Standard 3: Structure and Functions of Government

This is lesson #6 in the text unit series for Vote! In this lesson students will create a plan and campaign advertisements as final products. The teacher will discuss the role of the mayor and how this government position relates to the role of the governor and president as examples of people who make and enforce rules and laws. This lesson is focused on pages 24-29 which shows the amount of work needed to campaign for an election and highlights the importance of voting. The teacher will use a presentation to support students as they summarize the events and work needed to plan a campaign.

This unit will explain voting in the United States. Unit lessons include duties of responsible citizens for voting, the voting process, responsibilities of candidates, and voting outcomes. Teacher will utilize a read aloud over several lessons incorporating text structure, text features, figurative language, and the use of multimedia in presentations. Teachers will facilitate research to help students create a presentation.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will conduct an election and learn about the structure and functions of the government. With election data, students will represent data and graph the data. Math and Civics are in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson #3 in the text unit series for Father of the Constitution, A Story about James Madison by Barbara Mitchell. This lesson will focus on page 43 in chapter five and the different parts of government. Students will conduct research about each government branch's purpose.

This unit of study is about the text Father of the Constitution, James Madison by Barbara Mitchell. Through this unit, students will follow the life of James Madison, creating a timeline of events that led to the creation of the U.S. Constitution and the democratic government system still in use today. Students will research, develop an argumentative debate, and vote, as they read the text. Students will realize that his process prepared Madison for the writing of the U.S. Constitution. Students will engage in the expository writing process to construct a Classroom Constitution that aligns with the school’s vision and mission statements.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson #2 in the text unit series for Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Honesty by Tonya Leslie. Students will be learning about the local, state, and national levels of government. This will be done before reading the text Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Honesty to build background knowledge.

This unit will help students explain why the United States Constitution is an important document that protects the rights of American citizens, the responsibilities of the United States government, and how Abraham Lincoln is an important symbol of the United States government.

Students will engage in a read aloud spread out over several lessons emphasizing vocabulary, central idea, research, expository and opinion writing, and collaboration in groups.

The teacher will facilitate vocabulary instruction, student research, determination of central ideas, student presentation, expository and opinion writing, and group collaboration to help students demonstrate why the United States Constitution is an important document.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will read and discuss What Are the Branches of Democracy? by Ann Matzke. After, students will break off to determine the central idea of the text in segments. They will work to determine the significance and job of one of the three branches of Government.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students with recognize that government in the United States has local, state, and national levels. Students will recognize the responsibilities each level of government has in their lives by evaluating the actions of each level in relationship to each other, against the backdrop of services and needs of their community. 

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will conduct research to identify two to three relevant details that support a given central idea about the three branches of the U.S. government. Students will gather information through text and text features utilizing informational texts and/or teacher given websites about how each branch is organized and operates. Students will then compile the information in order to summarize the main idea and relevant details into a multimedia project comparing and summarizing the three branches.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will compare and contrast the structure of the U.S. and Florida Constitutions. Students will complete a stations activity to learn about the function and powers of the national and state government.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this integrated lesson plan, students will use their knowledge of collecting and interpreting data as they participate in a hypothetical election based on the controversy of whether or not their community should have a leash law. Students will be given background knowledge of the differences between state and local governments, and how laws are enacted, in particular, “leash laws” for dogs. The students will vote, tally the results, and use a frequency table to create a bar graph determining the range, title, and labels. Students will then interpret the election results while answering one- and two-step problems based on their bar graphs while demonstrating their knowledge of different levels of government and the importance of voting in local elections.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn that government has local, state, and national levels with their own unique structures and responsibilities. The teacher will provide brief direct instruction with a slideshow and then guide students through a worksheet activity to identify different powers and responsibilities of the local, state, and national government.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Grade 3 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 3 at this grade level.

Type: Teaching Idea