Jenny Gold and Allison Steitz

12/13/18

EDUC 359

Legislative Branch SIOP Lesson Plan

STANDARDS:

- Speaking and Listening: CC1.5.3.C

- Writing: CC.1.4.4.J

- Civics & Government: 5.3.4.A, 5.3.4.B, 5.3.4.D

THEME: American Government

LESSON TOPIC: Legislative Branch

OBJECTIVES:

Language:

o Answer questions based off information provided orally and visually

o Act out the roles in Congress that help to pass legislation (roles will be assigned

based on ability in both content area and productive language)

o Complete a Venn diagram comparing the House of Representatives and Senate

Content:

o The students will be able to identify key facts about both the House of

Representatives and the Senate

o The student will be able to apply concepts to act out roles of Congress

LEARNING STRATEGIES:

- Preview vocabulary in a pre-teach session

 - Review and reinforce what we learned in past lessons in the unit

- Visual representations of the hierarchy of roles in Congress

- Hands-on activity of acting out the roles in Congress

- Real life examples of the roles and responsibilities of Congress

- Graphic organizer: Venn Diagram

- Clarification in L1 as needed

- Preview information for the next lesson

KEY VOCABULARY: Congress, House of Representatives, Senate, Speaker of the House,

President pro Tempore, Majority/minority leader, majority/minority whip, constituent,

impeach

MATERIALS: Prezi on three branches, PowerPoint on legislative branch, Venn Diagram,

role cards for roleplay

MOTIVATION: In previous lessons of this unit, students have learned about the role of

government in the everyday lives of citizens (roads, schools, wages, etc.). In future lessons, the

students will learn about how they can influence politics and make a difference in their

community. This was previewed at the beginning of the unit but will be expanded on later.

Current events that may directly affect the lives of students were brought up (immigration,

school policies, etc.).

PRESENTATION: Whole-brain teaching techniques are used so that students are fully

engaged with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic input and they practice both language and

content objectives through “teaching” the students the information they just learned.

PRACTICE AND APPLICATION: Through teaching each other the information in the
whole-brain teaching process, they self-assess their own understanding and reinforce the

material through both teaching it and hearing the material in their peer’s own words.

Students are given many opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and be observed

informally by the teacher who can then clarify any misconceptions.

REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT: Answers to questions and mini teach sessions will be

informally observed by the teacher so she knows if clarification is needed. Venn Diagram exit

slips will be collected and checked for completion and accuracy.

EXTENSION: This lesson is one in the middle of the unit. The executive and judicial

branches will be taught next. In these lessons, topics that relate back to what was taught will

arise and connections will be made to this material.