5 6-government-adams

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT GRADE 5/6

Briana Adams [email protected]

UNIT TOPIC: Social Studies - GOVERNMENT TEACHER: Briana Adams GRADE:_5/6___ OVERALL UNIT OUTCOMES/GUIDING GOALS: Big Ideas: 1. There are many different types of governments in the world and they all have similarities and differences to the government of Canada. 2. The government of Canada is considered a democracy. 3. There are three levels of government in Canada and they each have different roles and responsibilities. 4. Lots of people make up the Provincial government and they each have their own role and responsibilities in helping run our province. 5. A Provincial election is run in a similar manner to a federal election. 6. Members of the Legislative Assembly are voted into office during a Provincial election. 7. The Legislative Assembly is where the new laws are considered and debated. 8. There is a process of steps that a law must go through before it can be declared a new law for our province. PLO’s: Social Studies Grade 5: A1 - Apply critical thinking skills including hypothesizing, comparing, imagining, inferring, identifying patterns, and summarizing to a range of problems and issues. A5 - Defend a position on a selected topic. C2 - Describe levels, responsibilities, and the election of government in Canada. Grade 6: A1 - Apply critical thinking skills – including comparing, classifying, inferring, imagining, verifying, identifying relationships, summarizing, and drawing conclusions to a range of problems and issues. C1 - Compare the federal government in Canada with national governments of other countries. C3 - Assess equality and fairness in Canada with reference to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. C4 - Compare individual and collective rights and responsibilities in Canada with those in other countries. Language Arts Grade 5: A1 - Write a variety of clear, focused personal writing for a range of purposes and audiences that demonstrates

connections to personal experiences, ideas, and opinions, clearly developed ideas by using effective supporting details, explanations, and comparisons and sentence fluency through sentence variety and lengths, with increasing rhythm and flow. B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts. Grade 6: A1 - Use speaking and listening to interact with others for the purposes of discussing and comparing ideas and opinions. A2 - Use speaking to express, and present a range of ideas, information. B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts with some specialized language. C1 - Write a variety of clear, focused personal writing for a range of purposes and audiences that demonstrates connections to personal experiences, ideas, and opinions, featuring clearly developed ideas by using effective supporting details, explanations, comparisons, and insights and sentence fluency through sentence variety and lengths with increasing rhythm and flow. Drama Grade 5: 1. Express ideas using verbal and non-verbal communication. Grade 6: 2. Demonstrate social and group skills in dramatic work. Visual Arts Grade 5: 1. Make 2-D images to communicate and idea. Grade 6: 2. Develop and make 2-D images to communicate messages. RATIONALE: The purpose of this unit is to build on the basic knowledge of government the students gained earlier in the year, during a mini-unit on elections and to introduce the students to the structure and function of the Government of Canada. Furthermore, this unit will have the students look at our government in comparison to other types of governance in the world. There will also be a substantial focus on the Provincial Government in BC, as the students already learned some

information about the Federal Government around the time of the Federal election. This will allow the students to engage in a more in depth study of the Provincial Government, its roles and responsibilities, its branches, its members and how a law is passed in this province. This unit is integrated with Language Arts and will provide students with the opportunity to further develop their abilities in the areas of reading for information, paragraph writing and oral speaking in the form of a debate. Therefore, a major focus of this unit is the incorporation of reading for information, however, the unit has also been designed to provide the students with many opportunities to engage in hands on activities and activities that relate the learning to their daily lives. THE STUDENTS IN THE CLASS: My practicum class is made up of twenty-eight grade five and six students. Out of the twenty-eight students, only ten are in grade 6. There are a wide variety of learning styles and intelligences (multiple intelligences) in the class. Therefore, this unit has been developed in a way that will allow for a wide variety of learning activities to help satisfy the many learning styles present in the class. The students in the class are also a chatty group, who really enjoy activities that allow for group work and discussion. Therefore, I have tried to include lots of opportunities for group work in this unit. The students are used to working in partners most often, so I have tried to include opportunities for them to work in larger groups as well. I have also noticed that the students are very engaged with hands on activities and have therefore tried to incorporate a variety of hands-on activities in this unit. In the class, there are a few ESL students. In particular, one student is ESL level two and requires extra support to ensure that she understands the concepts and activities. While one of the goals for this unit is to practice strategies for reading for information, I will make adaptations for this student to ensure that the written information she is given is at a level that she can read. I will also work with her to further explain the concepts in the readings to ensure she understands them. There is also a student with down syndrome in the class. She is a grade six student and has a full time EA who works with her. As I progress through this unit, I will work with my sponsor teacher and the EA to find ways in which I can make adaptations to include this student in my lessons. Overall, my practicum class is a group of enthusiastic students who appeared to be very engaged in the elections unit they did in the fall. I am excited to build upon that knowledge with this unit and to try and expand their understanding of the Canadian Government system. Launching the Unit: What is Government Objective: To review the concept of government and have the students think about the importance of having a government. IRP Connection:

Grade 5 C2 – Describe levels, responsibilities and the election of government in Canada by summarizing the responsibilities of government. Activities: **Class to be decorated with Canada memorabilia. 1. Students participate in a placemat activity to brainstorm everything that comes to mind when they hear the word ‘government’. 2. As a class, we will read ‘What is a Government’. Students will be asked to reflect on the question, “what would our country be like with out a government.” Students will write a paragraph expressing their ideas about what it would be like to live in a country with no government. 3. Students will be introduced to the parliamentary classroom roles to last for the duration of the unit. Each week, different students will be assigned to different parliamentary roles. Each parliamentary role has associated classroom responsibilities. The roles will be rotated each week to insure that each student has a turn to be at least one parliamentary role during the unit. Premier – responsible for handing out notices, collecting forms, running any classroom votes Minister of the Environment – turns out the lights, takes recycling to pod bin. Minister of Education – Hands out and collects worksheets. Hands our glue sticks. Minister of Healthy Living and Sport – Helps with PE equipment MLA for each table – collects work and hands it to the Minister of Environment. Makes sure their group’s area is tidy. What I Hope to Learn:

1. What do the students remember about government from their elections unit in the fall? 2. Do the students have an understanding of the role of the government and can they use this knowledge to

brainstorm ideas about a country without a government would be like? 3. Can they express their ideas in writing by writing a paragraph on the topic?

Lesson Topic Specific Lesson Objectives Activity/Task to meet objectives Assessment and Evaluation Plan

Democracy 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of democracy and how it looks in Canada. 2. Demonstrate the ability to relate the concept of democracy to experiences the students have in their own lives. IRP Social Studies Grade 6: A1 - Apply critical thinking skills including comparing, classifying, inferring, imagining, verifying, identifying relationships, summarizing, and drawing conclusions to a range of problems and issues. C1 - Compare the federal government in Canada with national governments of other countries. Drama Grade 5: 1. Express ideas using verbal and non-verbal communication. Grade 6:

1. Students to look up different definitions for democracy and record them.

2. Think, pair, share activity to brainstorm and discuss what democracy looks like in Canada and our community. 3. In groups of 4, students will be assigned one example of democracy at school, at home or in the community. They will be asked to create a still frame that demonstrates that example of democracy. Each still frame will contain a poster (provided by me) explaining the example of democracy. 4. I will compile the photos into an imovie, which will be shown to the class at a later date.

Type of Assessment: 1. The recording sheet for the definitions will be marked as a class. The students will be able to self-assess their ability to find definitions of democracy. This will also allow me to hear the definitions the students provide out loud to gain an understanding how well the students were able to find and understand the definitions. 2. I will walk around and make observations and ask questions as the students brainstorm what democracy looks like in Canada. 3. The still pictures will be graded according to a rubric. This will allow me to see how well each group understands their assigned example of democracy in Canada. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students use a dictionary to provide a definition for the word democracy? 2. Can the students describe what democracy looks like here in Canada? 3. Can the students work in a group to act out one example of democracy in a still frame?

2. Demonstrate social and group skills in dramatic work.

Types of Governance in Canada and the World

Demonstrate an understanding of the different types of governance that exist in the world and to gain an understanding of their similarities and differences to Canada’s government. IRP Social Studies Grade 6: C1 - Compare the federal government in Canada with national governments of other countries.

1. For a week leading up to this lesson, students will experience different types of governance seen in the world in their own classroom. Each morning (the 2 blocks before recess), the classroom will be run like a particular government. This will include democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, pluralism and communism. 2. Based on the knowledge they have gained from the above activity, the students will participate in a matching activity in which they will have to match the type of government with its definition. The students will record the answers on a worksheet.

Types of Assessment: 1. At the end of each day, the class will have a brief discussion of the type of governance they experienced that day. This discussion will allow me to judge the amount of knowledge the students gain from participating in a classroom run by that type of governance. 2. The matching worksheet will be marked as a class for accuracy. This will be an opportunity for the students to self-assess their understanding of the concepts. I will collect the worksheets and record the marks. This will allow me to see how well the students were able to match the type of governance with its definition and then judge whether or not further explanation is necessary. What I am looking for: 1. Do the students have an understanding that different types of governance exist in the world? 2. Can the students name the different types of governance and provide and explanation for each? 3. Can the students identify countries

in the world with each type of governance?

Charter of Rights and Freedoms

1. To learn what the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is and its importance to Canadians. 2. To gain an understanding of what constitutes and right and to create a list of rights for the students in the class.

IRP Social Studies Grade 6: C3 - Assess equality and fairness in Canada with reference to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. C4 - Compare individual and collective rights and responsibilities in Canada with those in other countries.

1. Class discussion about what is a right.

2. Read a story of a child from the Holocaust. Brainstorm the rights that child and their family lost during the war. 3. Read explanation on Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 4. Think, Pair, Share activity to brainstorm possible rights for the students in Div 5. 5. Students to vote on the top 5 choices as rights to be included on a class charter of rights and freedoms. I will copy the class charter on to a poster that will be posted in the class.

Types of Assessment: 1. As the students are brainstorming and discussing what is a right and how children of the Holocaust lost their rights, I will walk around and make observations and ask questions to judge how well the students understand the concept. 2. I will collect the students think, pair, share recording sheets to see how well they understand what a right may be for a child in this class. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students explain what a right is? 2. Can the students use this knowledge to provide examples of rights that would have been lost by people during the Holocaust? (related to novel study) 3. Can the students identify what the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is and why it is important in Canada? 4. Can the students brainstorm a list of important rights for the students in this class?

Levels of government and their roles and

To gain an understanding that there are different levels of government in Canada and that each one

1. In table groups, students are given a package containing a variety of roles and responsibilities of each level of

Types of Assessment: 1. I will walk around and make observations as the students work on sorting the roles and responsibilities

responsibilities has its one roles and responsibilities. IRP Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Distinguish between the levels of government (Federal, Provincial and Municipal) and summarize the responsibilities of government.

government in Canada (Federal, Provincial, and Municipal). Each group’s package will contain different roles and responsibilities. Students will work together to classify the roles and responsibilities.

2. One at a time, students can stick a role or responsibility under the correct level of government on the class chart. 3. Looking at the government services webs, the class will decide whether they have correctly classified the roles and responsibilities of each level of government and then record the correct classifications. 4. Students will be asked to identify the heads of each level of government (PM, Premier and Mayor).

to gain an understanding of the students’ thinking processes. I will also gain further understanding of what they students know and are thinking by asking them to justify/explain their classification choices to me. 2. I will collect the charts completed by each student to ensure they correctly classified the different roles and responsibilities. I will also look to see if the students can correctly identify the heads of each level of government. This will allow me to judge how well the students understand the different levels of government and whether or not further explanation is necessary. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students identify that there are three levels of government in Canada? 2. Can the students identify at least five roles and responsibilities for each level of government? 3. Can the students identify the head of each level of government by name and picture?

Who’s Who In Our Provincial Government

To identify important people in the Provincial government and to identify the key roles and

1. In partners, students will be assigned one important person in the BC Provincial government. The students will be given

Types of Assessment: 1. As the students present their important person, I will listen and use a rubric to assess their ability to

responsibilities of each position. IRP Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Identify key positions within the provincial, territorial and federal governments and accurately name their elected and appointed provincial and federal government leaders. Language Arts Grade 5: B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts. Grade 6: A2 - Use speaking to express, and present a range of ideas, information. B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts with some specialized language. Visual Arts Grade 5: 1. Make 2-D images to

information on that person. 2. Together, the students will create trading cards for their person. The trading cards will include a picture, their name, hometown, birth date and government responsibilities. 3. Each partnership will introduce their person to the rest of the class. During the introductions, the students will be required to complete a worksheet, matching the name of the person to their role.

present information orally. 2. The trading cards will be collected and marked for accuracy. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students read a piece of non-fiction writing and extract important information from it? 2. Can the students identify important people in the Provincial government and at least one of their responsibilities? 3. Can the students present information orally by speaking loudly and clearly and presenting accurate information?

communicate and idea. Grade 6: 2. Develop and make 2-D images to communicate messages.

Branches of the Provincial Government

To develop and understanding of how the provincial government is divided into three branches and the roles and responsibilities of each branch. IRP Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Identify key roles within the provincial government. Language Arts Grade 5; B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts. Grade 6: B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts with some specialized language.

1. Introduce the branches of the Provincial government (legislative, executive and judicial) and read and discuss the information sheet. 2. Students to complete the “Branches of Provincial Government” worksheet from BC Legislature website.

Types of Assessment: 1. By asking questions during the discussion, I will begin to gain an understanding of how well the students understand what they are reading. This will allow me to judge whether further explanation is necessary. 1. The worksheet will be marked for accuracy out loud as a class. This will serve as a form of self-assessment for the students. Also, by listening to the answers provided by a variety of students, I will be able to judge how well the students understood the concept and were able to answer the questions. This will allow me to decide whether or not more instruction on the topic is necessary. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students identify the 3 branches of the provincial government? 2. Can the students identify the roles and responsibilities of each branch of the provincial government?

3. Can the students read a piece of non-fiction writing and extract important information from it?

Provincial Elections

1. Develop and understanding of the role of campaigning in an election and the different methods of a campaign used during an election. 2. Develop an understanding of the important information provided to the public in a campaign. IRP Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Examine the process of electing a government in Canada. Language Arts Grade 5: B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts. Grade 6: A2 - Use speaking to express, and present a range of ideas, information.

1. Show lawn signs from the election and discuss campaigning. Discuss how people campaign. 2. Introduce the four potential class mascots to the class and read their bios. 3. The students will create campaign posters for a mascot of their choice.

4. Discuss what information a campaign poster should contain.

5. Posters will be posted in another class studying government. Those students will be asked to consider the information on the posters and select a mascot to vote for, for their class.

Types of Assessment: 1. By listening to the contributions of the students during the discussion on campaigning, I will be able to assess how much prior knowledge the students have about campaigning and therefore judge how much time will need to be spent on this topic. 2. The posters will be assessed according to a rubric. I will be looking to see if the students understand the type of information that needs to be included to create a convincing election campaign. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students identify what an election campaign is and the different forms of campaigning used in an election? 2. Can the students demonstrate un understanding of the information that should be included on a campaign poster by making a poster for their choice of mascot?

B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts with some specialized language. Visual Arts Grade 5: 1. Make 2-D images to communicate and idea. Grade 6: 2. Develop and make 2-D images to communicate messages.

Provincial Elections

To review the steps and the roles involved in the electoral process of BC and to prepare for the mock election to take place during the next lesson. IRP Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Examine the process of electing a government in Canada.

1. Review the electoral process learned during the elections unit in the fall. 2. Run the class through a dramatization of the elections process. Students to record the steps as the dramatization unfolds. 3. Provide the students with roles for the mock election with the other class. Ensure each student has a role, even if that means doubling up on roles (run 2 elections at the same time).

Types of Assessment: 1. The students will be asked to contribute their own ideas on the steps of the electoral process to the dramatization based on what they remember from the unit in the fall. This will help me assess the level of the students’ prior knowledge. 2. The worksheet on the steps of the electoral process will be marked for accuracy out loud as a class. This will be a form of self-assessment for the students. By listening to the student’s responses, I will be able to judge whether or not the students understand the concept. What I am looking for: 1. What do the students remember about the steps of the electoral

process? 2. Can the students identify the steps of the electoral process in the correct order?

Provincial Elections

To develop an understanding of the electoral process in BC by acting out and engaging in a simulated election. IRP Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Examine the process of electing a government in Canada.

1. Run a mock election in the class, following the electoral process in BC. The other class will come to the class to vote in the election. Students will assume their roles as assigned last lesson. 2. Votes will be tallied and the results will be announced.

Types of Assessment: 1. As the mock election unfolds, I will make observations about the students’ ability to follow the steps of the elections and be positive contributors to the activity. This will be assessed according to a checklist. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students work well with other members of the class to achieve the goal of running a mock election in the class? 2. Do the students follow the rules and procedures of the mock election? 3. Can the students follow the steps of the BC electoral process?

The Legislative Assembly

To develop an understanding of the role of the legislative assembly and who is present in meetings of the legislative assembly. This lesson will build towards understanding how laws are formed in our provincial government. IRP

1. Read information on the Legislative Assembly. 2. Students will use trading cards to place people in their respective places in the legislative assembly on a large, class version of the legislative assembly. This large map will also be used to label the important aspects of the legislative assembly.

Types of Assessment: 1. By listening to the students discuss where each important person should be placed on the large version of the Legislative Assembly, I will be able to judge how much knowledge and understanding the students extracted from the reading on the Legislative Assembly. 2. The maps of the Legislative Assembly will be collected and graded for accuracy and inclusion of all

C2 – Summarize the responsibilities of government and identify the key roles of provincial government leaders.

3. Students to complete a map of the Legislative Assembly, identifying the important aspects of the room and where the most important government officials sit.

important aspects and people. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students explain the purpose of the legislative assembly? 2. Can the students accurately label all of the important aspects of the Legislative Assembly as well as where all of the important people are located?

Passing a Law To develop an understanding of the steps in which a law must go through before is can be officially passed as a law for BC. IRP Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Summarize the responsibilities of government and identify the key roles of provincial government leaders. Language Arts Grade 5: B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts. Grade 6: B2 - Read fluently and

1. Students to predict the order of steps for passing a law by placing pictures of the steps in order. 2. As a class, we will read about and discuss how a law is passed in our Provincial government. 3. The students will place the pictures in the correct order and record the order on a worksheet.

4. There will be a class brainstorm about the types of laws that may be passed by the provincial government. The purpose of this is to review the responsibilities of the different levels of government in Canada.

Types of Assessment: 1. Through the in class discussions and brainstorms, I will make observations and ask questions to gain a better understanding of how well the students understand the concepts and how much information they extracted from the reading on how a law is passed. 2. The worksheet on the steps of passing a law in BC will be marked for accuracy out loud as a class. This will allow the students to self-assess their own knowledge. Also, by listening to answers provided by a variety of students, I will be able to judge how well the students understand the concept and decide whether further explanation is necessary. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students extract information from a piece of non-

demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts with some specialized language.

fiction writing? 2. Can the students identify the order of the steps taken to pass a law in BC? 3. Can the students identify at least three types of laws the government of BC would pass and three types that they would not pass because they are not their responsibility?

Passing a Law To think about a possible new law for the province and to think about the implications (positive and negative) of that new law. To practice taking a position on an issue and using evidence to defend that position. IRP Social Studies Grade 5 A5 - Defend a position on a selected topic. C2 – Summarize the responsibilities of government and identify the key roles of provincial government leaders. Grade 6: A1 - Apply critical thinking skills including comparing,

1. Present a possible law – Year round schooling - and discuss the issue as a group. Have the students create a pro/con chart. They will first think about the pros and cons themselves, then share with their table group, then share with the class. 2. Have the students choose one side of the argument and brainstorm at least five arguments for their side in preparation for the parliamentary debate.

Types of Assessment: 1. I will make observations and ask questions as the students brainstorm the pros and cons for the new law to see what their thinking process is and to gain an understanding of how well they are able to generate evidence based opinions. 2. The students’ lists of arguments for one side of the debate will be collected and assessed according to a rubric to help me see how well each student is able to defend a position on a selected topic. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students identify possible pros and cons for an issue? 2. Can the students generate a list of a least five arguments that can be given in support of one side of the issue?

classifying, inferring, imagining, verifying, identifying relationships, summarizing, and drawing conclusions to a range of problems and issues.

Passing a Law IRP Social Studies Grade 5: A1 - Apply critical thinking skills including comparing, classifying, inferring, imagining, verifying, identifying relationships, summarizing, and drawing conclusions to a range of problems and issues. A5 - Defend a position on a selected topic. C2 – Summarize the responsibilities of government and identify the key roles of provincial government leaders. Grade 6: A1 - Apply critical thinking skills including comparing, classifying, inferring, imagining, verifying, identifying relationships, summarizing, and drawing conclusions to a range of

1. Review the steps for passing a law and assign students to the different positions in the Legislative Assemble involved in the passing of a law. 2. Set the class up like the Legislative Assembly in preparation for a parliamentary debate. The students play their assigned roles in the mock debate about the topic presented in the last lesson. 2. Run a mock parliamentary debate following the proper steps for passing a law in BC. Each student must contribute at least one argument to the debate. 3. Students to vote on the law to see whether it would pass in the class.

Types of Assessment 1. I will use a rubric/checklist to assess the students ability to participate in the debate and defend a position on a selected topic. What I am looking for: 1. Does each student participate in the debate and to what extent do they participate? 2. Do the students contribute their own ideas to the debate or do they just repeat what someone else has said? 3. Do the arguments a student contributes truly work towards defending their position on the issue? 4. Can the students follow the correct steps for passing a law in BC?

problems and issues. Review All social studies PLOs

taught in the unit so far.

1. Play Parliamentary Concentration to review the concepts of the unit. 2. Watch the Democracy imovie to review the concept of democracy and how it looks in Canada.

Types of Assessment: 1. By listening to the answers the students provide during the gain, I will gain an understanding of how well the students remember and understand the concepts of the unit. This will allow me to judge whether any topics need to be reviewed or explained better before the unit. What I am looking for: 1. Can the students demonstrate an understanding of the major topics of the game in order to answer the concentration questions.

Unit Test All social studies PLOs taught during this unit.

1. Students to write a unit test to show their knowledge about the topics in this unit.

Types of Assessment: 1. The tests will be graded. This will allow me to see each student’s knowledge and understanding of the concepts learned in the unit. 2. The test will also be a form of communication with parents. The test must be signed by a parent and returned to me. This allows me to ensure that the parents are aware of their child’s knowledge with this unit in social studies. What I am looking for: 1. Students are able to apply all concepts learned in the unit to accurately answer questions.

ASSESSMENT PLAN: Formative Evaluation:

1. Observations and question asking to check for understanding during each lesson. 2. Marking assignments and worksheets out loud with the whole class to gain a basic understanding of how well the

students understand a specific concept required for completion of the work. This also acts as a form of self-evaluation for the students. The students will be told at the onset of the unit and continuously through out the unit, to come and see me for extra help at lunch, recess or after school if they want help of had difficulty with any of the work assigned in unit. By marking their own work, students will be asked to assess how well they understand a concept and then decide whether they should seek out extra help.

3. Periodically, work that is marked out loud as a class will be collected and looked over. This will allow me to see how well the students were able to complete the work and therefore how well the class as a whole, or individual students understand the concepts. This will then allow me to decide whether further instruction to either the whole class or a small group of individual students is necessary.

4. Periodically, assignments and worksheets will be collected and marked by me. This will allow me to have a closer look at how the students are answering the questions and then use this to judge whether further instruction on the topic is necessary.

Summative Evaluation: 1. Some assignments will be marked for accuracy and the grades will be recorded. These grades will contribute to

the students’ overall mark for the unit. 2. The students participation in the mock election will be assessed according to a checklist, assessing their ability to

positively contribute to a class activity and work towards the class goal of having a mock election. 3. Some assignments including the debate and the campaign posters will be graded according to a rubric. These

grades will contribute to the students’ overall mark for the unit. 4. A unit test will be given at the end of the unit. This will be an opportunity for the students to demonstrate

what they have learned through out the unit. Each student’s grade on this test will contribute to their mark for this unit. This will also be a form of communication with the parents, as a parent will be required to sign their child’s marked test.

LESSON PLANS: Lesson Plan #1 TOPIC: Launching the Unit – What is Government

DATE:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Describe levels, responsibilities and the election of government in Canada by summarizing the responsibilities of government. Language Arts Grade 5: A1 - Write a variety of clear, focused personal writing for a range of purposes and audiences that demonstrates connections to personal experiences, ideas, and opinions, clearly developed ideas by using effective supporting details, explanations, and comparisons and sentence fluency through sentence variety and lengths, with increasing rhythm and flow. Grade 6: C1 - Write a variety of clear, focused personal writing for a range of purposes and audiences that demonstrates connections to personal experiences, ideas, and opinions, featuring clearly

RATIONALE: The purpose of this lesson is to review the concept of government with the students. The students were introduced to the concept of government during their elections unit in the fall. Therefore, this lesson will help me determine what the students remember from that unit and then help me judge where I need to go from here. As this unit is also integrated with language arts, this first lesson will also serve as the first integrated lesson in the unit. The students will be asked to read for information as well as engage in writing a personal paragraph about their own thoughts and ideas.

developed ideas by using effective supporting details, explanations, comparisons, and insights and sentence fluency through sentence variety and lengths with increasing rhythm and flow.

MATERIALS: -Chart paper and felts for each group.

VOCABULARY:

HOOK OR INTRODUCTION: **Class to be decorated with Canada memorabilia. 1. Students participate in a placemat activity to brainstorm everything that comes to mind when they hear the word ‘government’. Students will be in groups of four. Each student will be given one quarter of a piece of chart paper and three minutes to write down anything they can think of about government. Students will then share their ideas with the rest of their group and add any ideas they missed or really like to their part of the placemat. Each group will then be able to contribute to a class brainstorm about government.

DEVELOPMENT OF LESSON (WHAT TEACHER DOES / WHAT STUDENTS DO): 1. As a class, we will read the short paragraph titled, ‘What is a Government’. Based on the information provided in the paragraph, the students will be asked to reflect on the question, “what would our country be like with out a government.” The students will be given a couple of minutes to write down and list of ideas. They will then share their ideas with a partner and together the students will expand their lists. 2. Students will write a paragraph expressing their ideas about what it would be like to live in a country with no government. A list of criteria for the paragraph will be posted. The students will need to include at least three detailed ideas about the topic as well as strong introductory and closing sentences. The students have worked on paragraph writing already this year. In this assignment, I am looking for them to be able to write about their own ideas and support those ideas with details. 4. Students will be introduced to the parliamentary classroom roles to last for the duration of the unit. Each week, different students will be assigned to different parliamentary roles. Each parliamentary role has associated classroom responsibilities. The roles will be rotated each week to insure that each student has a turn to be at least one parliamentary role during the unit. Premier – responsible for handing out notices, collecting forms, running any classroom votes Minister of the Environment – turns out the lights, takes recycling to pod bin. Minister of Education – Hands out and collects worksheets. Hands our glue sticks. Minister of Healthy Living and Sport – Helps with PE equipment MLA for each table – collects work and hands it to the Minister of Environment. Makes sure their group’s area is tidy.

LESSON CLOSURE / WIND-UP: 1. Students may continue working on their paragraphs for the duration of the lesson. 2. For the last few minutes of the lesson, students will be invited to share some of their ideas about the importance of a government and what would happen to our country if we had no government. This will help get the students thinking about the role and importance of our government and therefore act as a segway into the rest of the unit. ASSESMENT: Of the Students:

4. What do the students remember about government from their elections unit in the fall?

5. Do the students have an understanding of the role of the government and can they use this knowledge to brainstorm ideas about a country without a government would be like?

6. Can they express their ideas in writing by writing a paragraph on the topic? Of myself and my lesson: 1. Do I provide the students with enough time to engage in the concepts in depth? 2. Are the students engaged in the lesson and the activities? 3. Was I able to integrate language arts and social studies in a manner that allowed the content area in both subjects to be adequately developed?

ADAPTATIONS: 1. If students are having difficulty brainstorming ideas about how Canada would change with no government, I will do a class brainstorm on the board and have the students copy it down in their draft books. This will provide them with a list of ideas as a reference as they are writing their paragraphs. 2. Any specific students having difficulty writing the paragraph will be given a graphic organizer for the

EXTENSIONS: 1. Students who finish early or require an extra challenge will be asked to think about one extra idea for how having no government would change Canada and include that in their paragraph. 2. Students can do a government word search.

paragraph that will help guide them through the steps of writing a paragraph.

Lesson Plan #2 TOPIC: Who’s Who in Canadian Government

DATE:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Social Studies Grade 3: 1. C2 – Summarize the roles and responsibilities of local governments. Grade 5: 1. C2 – Describe levels and responsibilities of government in Canada. Language Arts Grade 3: 1. A1 - Use speaking and listening to interact with others for the purpose of sharing ideas. 2. B2 - Demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts. Grade 4: 1. A1 - Use speaking and listening to interact with others for the purpose of sharing ideas. 2. A4 - Select and use strategies when interacting with others, including taking

RATIONALE: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the students to important and relevant people to them in the BC Provincial government system. In order to do so, the students will practice their reading for information skills to find basic but important information on one important person. They will then have to introduce their person to the rest of their group so that everyone learns about each important person. This will provide the students with the opportunity to continue practicing the presentation and speaking skills they have been working on this past term. The trading cards will then be used in a subsequent lesson, in which we will create a class map of the Legislative Assembly, using the trading cards to mark where each person is located in the Legislative Assembly. An understanding of the structure of the Legislative Assembly will then be used to set

turns as speaker and listener. 3. B2 - Demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts.

up a mock parliamentary debate with the class.

MATERIALS: -Photos of the Premier of BC and other important members of the Provincial government. These should include people who play an important role in the process of passing a law in BC as well as the MLA’s for the regions in and around Richmond. -Labels for the photos of each person’s position. -Trading card outlines. -Mini-bio on each person. -Pencil Crayons

VOCABULARY: -Premier -Minister -MLA -Responsibilities -Time in office -Hometown

HOOK OR INTRODUCTION: 1. Students will be shown a picture of each of the important people to be studied in the lesson. 2. Students will be asked if they can guess who each person is and what their job is. If a student can correctly identify the correct position of one of the important people in Canadian Government, they can velcro the position title to the photo.

DEVELOPMENT OF LESSON (WHAT TEACHER DOES / WHAT STUDENTS DO): 1. Students will each be given one important person and will make a trading card about that person. 2. To start, I will hand out the trading card outlines to the students and together we will look over what they need to complete. 3. As an example, I will read a mini bio on a fictional character and as a group, we will practice finding the important information needed to fill out the trading card. For instance, the students will need to identify the name of the person, their position, how long they have been in office, where they are from (hometown) and three responsibilities that person has in their position. As a group, we will complete an enlarged version of the trading card based on the fictional character. We will practice the strategy of reading the piece of writing once through first, then re-reading it to find the important information. I will model this for the students. 4. Each student will then be assigned one important person and will be given a mini bio on that person. The students will need to read the bio to find the information on their person needed to fill in the trading card. 5. Once the written component of the trading card is complete, the students can draw a picture of their important person in the box on the front of the trading card. The students can use the photo of their person to help them. LESSON CLOSURE / WIND-UP: 1. Once all of the trading cards have been completed, the students will take turns introducing their important person to the rest of the class. -They will have to say the person’s name, position, time in office and at least three responsibilities of that person. -All students with that person will stand up together and take turns speaking, each saying one piece of information on their card at a time, including at least one responsibility each. 2. Ask the students to identify each person by name and position to see what they learned from the lesson.

ASSESMENT: Of the students: 1. Can the students identify ten important people in BC provincial government by name and position? 2. Can the students extract information from a piece of writing and use that to answer questions? 3. Can the students clearly and accurately present their person to the rest of the group? Of myself and my lesson: 1. Did I provide enough time to complete all of the activities planned? 2. Is the lesson appropriately challenging for grade 5/6 students? 3. Did the students appear to enjoy the activities? 4. Did the students understand my explanations for what they were supposed to do? ADAPTATIONS: 1. If the students are having difficulty reading their mini-bio and finding the information, I will read it with them and help them highlight the information they need. 2. If a student does not feel comfortable presenting their person to the rest of the group, they can just introduce the person’s name and position and someone else can say the rest of the information (Adaptation for ESL)

EXTENSIONS: 1. If a student completes the trading card early, he or she can decorate the rest of the trading card. 2. Students can do a Who’s Who in BC Provincial Government cross word.

Lesson Plan #3:

TOPIC: Provincial Elections – Campaigning for a class mascot.

DATE:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Social Studies Grade 5: C2 – Examine the process of electing a government in Canada. Language Arts Grade 5: B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts. Grade 6: A2 - Use speaking to express, and present a range of ideas, information. B2 - Read fluently and demonstrate comprehension of grade-appropriate information texts with some specialized language.

RATIONALE: This lesson will start a continuation of an elections unit the students participated in during the fall. During that unit, they spent a significant amount of time learning about the federal electoral process. Therefore, for this lesson, I want the students to begin to think about the role of campaigning in an election. Most of the students will have seen lawn posters and tv ads campaigning for certain people during an election. This lesson is designed to help students better understand the role of the campaigns they see. It will also have the students think about what makes a good campaign and then demonstrate that understanding through the creation of their own campaign poster.

MATERIALS: -Elections lawn signs or pictures of them if it is not possible to get real ones. -Think, Pair, Share brainstorm guide for each student. -Bios and pictures of the 4 potential class mascots. -11x18 size paper for campaign posters -Criteria listed on chart paper. -Pencil crayons and felts.

VOCABULARY: -campaigning -persuasion -mascot -support

HOOK OR INTRODUCTION: 1. Show lawn signs from the election and discuss campaigning. Discuss how people campaign. Have the students do a Think, Pair, Share about what campaigning is and the different ways that people campaign (posters, signs, tv ads, radio ads, newspapers, going door to door etc). DEVELOPMENT OF LESSON (WHAT TEACHER DOES / WHAT STUDENTS DO): 1. Introduce the four potential class mascots to the class by showing their pictures and reading their bios. Tell the students to listen carefully because they will have to select one mascot to support and help campaign for. 2. Pose the following questions to the students: ‘if we were making signs/posters about a mascot and we wanted the poster to convince other people that they should vote for that mascot, what would be important to put on the poster?’ Students to brainstorm a list of important information to be included on a campaign poster. I will ensure that the list includes ideas such as name, picture, facts about why someone should vote for that mascot, encouragement to vote. 3. The students will create campaign posters for a mascot of their choice. Students will be given 11x18 sized pieces of paper and will be asked to create a campaign poster promoting the mascot of their choice. A criteria sheet developed based on the list of important information to be included on a campaign poster will be generated and posted as a reminder for the students. The will also include aspects such as using the entire space on the poster and double checking their work for correct spelling and grammer. 4. Once a student has finished creating their poster in pencil, they will need to switch posters with another student of their choice and participate in a peer edit. The students have previous experience with peer edits.

They will be asked to check that all of the criteria are met and that the spelling and grammer on the poster are correct as well as the entire space is used. 5. After the peer check is completed and any changes are made, the students can fine line their writing and then colour the poster with at least 5 different colours.

LESSON CLOSURE / WIND-UP: 1. Posters will be posted in another class studying government. Those students will be asked to consider the information on the posters and select a mascot to vote for, for their class. The vote for the mascot will occur in a subsequent lesson. The classroom will be set up as an election hall and all of the students in the class will be assigned roles according the actual electoral process in BC. It will be the students’ responsibility to run the election, following as closely as possible to the steps of an actual provincial election. 2. Discuss the pros and cons of campaigning. Pose the question, how might campaigning have a negative effect? Have the students engage in a class wide discussion about how campaigns can may be influential in a negative way.

ASSESMENT: Of the Students: 1. Can the students explain the role of campaigning in the electoral process? 2. Can the students describe the different forms of campaigning used in an election? 3. Can the students create a campaign poster that includes all of the important information required to convince another person to vote for their mascot? 4. Can the students identify at least 2 pros and 2 cons of campaigning? Of myself and my lesson: 1. Do the students have enough time to complete all aspects of the lesson? 2. Do the students demonstrate an understanding of all aspects of the lesson? 3. Do the students appear engaged with the activities?

ADAPTATIONS: 1. For students who are having difficulty knowing what to write, I will mark off the headings on their poster and then help them brainstorm the information for each heading on a scrap piece of paper.

EXTENSIONS: 1. Students who finish early and require an extra challenge can pick between one of three other campaign activities to work on as an extension to all elections lessons in the unit. They can choose between writing a campaign speech for their chosen mascot, writing the script for a tv ad campaign or writing a newspaper ad for their mascot.

Example of Assessment Rubric: Campaign Poster – Assessment Rubric

Aspect Not Yet

Within Expectations

(1)

Meets Expectations

(Minimal) (2)

Fully Meets Expectations

(3)

Exceeds Expectations

(4)

Written Component

-The name of the mascot is not present on the poster.

-Contains the name of the mascot. -Contains three

-Contains the name of the mascot. -Contains at

-Contains the name of the mascot. -Contains more

-Contains less than three reasons why people should vote for that mascot. -Reasons contain no information from the written bio on the mascot. -Frequent spelling, punctuation and grammar errors

reasons why people should vote for that mascot. -Reasons contain few details from the written bio on the mascot. -Some noticeable spelling, punctuation and grammar errors.

least three reasons why people should vote for that mascot. -Reasons contain details from the written bio, demonstrating the student’s ability to extract information from a piece of writing. -Few spelling, punctuation and grammar errors.

than three reasons why people should vote for that mascot. -Reasons contain lots of information and details from the written bio on the mascot. -Any spelling, grammar and punctuation errors are the result of taking risks to use complex language.

Picture and Presentation

-Picture takes up very little of the space provided. -The picture is not a representation of the mascot. -The picture is not coloured. -The written words are not fine lined in felt and are difficult to read.

-Picture takes up most but not all of the space provided. -Picture is a representation of the mascot. -The picture is coloured but with less than five different colours. -The written words are fine lined in felt and are easy to read.

-Picture takes up the entire space in the box provided. -Picture is a representation of the mascot. -The picture is coloured with at least five different colours. -Written words are fine lined in felt and are easy to read.

-Picture takes up the entire space provided. -The picture is a clear representation of the mascot. -The picture is coloured with more than five different colours. -Colour is added to the rest of the poster. -The written words are fine lined in felt, are large and easy

to read.

RESOURCES: 1. Legislative Assembly of BC Website (www.leg.bc.ca) This website has a link to a section on teacher resources. It provides sample lesson plans, activities and worksheets for teachers of students grades 4 and up. It also contains information on how to book a field trip to the Parliament Buildings in Victoria. Overall, a really good site for information about the Legislative Assembly as well as resources for teachers. 2. Elections BC Website (www.elections.bc.ca/index.php/youth-participation/education) This website provides information about the elections process in BC. It also provides resources for teachers as well as suggested activities to do when teaching about elections. Something I really like about this website is that you can order an Elections BC kit from it that provides educational resources and the materials required to set up an election in the classroom. These kits are appropriate for either grade 5 or grade 12 students. 3. Forms of Government Resource (www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/foundation_gr8/blms/8-3-3b.pdf) This pdf document is a graphic organizer for teaching students about the different forms of government that exist in the world. I like how it breaks the form of government into specific questions however, the concepts it asks for may be too difficult for elementary students. I would use this as the idea for a simpler graphic organizer I would create myself that would be more age appropriate for my students. 4. Setting up a role play of the different types of government (http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/foundation_gr8/blms/8-3-3g.pdf) This pdf document provides descriptions of some of the different types of governments seen in the world. I like how it is written for elementary school students and therefore uses language that helps make the concepts more easily understood by younger students. I also like how it provides ideas for setting up role plays of these types of governments in a classroom.

5. Our Canadian Governments by S&S Learning Materials (available at Collins and Chapters) It contains sample lesson plans, reading material and activity sheets. It is mainly focused on the federal government however, it does contain some information on provincial and municipal governments. The information in the readings is written in a manner that is easily understood by elementary students. The one issue I see is that the readings contain a lot of information and may be overwhelming, however by taking pieces of them to give to students, this book is a valuable resource. 6. Elections by S&S Learning Materials (available at Collins and Chapters) This book is similar to the resource named above, however it focuses on the electoral process in Canada. Similar to the other government book, it contains lots of information about Federal elections and limited information about Provincial elections, however, the information and activity sheets provided are in depth and appropriate for grades five through seven. 7. Student Vote (www.studentvote.ca) This website is produced by Elections Canada. They set up parallel elections for students for all federal and provincial elections in Canada. The vote takes place in the school and is run by one class. The results are sent to the regional branch of student vote and are announced publicly the night of the actual election. The website provides resources for teachers and student activities to help facilitate the student election in the school.