city council work together even
though they have different responsibilities, we have to remember the government
is a democracy it is just not one persons decision
3. Guided Practice: Students will get in small groups and go over their outlines,
and fill in a worksheet on the vocabulary.
4. Independent Practice: Students will write a one to two paragraph biography on
the mayor of West Chester. They will search this information on the website
http://www.west-chester.com/213/Mayor
5. Differentiation: For students that are lower I will have them make notecards of
the vocab words to help them better understand the words we are using in the
lesson. For students that are higher I will tell them they have to write two full
paragraphs of at least four sentences each. For ELLs I will have a vocabulary

sheet for them that include pictures to go with each word, and depending on their
level, only have them write a few sentences about the Mayor (draw pictures if
necessary).
6. Closure: Students will be provided an exit slip where they write a
responsibility of the mayor or of the city council.
VI. Teacher and Student Resources and Evaluation of Resources
Resource Title or Website
Address
http://dictionary.kids.net.
au/word/city_council

Influence

3+
Characteristics
Informational,
reliable, useful
for definitions
for kids
Reliable, many
resources
within, and
informational

Accessibility

Houghton Mifflin Social


Studies Teachers Edition

SA

http://www.westchester.com/213/Mayor

SA

Informational,
easy to access,
interesting for
students to read

Easily
accessed
through
website URL

http://www.cyh.com/Heal
thTopics/HealthTopicDet
ailsKids.aspx?
p=335&np=307&id=171
2#2

NA

Easy for
Easily
students to read, accessed
appropriate,
through URL
informational

NA

Easily
accessed
through
website URL
Easily
accessed by
buying the
book

Overall
Rating
Very
useful for
definition
s for kids
Very
useful
because
all of the
ideas and
resources
within
for
teachers
Very
informati
onal for
students
when
they
write a
biograph
y
Very
great for
student
definiton
s, and
makes
concepts
easy to
understan
d

VII. Formative/Summative Assessment:


1. Each student will be assessed on his or her writing (Have at least six sentences
about the Mayor of West Chester).
2. Each student will be assessed on their exit slit (whether they correctly write the
responsibilities of the mayor and city council).
VIII. Materials/Technology: exit slips, outline for class, computers of each student if
available or printed sheets of information of Mayor of West Chester off of the website,
computer and projector for PowerPoint
IX. Reflection on Planning: I wanted to start this lesson off by having students think on
their own about the last lesson and what they learned from it. Then use this information
to refresh the students memories and guide us into the next lesson. I then chose to use a
PowerPoint with an outline to fill out so students can see the information on the board,
and do the outline so they wont drift off. I then chose to do a biography so it can
incorporate writing into the lesson while also learning about the local government. I
chose to do the mayor of West Chester because this relates to all the students in the class,
and they can learn about who runs their town.

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