Learner Description - Fourth graders in regular education classrooms with varied abilities. 

Overview -

What will be taught?

We will be teaching a lesson on the 3 Federal Branches of government. For most fourth graders, this is their first exposure to learning about the federal government. This is part of our fourth grade social studies curriculum.

How will it be taught?

We will be teaching the children about the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government and how they work together. They will be taught using a variety of teaching strategies:

direct instruction

cooperative grouping

modeling

peer editing

What will students do and learn?

The students will be expected to have learned about each branch of the federal government and the roles of each branch. Each student will choose to research one branch of the government. It will be the job of each group to teach the rest of the class about the responsibilities and functions of their branch of the government.

The children were given a set of guiding questions, which they had to research. The children used the fourth grade textbook, curriculum links, videos, books, and encyclopedias. Once the children gathered their information, they had to decide as a group how to teach the rest of their classmates about their branch of the government. We brainstormed suggested methods and models that the children might use. For example, Hyper-Studio, brochures, I-movies, videos, a play, posters, games, and presentations. In addition to their presentation, each group had create a worksheet and word search to assess their classmates knowledge.

Once the children completed the project they decided on, they presented/taught their branch of the government to the rest of the class. Each presentation was video taped. A question and answer session followed each presentation. The presenting group then had their classmates complete their worksheet while they circulated and assisted. The worksheets were corrected and handed back the class.

Rationale - Purpose for the unit as a whole. The WHY questions.  

Why would you teach this unit?

The branches of the government is part of our fourth grade curriculum and included on the I.S.A.T.'s.

Why would this this qualify as an Engaged Learning unit?

Students were responsible for their learning. The children were working in collaborative groups. They self generated projects and were responsible for sharing their knowledge with their classmates. Their progress was assessed daily. The role of the teacher was to facilitate the groups in completing their project. 

Why is technology an important component of this unit?

Technology was a part of all the projects as the children had to use some form of it in their presentation. For example:

the internet

Apple Works

Hyper Studio

video camera

I-movie

Why is this project authentic/meaningful, and challenging for students?

The children were able to take control over their learning. They were responsible for making choices that affected their group and entire class. They were accountable for their learning and sharing their knowledge with their classmates. Working in a group was challenging for the children. They had to learn to delegate the responsibilities of the project and work together to make decisions.  

Goals - Content, Cognitive and Social - The WHAT questions

What new attributes (knowledge, skills, attitudes) do you expect students to gain?

The students will learn how to use a variety of research tools to gather information.

The students will learn to organize and summarize the information they have gathered.

The students will learn basic knowledge of the 3 branches of the government.

The children will learn about the responsibilities of each branch and the system of checks and balances.

The children will learn how to work cooperatively and collaboratively and compromise with their group.

The children will learn how to present information and communicate with their classmates. 

What school, district, state and national standards/benchmarks are addressed?  

English Language Arts

STATE GOAL 1: Read with understanding and fluency.

STATE GOAL 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.

STATE GOAL 4: Listen and speak effectively in a variety of situations.

STATE GOAL 5: Use the language arts to acquire, assess and communicate information.

Science

STATE GOAL 13: Understand the relationships among science, technology and society in historical and contemporary contexts.

Social Science

STATE GOAL 14: Understand political systems, with an emphasis on the United States.

STATE GOAL 16: Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations. 

STATE GOAL 18: Understand social systems, with an emphasis on the United States.

Learning Activities - The activities were determined by each group. Each group chose their final project/presentation.

The students researched and answered the guided questions.

The groups decided how to present their information to the rest of the class.

Each group met with their teacher to discuss their presentation and plans for creating it. The children needed to identify the supplies and technology needed for their presentation as well as how to delegate the task.

Each group met daily with their teacher to check on progress and solve any problems.

Each group created a worksheet/word search.

Groups presented as they finished their presentations. The children completed the worksheets with the help of each group.

Student Assessment-

What are my scoring characteristics?

We will be assessing the children's knowledge of the 3 branches of the government. We will also be assessing their ability to work in a group. Writing skills were informally assessed as children gathered and organized information and created different drafts

What will indicate that students are novices, practitioners, or experts?

The presentations indicated each group's knowledge of their subject area. The completion of the worksheets also assessed their understanding of the branches of the government. Observations of the process allowed teachers to identify and monitor students who were leaders as well as students who needed more encouragement. 

How will I measure and communicate student progress on the goals?

Each group was required to check in daily for progress and problem solving sessions. This enabled the children to assess themselves and the group as a whole, as well as determine their progress toward the completion of their progress. As the groups progressed through the different steps of the project, rough drafts, etc. were reviewed by the teacher and group to see what revising was needed and toward the next step.

How can students be involved in establishing goals and criteria for the assessment?

When the project was set up, we established rules for working within a group. Students were allowed to give input as to what they thought would be fair and appropriate requirements for the project. Guidelines for each project were determined with each group by each group and the teacher when they presented their idea to their teacher. 

How will the assessments be implemented to ensure that they are generative? Seamless and ongoing? Equitable for all students? An authentic task?

Assessment was ongoing throughout the project. Written work was assessed and the teacher was able to initiate discussions to make sure that things were progressing and all were participating. This was also done to make sure that each member was "pulling his/her own weight." Problem solving within the group occurred daily and helped maintain an equal distribution of tasks. 

How will students demonstrate their knowledge and skills? (Observations, portfolios, projects, performances, oral reports, paper-&-pencil activities, journals, checklists, student self-assessment, student peer assessment, etc.)

The children will create projects and presentations of their choosing. Data throughout the process was collected (play scripts, game questions, etc.) and reviewed periodically by the groups and teacher. All of the presentations will be video taped. The children will complete a worksheet on each branch of the government. The groups will also complete a group assessment on how well they interacted and cooperated.

Resources - What resources will you need to do this unit?

Library books on each branch

Web Sites

Encyclopedias

Videos

Fourth Grade Textbook

Teachers

Newspapers

Prairie Pages 

Management

How will you manage student work individually and in groups? How will the room(s) be arranged. Where will equipment and materials be located to promote maximum use? Where will students need to work and how can they be accommodated? How will students with special needs be helped?

The children were group heterogeneously, and groups were determined by student interest. They were given some brief background knowledge of each branch and were asked to choose which branch most interested them. Whole group instruction was done in the classroom. Each group was given a space in the room for working. The groups were also split between the classroom computers and computer lab. The children worked wherever space was available. Video equipment was brought into the classroom.  

Unit Evaluation

What will I need to do, be aware of, and/or gather while teaching the unit in order to answer these questions:

A lot of resources regarding the branches of the government are needed. This includes books and web sites.

What was effective?

The students were definitely motivated to do this project. They appreciated the choices available to them as far as how the material was going to be presented. They enjoyed the opportunity to work in groups as well.

What wasn't effective?

Many children required more structure and direction than originally designed. Not all groups and students were able to handle the flexibility this kind of project afforded. It became apparent early on that certain groups and students needed more teacher direction and redirection.

What will I do differently next time?

Next time, I would start the project with more structure from the start. Then, dependent upon the groups and students, the teacher could start the transition from more teacher directed to student directed work.