Teacher(s) Name: Brittany Cleter, Andrew Muniz, Megan Trexler, Karolina Nieradka

Thematic Unit Theme/Title/Grade Level: Federal Government/Branches of Government/Grade 3

Weebly address: http://ucfgr3branchesoffederalgovtsp16.weebly.com/
Daily Lesson Plan Day/Title: Thursday(Day 4)- Judicial Branch

Learning
Goals/Objectives
What will students
accomplish be able to do at
the end of this lesson? Be
sure to set significant
(related to SSS/CCSS),
challenging and appropriate
learning goals!

Learning Goal:
Students will be able to identify and explain the Three Branches
of Government that make up the Federal Level of government.
Learning Objectives:
1. The student will be able to identify the judicial branch
of government.
2. The student will be able to explain the purpose and need
for the judicial branch of government.
3. The student will recognize that the Constitution of the
United States is the supreme law of the land.
4. The student will be able to ask and answer questions
based on a text.

NCSS Themes
Florida Standards (FS)
Next Generation
Sunshine State Standards
(NGSSS) List each
standard. Cutting and
pasting from the website is
allowed.
http://www.cpalms.org/Pub
lic/

NCSS theme(s):

Power, Authority, and Governance

Florida Standard(s):

LAFS.3.RI.1.1: Ask and answer questions to

demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly
to the text as the basis for the answers.

Next Generation Sunshine State Standards:

SS.3.C.3.1- Identify the levels of government (local,

state, federal).
Note: This lesson only satisfies part of this standard
(federal).

Assessment
How will student learning
be assessed?
Authentic/Alternative
assessments?

SS.3.C.3.4- Recognize that the Constitution of the

United States is the supreme law of the land.

SS.3.C.1.1- Explain the purpose and need for

government.

Unit Pre-Assessment:

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/5e3a2779-d32f-4e758352-89394d6e68e3

Does your assessment align

with your objectives,
standards and procedures?
Informal assessment
(multiple modes):
participation rubrics,
journal entries,
collaborative
planning/presentation
notes, etc.

A Kahoot! Quiz will be given two weeks before the unit

to assess what the students know about the Three
Branches of Government.

Unit Post-Assessment:

The same Kahoot! Quiz from Pre-Assessment will be

used as the post-assessment. This quiz will be given on
Friday, the last day of the unit.

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/5e3a2779-d32f-4e758352-89394d6e68e3.

On-going daily (progress-monitoring) Assessment:

Teacher will observe students to ensure they are

participating and understanding the material.(ESOL 6)

At the end of Day 4 the students will write down on a

small sheet of paper their name, something they learned
about the judicial branch, and circle where they are at in

regards to the information on a scale from 1-4. They

will then fold the paper and place it in the Special
Learning Box where I will look at them later in the day.
(ESE 6.1, 6.4, 9.3)

Design for Instruction

Student Activities &
Procedures
What best practice
strategies will be
implemented?
How will you
communicate student
expectations?
What products will be
developed and created by
students?

1- I do not understand the branches of

government.

2- I understand a little bit of the information

from the branches of government.

3- I understand the material from the branches of

government.

4- I can tell you everything we learned from the

branches of government today and can be your
student helper for this topic.

1. Today we will begin with a review of the executive and

legislative branches. (ESOL 4, 13, 15, ESE 3.1) We will
use our drawing of a tree representing the three branches of
government to review. I will display this in front of the
class, and students can view their own drawing in their
notebooks.(ESOL 7, 13, 15, 30 ESE 1.1, 1.2, 1.3) I will ask
guiding questions, allowing students time to think and
discuss with their partners, to help the class remember what
we learned in the previous days, such as:
a. What are the branches of government?
b. Who is the leader of the executive branch?
c. What are some of the jobs of the executive branch?
d. Who are the members of the legislative branch?

Consider Contextual
Factors (learning
differences/learning
environment/learning
styles) that may be in place

e. What are some of the jobs of the legislative branch?

(ESOL 1, 10, 13, 15, 22, 32, 36, ESE 3.2, 3.3, 8.3)
2. I will introduce the third and final branch of government.

in your future classroom.

Exceptionalities
What accommodations or
modifications do you make
for ESOL
http://teachsocialstudies.wik
ispaces.com/file/view/ESO
LStrategiesComprehensibleI
nstruction.pdf/42902857/ES
OLStrategiesComprehensibl
eInstruction.pdf
and ESE (Gifted/Talented
students, Learning/Reading
disabilities, SLD etc.)
http://www.udlcenter.org/ab
outudl/udlguidelines/udlgui
delines_graphicorganizer

We will refer back to our KWL chart to see what we already

know about the judicial branch. (ESOL 4, ESE
3.1)Students will discuss in pairs what we wrote on the
chart and what we learned on the first day about the judicial
branch. (ESOL 10, 32, ESE 8.3) I will choose a few
students to share with the class. If the following questions
arise or are not answered during the discussion, I will write
them on the board:
a. Who are the members of the judicial branch?
b. Who is the leader of the judicial branch?
3. Then, I will show the students an artifake of the
Constitution. I will remind the students that the Constitution
created the three branches of government. I will write
Constitution on the board. I will ask the students to think
about what else could be significant about the Constitution
in regards to the judicial branch. (ESOL 4, 5, 15, ESE 3.1,
7.2)
4. I will introduce Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse: A Tail of
the U.S. Supreme Court by Peter W. Barnes and Cheryl
Shaw Barnes. I will go back to the board and ask the
students to listen for the Constitution, what the members of
the judicial branch are called, who the leader is. (ESOL 4,
5, 12, 13, 15, 16, 20, ESE 3.1, 5.3, 6.1, 6.3)
5. After listening to the story, students will discuss in pairs the
answers to the following questions one by one. Students can
refer back to the story and use the book to find their
answers.
a. Who are the members of the judicial branch?
b. Who is the leader of the judicial branch?
c. What is the purpose of the Supreme Court?
d. How does the Constitution influence the Supreme
Court?

Students will then share their answers with the class. They
must include evidence from the story to support their
answer. (ESOL 10, 16, 36, ESE 4.2, 8.3) Students should be
able to identify that:

the Supreme Court as the highest court of the land

the members of the Supreme Court are called

justices

the leader of the Supreme Court is called the chief

justice

the Supreme Court protects constitutional rights

6. Next, we will view a virtual tour of the Supreme Court on

the IWB. https://www.oyez.org/tour We will compare the
courthouse in the virtual tour to the illustrations and
descriptions from Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse.
Students can interact with and explore the Supreme Court.
(ESOL 15, 17, 18, 46, ESE 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.5, 3.3, 4.2, 7.2)
7. *Finally, the students will read and participate in a mock
trial to see an example of the judicial system in action.
(ESOL 12, 16, 50 ESE 7.2, 8.3) Each student will have a
copy of the script.
http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/mocktrial-a.pdf
Students will be able to choose their roles and be given the
coordinating name card. The remainder of the class will be
the jury. The classroom will be set up like a courtroom, with
the judge at the front of the room, the defense counsel and
Cruella to the right, and the DA and Radcliff to the left. The
students with speaking roles will read and act out the trial
using props (pink feather boa, stuffed animal puppy). The
rest of the class (the jury) will follow along with their own
copy of the script. (ESOL 50, ESE 7.1) After the class
finishes reading the script, the jury will make their decision.
The jury should be able to go back to the script and
highlight evidence that supports their decision of guilty or
not guilty. Then each member of the jury will text in their
decision and I will display it on the IWB. Then as a class we

will tally up the results.(ESOL 43, ESE 5.1)

8. After all of todays activities, the class will complete the
judicial branch of their federal government tree. An
example will be posted at the front of the class and the
teacher will model how to summarize what we learned
today. For example, the teacher will write The judicial
branch interprets laws. (ESOL 7, 8, 9, ESE 1.1, 3.3)
9. To gauge the students understanding of this lesson, the
students will be instructed to complete an exit slip. The
students will write their name, write or draw something they
learned, and circle where they feel they are on a scale from
1-4 on a small sheet of paper. (ESOL 6, ESE 9.3) They will
then fold the paper and place it in the Special Learning Box.
I will look at these slips and make adjustments to
tomorrows lesson based on the students responses.

Resources/Materials

Artifake of the Constitution

IWB

Special Learning Box

Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse: A Tail of the U.S.

Supreme Court by Peter W. Barnes and Cheryl Shaw
Barnes

https://www.oyez.org/tour

http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/mocktrial-a.pdf

Props for mock trial: name cards, pink feather boa,

stuffed animal puppy

Discussion Notes:
*If we run short on time, the mock trial can be read during the reading block the following day.