LESSON PLAN SEC IV:

HISTORY OF QUEBEC & CANADA

L
LEESSSS
OON N T L EThe Three Branches and Levels of Government
T LI E
TIT TE
DAAC
THEE R Ms. Cadillo

U NUI N
T IT The formation of the Canadian federal system

UNIT OVERVIEW LEARNING GOAL

Teaching the three branches and levels of Students will learn about the formation and

Canadian government will take place over stucture of the Candian federal system.

three classes that are 75 minutes long. The

first two lessons will include an introduction

and explanation to the topic and will contain

summative assessments. The final class will

allow students to use technological devices to

conduct research and the final assignment

will be explained. 

MATERIALS NEEDED OBJECTIVES

- Teacher laptop 1) To describe the three branches and

- Smartboard/projector levels of the Canadian government.

- Student device to access to the internet
2) To explain how the three branches and
(laptop, iPad, iPhone)
levels of government led to an
- Technological tool Canva for final
independent Canadian Parliament.
assignment
3) To analyze the functions of the

governments from 1867 to today.

BLOOM'S TAXONOMY

The ability for students to describe the three branches and levels of Canadian government represents

the "understand" component of Bloom's taxonomy since students will classify, discuss, and identify

ideas and concepts. In this lesson plan, Bloom's "apply" will be used when students explain,

demonstrate, and interpret how the three branches and levels of government lead to an independent

Canada. Through analyzing the function of the Canadian government in 1867 to present day, students

will be employing Bloom's "analyze" component by drawing connections among larger ideas through

comparing and contrasting.

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- Visual/Spacial: using images and various tools on Canva to creatively illustrate branch/level of government.

- Musical/Audio: information from YouTube videos will engage students who are audio learners.

- Linguistic: filling out the charts/in-class activity and students can express themselves in the description/reflection

component of the final assignment.

- Interpersonal: sharing each other's posters via Google doc/classroom presentations.

- Interpersonal: reflection on how branch/level of government relates to oneself.

 LLEESSSSO
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DESCRIPTION

The first lesson is one of many that will cover the unit from 1840-1896, which looks at the formation of

the Canadian federal system as the main social phenomenon (History of Quebec and Canada, 2005, p.

44). This is the first unit that will be taught in secondary IV History of Quebec and Canada, therefore,

students are expected be knowledgeable about the demands and struggles of nationhood, which was the

last unit covered in secondary III (History of Quebec and Canada, 2005, p. 37-38). As such, the first half

of the lesson will be devoted to activating the student' prior knowledge. A student's success of secondary

IV history is largely impacted by the information students have gained in the previous year considering

that the information presented chronologically. More specifically, the first 10 minutes of class will be

dedicated to activating the students' prior knowledge by presenting the following short video about

Upper and Lower Canada between the years 1753-1867: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=Dbxa5mIjY3U. Before presenting the video, students will be asked to take note of any clarifications

or questions they may have concerning past material. The following 20 minutes will be designated to an

inquiry-based learning approach by answering students questions through a classroom discussion. For

example, the teacher should act as a delegator who, rather than providing students with the answer right

away, will encourage finding answers as a class by prompting other students (Teach: Make a Difference,

n.d.). Additionally, another purpose of this video is to allow students to recognize how much the

governmental system had changed once the British North America Act was passed in 1867.

The next 30 minutes will be allocated to a direct instructional method of teaching by introducing

important actors, dates, and events that relates to Confederation and the structure of Canadian

federalism. Some examples are; John A. MacDonald, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, George Brown, the Great

Coalition of 1864.

The last 15 minutes of the lesson will allow students to fill out exit cards. Students will be encouraged to

come up with as many questions as they want, but will have to compose at least two questions: one about

any of the topics covered in secondary III, and one about the new material presented.

ASSESSMENT

The exit cards will be used as a formative assessment which will benefit the teacher and the students in

two ways; first, the teacher will be able to observe whether or not the students have a similar

understanding of the material from secondary III. Where necessary, the teacher can adjust what they

must clarify before continuing on with the unit to ensure students have a fair background of information

to succeed in the rest of the semester. Secondly, the teacher will detect if there is any confusion in the

new material that was presented, which will allow them to spend more or less time on topics that may be

more confusing to students. 

MODIFICATIONS

- The exit cards serves as a way for shy students to ask any questions they have that they otherwise

would not have shared during the classroom discussion question period.

- The teacher should express to the class that if there is anything that is unclear, particularly from topics

covered in secondary III, to email them, or see them during office hours. 
 LESSON #2 OUTLINE

DESCRIPTION

Due to the limited time and extensive amount of material that must be covered throughout the semester,

only approximately five minutes will be dedicated to going over common questions that were raised by

students in the exit cards. The teacher should assure students that time outside of class will be set up to

clarify further questions.

Students will then be given two handouts, the first that consists of three empty columns, each

representing the three branches of government which will help them in completing their in class activity

and their final assignment (Refer to APPENDIX #1 and #2). The second handout will also consist of

three empty columns, each representing the three levels of government. The next 10 minutes will be

given to the students to share what they know about each branch/level. The teacher will write the

findings on the blackboard while students are reminded to fill out their handouts.

The following 15 minutes will include the presentation of two videos. The first video provides insight on

the three branches of governments; the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stbi6brWAzA. The second video is regarding the three levels of

government; federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=GADdPGkVuss. Again, the teacher should remind students to complete their handouts which will

help them with their activity and assignment. A short debrief should be conducted by the teacher at the

end of the video to outline the similarities between what the class had come up with in relation to what

was presented in the videos.

The next 15 minutes will be for direct instructional teaching about the three branches and levels of

Canadian government. Throughout this lecture, students will be reminded that they should pay attention

to important facts and fill out their handouts.

Individually, the students will then be given an in-class activity and will have the remainder of the class

to complete it (Refer to APPENDIX #3). The in-class activity consists of fill in the blank questions about

the three branches and levels of Canadian government. The teacher should also remind students to bring

an electronic device (laptop, iPad, iPhone) to the following class in order to access the internet for

research purposes.

ASSESSMENT

The assessment for this lesson is formative, where the teacher should circulate the classroom as students

complete the in-class activity to ensure they are on the right track. At the same time, the teacher can

glance over the handouts to make sure they are filled out and to ensure students have a general

understanding of the various functions of government branches and levels.

MODIFICATIONS

- The teacher should advise students that special lunch or after hours will be held in order to cover any

material that was not clear.

- If students are done the activity before the end of class, they will share their work with the teacher or

will be permitted to quietly share their findings with another peer who has also completed their work.
 LESSON #3 OUTLINE

DESCRIPTION

The first 20 minutes of class will consist of correcting the in-class activity. While correcting the activity,

the teacher should circulate the classroom to ensure everyone has completed the activity for homework.

When correcting, the teacher should emphasize a student-centred method of learning, where once the

correct answer to the question is given, follow up questions should be asked to the class that should

foster a classroom discussion.

Students will then be asked to take out their technological device to access the internet. The next 15

minutes will introduce the students to reputable websites that they will have to use to complete their final

assignment. For example, the Canadian Department of Justice (https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng), the

Government of Canada (https://www.canada.ca/en), the Parliament of Canada (https://www.parl.ca). It is

important for the teacher to remind students that effective research can be done online and that knowing

what source is reputable or not is a skill that will be beneficial to their future academic career.

The following 15 minutes will be used to introduce the final assignment which will be worth 15% of the

students' final grade. Randomly, students will be assignment a branch or level of government and will

have to individually create a Canva poster that explains the function of their assigned division of

government. Since students may not be familiar with Canva, the teacher should provide a brief

introduction to the tool. Students will have to do further research on their assigned branch or level of

government which will promote inquiry based learning, where students will use online research tools to

gain information to accurately create their poster.

The remaining 25 minutes of class will allow students to begin their assignment. The teacher should

circulate the class to answer any questions.

ASSESSMENT

The final assignment will be summative worth a total of 15%; the final poster will count for 10%, and

5% will be allocated to a description/reflection of the poster (Refer to APPENDIX #4). The description

should depict the branch or level or government and briefly explain how it has evolved since

Confederation. Additionally, the reflection aspect must include how the student's appointed branch or

level of government affects their every day lives. The reflection part of the assignment cultivates an

expeditionary learning method where students become aware of how the topic which they are

investigating is directly impacting them and their communities (Teach: Make a Difference, n.d.).

Students must also hand in a reference page that includes the websites they used for their research.

Students will be asked to share only the link of their poster to a Google doc so that their creative work

can be shared with their classmates. Students who wish to present and explain their poster in front of the

class will be encouraged to do so.

MODIFICATIONS

- Students will have three weeks to complete this assignment. However, it is certain that some students

are more tech-savvy than others, so students should be assured that if more time is needed to complete

the assignment they should contact the teacher.

- Presenting their poster to the class is only mandatory through sharing on Google docs., an oral

presentation of their poster is optional.

 APPENDIX #1

Name:_____________________ Date:______________________

The 3 Branches of
Canadian Government
EXECUTIVE LEGISLATIVE JUDICIAL
 APPENDIX #2

Name:_____________________ Date:______________________

The 3 Levels of
Canadian Government
PROVINCIAL/
FEDERAL TERRITORIAL MUNICIPAL
 AAPP
PPEE
NNDD I X ##
IX 33

Name:_____________________ Date:______________________

Fill in the blanks with one of the following: Executive, Legislative, or Judicial.

1. The House of Commons' Members of Parliament are elected by the people

every four years belongs to the __________________ branch.

2. The __________________ branch is made up of the Supreme Court of

Canada, the Federal Courts of Canada, and Provincial Courts.

3. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet belong to the __________________

branch.

4. The __________________ is also known as the law-making branch.

5. The Senate, appointed by the Governor General by the recommendation of

the Prime Minister, belongs to the __________________ branch.

Fill in the blanks with one of the following: federal, provincial/territorial, or

municipal.

1. Libraries and city transit are among the various duties controlled by

__________________ government.

2. International concerns are managed by the __________________

government.

3. The __________________ government is involved in executing social

services such as education and health care.

4. Criminal law is administered by the __________________ government.

5. The __________________ government's leader is called the mayor.

 APPENDIX #4
APPENDIX #4

Name:_____________________ Date:______________________

Rubric for the final assignment

Instructions: Create a poster on Canva that represents your assigned branch or level of government.

The assignment is meant to be creative, so more images should be used rather than words. The

description/reflection must be thorough and insight on the way the branch or level of government

influences your life should be clear.

A B C D

All content on the Most content on Few components Content on poster

poster relates to poster relates to the on poster relate to does not relate to
Content
the branch/level of branch/level of the branch/level of the branch/level of

(6%) government. government. government. government.

Student barely Student does not

Student innovatively
Student includes
uses creative images uses images that use images that
that depict the images that depict
Creativity depict the depict the
branch/level of the branch/level of
government. branch/level of branch/level of
(4%) government.
government. government.

Student's Student does not

Student's Student's
description of the
description of description of the include description
Description/ poster is
poster is clear and poster is primitive
incomplete and or insight on
Reflection the reflection and offers some
offers vague
offers insight on insight on everyday life.
insight on
(5%) everyday life. everyday life.
everyday life.

Content: /6

Creativity: /4

Description/: /5

Reflection

Total: /15
 REFERENCES

Quebec Education Program. (2005). History of Quebec and Canada [Program of Studies].

Retrieved from

http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/education/jeunes/pfeq/PFEQ_

histoire-quebec-canada_2017_EN.pdf.

Teach: Make a Difference. (n.d.) Teaching methods. Retrieved from

https://teach.com/what/teachers-know/teaching-methods/.