American Institutions

Name: Jeff Bergstrom Date:

Grade Level: 9th School: D.C.E. Lesson: What is government and why do we need it?

Instructional Objectives (stated in terms of learning outcomes) Within the content Area Students will be able to:  Describe why we need government  Describe what happens without government  Define government in their words

Standards

C.12.4 Explain the multiple purposes of democratic government, analyze historical and contemporary examples of the tensions between those purposes, and illustrate how governmental powers can be acquired, used, abused, or legitimized.

C.12.5 Analyze different theories of how governmental powers might be used to help promote or hinder liberty, equality, and justice, and develop a reasoned conclusion

C.12.13 Describe and evaluate ideas of how society should be organized and political power should be exercised, including the ideas of monarchism, anarchism, socialism, fascism, and communism; compare these ideas to those of representative democracy; and assess how such ideas have worked in practice

Advanced Preparation: (gathering materials, previews, technology setup, etc)

Kick Ball

Good Weather

Definition Worksheet

Planned Provisions for Diverse Learners

Visual Oral Kinesthetic

Management: (distributing materials; setting up groups)

Going outside

Beginning: (capturing students’ interests; identifying the purpose of this lesson; links to previous knowledge/experiences)

I. Warm-Up (10 minutes) a. September 11 Reflection b. CNN Student News

Development:

II. Rights, Duties and responsibilities a. Responsibilities –things you should do i. Vote ii. Good, upstanding citizen iii. Report crimes iv. Volunteer in the community b. Duties—things you must do if asked i. Serve in the military ii. Obey the law iii. Respect the rights of others iv. Pay income taxes (other taxes) v. Serve on a jury c. Rights—protections that you have i. Free speech ii. Press iii. Assembly iv. Petition v. Bear Arms

III. Soccer/Kickball outside a. Without explanation go outside with a kickball b. Tell the students that they have five minutes c. Let them do whatever they want to as long as no one get hurts d. Do not say anything else e. Observe the chaos that develops f. Does a leader emerge? g. Do they set rules? h. What game do they play?

IV. Debriefing inside a. What happened when we went outside? i. There was no leader ii. No directions iii. No rules iv. No parameters v. No Guidelines b. Did a leader emerge? i. Why did that person emerge? 1. Good relationship with people 2. Persuade one group to see other points of view 3. Powerful 4. Respected ii. Did anyone challenge the leader c. What did the new leader do i. Set rules ii. Regulations iii. Boundaries iv. Did anyone confront the leader or challenge him/her d. What would have happened without a leader? e. What would have happened without rules? f. Did everyone participate? i. Why not? ii. Sat on sidelines

2 g. Without government we have chaos h. Meant to be an example of what happens without government i. Things do work out sometimes ii. When a leader/leaders emerge 1. Set rules 2. Boundaries 3. Regulations

V. Simulation Processing Sheet

VI. Active Reading Activity

VII. Government definition handout a. Create own definition of government b. Draw a picture that represents government

Closure: (summary of learning by the students: relate to the objectives; links to future lessons)

Share what you learned with one partner and share with class

Extension: (specific ideas for groups or individuals who finish early)

Read 2-5 What is government? What are the five purposes of government?

Write a paragraph on the role of government in our society

Assessing student performance: (clear evidence that the objectives were actually met)

Questioning and observation

Definition of government

Teacher Reflection: (Was the lesson successful? How do I know? What adjustments will I make for the next lesson based on today’s experience?)