Blended Learning Lesson Plan

Lesson Title: Identifying the Branches of Government

Objectives:
Students will be able to apply the branches of government to their daily lives.
Student will be able to classify the descriptions to the branches.
State Standards:
Standard 4: Demonstrate an understanding of how cooperation and conflict among people influence the
division and control of Earth’s surface.

HG.4.4.PR Analyze how states spatially organize governance systems, and explain the distribution and
patterns of these political systems in various regions. This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry
into the range of ways that countries spatially organize their governments. This indicator also encourage
inquiry into how the United States has organized its federal system to provide for democratic
representation.

Context: I am teaching this particular lesson on the branches of the government because not
only does it apply to their daily lives, but before learning about different things such as the
constitution and the different documents, I think it is important for students to know how it is
decided to make those documents, and who the people are who govern the documents and make
up the bodies of government that change these documents. Before this unit, students will just
have finished learning about how economic decisions are made in South Carolina from what I
have read in the standards. As far as prior knowledge goes, students would have knowledge of
the government and how it works, starting in the first grade. My job in this lesson will be to
introduce it once more, and go deeper into each of the branches, and show them more of how
each branch runs and operates. After this lesson, according to the state standards, students will
begin learning how globalization and resource competition results in changes to the political
map. My lesson will help flow into the next lesson, because now students will have more
understanding of what the branches do, allowing them to piece together the politics part of the
next lesson to the globalization and resource competition.
Data: Students for this lesson will be grouped based on the results of their prior knowledge
homework given to them. This way students are grouped with individuals who have like
understanding of the topic. The students will also only be in small groups during collaborative
instruction, but during the teaching of the lesson, they will be sitting at their own individual
desks. The data in this lesson will be collected by a test (to see how much they improved from
the prior knowledge homework) and also the exit slips provided to them for future groupings and
teaching.
Materials:
Introduction: No materials needed, I will be giving them an everyday scenario, and then tie it
into and relate it to today’s lesson so they already have some understanding and are more
interested since it relates to them.
Teacher Directed: iPad (they will be on Nearpod where I will be asking them questions as we go
through the PowerPoint so they are keeping their focus, and I can monitor progress).
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nearpod/id523540409
Collaborative: No materials, they will be in small groups where they will be acting out the
different branches of the government, based on information they already have.
Independent Digital: They will need their iPads so they can play the “Branches of Power” game.
This will allow students to work hands on and at their own pace to see how the different
branches work). https://apps.apple.com/us/app/branches-of-power/id1502310435
Closure: They will only need a pencil, because I will give them the paper where they will answer
the various short response and multiple choice questions. (This will serve as the exit slip and
test)

Detailed paragraphs from here on down.

Procedures:
Introduction (5 minutes): During the introduction piece of the lesson, I will start off by
stating what the lesson will be for the day. After that I will then begin by relating the lesson to
the students with a scenario. In this case, I will use student discipline with who assigns and
handles the discipline in school. From there, I have already gained the attention of students since
the topic relates to them. Then, after getting the students engaged I will relate it once again to the
lesson. In this case, I will relate how there are “branches” of power in the government just like
there are in the school system with discipline and many other things. This to me will allow the
students to be more engaged and allow their brains to begin working early in the lesson rather
than in the middle or the end.
Teacher Directed (15 minutes): During the teacher directed portion of the lesson, I will
have students get their iPads out of the book bag and log onto the lesson on Nearpod with the
code given. Once everyone is logged on, I will then begin the teacher directed portion of the
lesson. Nearpod in this case will be used not only for students to have the PowerPoint at their
fingertips for those who cannot see as well, allowing for accommodation, but also as a way to
monitor student progress and keep their attention. I would do this to monitor progress of the
students and see how much information they are retaining with the interactive quizzing portion
of Nearpod. This feature allows for students to be questioned while the lesson is going, to see
progress. This is also a good way to see who is paying attention especially when the question and
answer were given immediately before the question was asked.
 Collaborative (20 minutes): During the collaborative portion of the lesson, students will
be grouped based on prior knowledge homework. They will be in these groups so that they can
act out the assigned branches of government. The way they are grouped is based on their
homework so like-minded students are together. This way not only one student is doing all the
work of acting out while the others just listen. After each group gets done presenting, they will
then receive feedback on corrections that need to be made so they are not doing something
wrong and thinking it is right. To mitigate a lot of wrong however, students will be able to use
their notes they have and each other as back up for knowledge during parts when they are
speaking.

Independent Digital (10 minutes): During the independent digital portion of the lesson,
students will once again use their iPads to access the app “Branches of Power”. They will use
this app so that they can work not only hands on and independently, but also at their own pace.
This part of the lesson will not only show the students the different powers each branch has, but
also how they function, and more examples of tasks they have to do. This would also allow for
students to see more of how the different branches impact their everyday lives when they see
how they work and operate. While they will see powers they do have, they will also be able to
see the powers they do not have. This app will be a great way for students to not only learn some
more information independently, but also a fun way since it is simulated as a game and has great
graphics with great explanations of each step and reasoning.

Closure (15 minutes): For the closure portion of the lesson, students will then put their
iPads away and pull out only a pencil and nothing else. The students will then be given an exit
slip that also serves as a test (not graded) so that I can see how much information the students
retained, and also a way to see how much the students have improved from the prior knowledge
homework, so that I as a teacher can see improvements I may need to make for the next lesson.
The questions will be comprised of 10 questions (including true and false questions, short
response questions, and multiple choice questions). Once done, this will be turned into me as an
exit slip, and those who are not finished, will be required to take it home and complete it, which
will serve as homework.

Rationale:
(Nearpod https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nearpod/id523540409 ): This use of the app Nearpod
serves as a great tool to be integrated for many reasons. For starters, it allows for technology to
be integrated more. This app supports students learning with the standards and objectives,
because it serves as a platform for the actual standard to be taught on and quizzed on. Nearpod is
a great way for students to have access to the PowerPoint as well. Also, this app is a good
integration to the classroom because it can monitor student progress. While this does serve as an
interactive PowerPoint with the teacher being able to control it, it is also a great way for students
to focus and retain information with the quiz feature. As the lesson progresses, teachers can put
in questions that require students to answer before moving on. This shows if students are paying
attention especially if the answer was given right before the question. For accommodation, this
app would help students who have problems with vision. Many times, students cannot see the
board when the teacher is showing a lesson. With this app however, students will have the
PowerPoint right in front of them making the slides as big or as small as they want them to be. I
know this piece of technology is high quality because I have used it numerous times.

(Branches of Power https://apps.apple.com/us/app/branches-of-power/id1502310435):

This piece of multimedia was chosen because it allows for students to work hands on
with the specific lesson of the branches of government to be taught. This app goes along
with and applies to the lesson, standards, and objective because the “Branches of Power”
app is all about what the different branches of government are and how they each
function and run, which goes right with Standard 4. It also supports student learning,
because as the students navigate through the app, it gives detailed reasoning on why
certain decisions are being made, and why they are important. I personally know this app
is high quality because I used it when I was younger to better understand the branches of
government and how they work. For accommodation, this app allows for all students to
work at their own pace. This is accommodation, because many students struggle to keep
up, but with this app, students do not have to worry about anything else except their own
pace. This app will also help students will also serve as a different way for students to
learn since it is formatted like a simulation where the students are carrying out the powers
and making the decisions through the different branches.