This cluster includes the following access points.
Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.
| Name |
Description |
| What Is a Government? Lesson #1: | In this lesson, students will build background knowledge about the United States government and become familiar with the vocabulary words in the text. Students will use the cover, title page, and photographs to discuss how the text features in What is a Government? by Baron Bedesky add meaning to the text. This is lesson 1 of a 6-lesson unit plan based on this text.
This unit will support students as they explain why people form governments, the role of laws in government, the impact of government on daily life, and the ways the government protects the rights and liberty of American citizens. Students will engage in a read aloud of the text, What is Government, spread out over several lessons, emphasizing text features, vocabulary, central idea, and author’s purpose. |
| Liberty and Rights of Americans: | The purpose of this lesson is for students to explain how the U.S. government protects the liberty and rights, through the U.S. Constitution, of American citizens, by reviewing a PowerPoint and analyzing primary and secondary sources. |
| We the Kids: The Preamble of the Constitution: Reader's Theater Patriotism: | This is lesson #6 in the text unit series for We the Kids by David Catrow. Students will have already read or heard the entire text. Students will explain how citizens demonstrate patriotism after doing independent research on the computer. Students will begin by reviewing ways citizens demonstrate patriotism. Students will work in groups to research Constitution Day, making a connection between this patriotic holiday and the U.S. Constitution. In small groups, students will use their research to write a Reader’s Theater script, explaining ways citizens demonstrate patriotism, why it is important to recognize the patriotic holiday, Constitution Day, and the history behind the holiday as it relates to the U.S. Constitution. Students can read and act out the play as an extension activity.
This unit will help students develop the meaning of the Preamble as part of the Constitution of the United States and its direct effect on their daily lives. Students will engage in various activities such as debating parts of the Preamble and complete a play interpreting patriotism. Throughout the unit, students will have to identify and interpret vocabulary, analyze the provided text, and demonstrate an understanding of the Preamble by providing relevant details. The teacher’s role in this unit will be to support their students' knowledge of the Preamble by facilitating research, reviewing student writing, and work.
This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource. |
| The Congress of the United States: Creating a Law from an Idea: | In this lesson, students will use the central idea and relevant details from a section of the text The Congress of the United States to explain the role laws play in government. Students will also identify and explain how the text features in the book help convey how Congress creates laws.
This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource. |
| Florida: | The Students will learn what a landscape is and the 3 different areas in “space”(foreground, midground & background). They will paint their own landscape inspired by the Florida 'highwaymen” paintings. Students will also learn about the Afro-American group of artists from Florida that used to sell their paintings on the Florida highways during segregation time. This lesson will relate to the civics benchmark because students will learn that the Constitution is how the U.S. Government protects the liberty and equal rights of the American citizens. Students will learn that the U.S. made changes to the Constitution to make it better and to protect all citizens' rights. |
| Give Bees a Chance!: | Students will read the text Give Bees a Chance by Bethany Barton and use textual evidence to explain why governments might create and enforce laws to protect bee species, in this integrated lesson plan. |
| Why People Form Governments: | The purpose of this lesson is for students to explain why people form governments and the role laws play in the government. Students will be asked to use scenarios to identify the impact government has on their daily lives, including the assistance the government offers to unfair supply and demand price-gauging during a state of emergency. |
| Preparing for Severe Weather and How Our Government Helps: | Students will participate in a cooperative learning activity to understand the importance of preparing for severe weather. Then, students will discuss that people form governments for many reasons and will understand that one of those reasons is to help keep us safe. They will work with their teacher to explore resources published by their state and federal government to help them prepare for and keep them safe during and after severe weather. |
| What Is a Government? Lesson #5: Keeping People Safe, Connecting to Daily Life: | In lesson 5 of a 6-lesson unit plan based on What Is a Government? by Baron Bedesky, students will revisit the relevant details that support the central idea, the government helps keep people safe, from lesson #4. Students will use the relevant details to draft personal narrative writing which identifies how the government helps keeps them safe and create a collage that reinforces their writing.
This unit will support students as they explain why people form governments, the role of laws in government, the impact of government on daily life, and the ways the government protects the rights and liberty of American citizens. Students will engage in a read aloud of the text, What is Government, spread out over several lessons, emphasizing text features, vocabulary, central idea, and author’s purpose. In addition, the teacher will facilitate research, student presentations, expository writing, artwork, computer science, and identifying Florida symbols to help students solidify their interpretation as to why people form governments. |
| What Is a Government? Lesson #3 Rules and Laws: | This is lesson 3 of a 6-lesson unit plan based on What Is a Government? By Baron Bedesky. After reading pages 4 – 7, students will use the text information to help distinguish between rules and laws. The lesson will begin with an introduction to rules, such as board game rules, and then students will distinguish between rules and laws using a Venn diagram. Students will then write a journal entry that answers the question, “Why do we need laws?”
This unit will support students as they explain why people form governments, the role of laws in government, the impact of government on daily life, and the ways the government protects the rights and liberty of American citizens. Students will engage in a read aloud of the text, What is Government, spread out over several lessons, emphasizing text features, vocabulary, central idea, and author’s purpose. In addition, the teacher will facilitate research, student presentations, expository writing, artwork, computer science, and identifying Florida symbols to help students solidify their interpretation as to why people form governments. |
| What Is a Government? Lesson #4 Keeping People Safe: | Students will identify the central idea and relevant details in a passage from What Is a Government? By Baron Bedesky, in this lesson plan. They will draw a picture to match the relevant details and central idea written in their journal/graphic organizer. Students will share their work, explaining how the government positively impacts their daily life.
This lesson focuses on pages 8-11 and is lesson #4 of a 6 lesson unit plan based on this text.
This unit will support students as they explain why people form governments, the role of laws in government, the impact of government on daily life, and the ways the government protects the rights and liberty of American citizens. Students will engage in a read aloud of the text, What is Government, spread out over several lessons, emphasizing text features, vocabulary, central idea, and author’s purpose. In addition, the teacher will facilitate research, student presentations, expository writing, artwork, computer science, and identifying Florida symbols to help students solidify their interpretation as to why people form governments. |
| What Is a Government? Lesson #2 Laws and Government: | Students will use text features to help understand and explain the meaning of academic vocabulary from What Is a Government? by Baron Bedesky in this lesson plan. Students will read a section of the text about the role of laws and create a drawing of text vocabulary that includes text features. This is lesson 2 of a 6-lesson unit plan based on this text.
This unit will support students as they explain why people form governments, the role of laws in government, the impact of government on daily life, and the ways the government protects the rights and liberty of American citizens. Students will engage in a read aloud of the text, What is Government, spread out over several lessons, emphasizing text features, vocabulary, central idea, and author’s purpose. In addition, the teacher will facilitate research, student presentations, expository writing, artwork, computer science, and identifying Florida symbols to help students solidify their interpretation as to why people form governments. |
| Rights, Liberties, and Equality for All: | In this lesson plan, teachers will assist students in developing their understanding of rights and liberties and explaining how the government protects rights and liberties for all Americans. |
| Rules, Laws, and Government: | In this lesson plan, teachers will assist students in developing an understanding of the role of laws in desiring and accepting government. Students will be able to provide examples of laws and how government impacts their daily life. |
Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this topic.
