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Citizenship A Curriculum

Unit 10: American Government: Executive Branch

Lesson 1: President and Vice President

Lesson Objectives: / Materials
Students will…
●  read and answer questions about the Executive Branch
●  read about President Obama / ●  CPtT: 138-144
●  Executive Branch Review Jigsaw
●  Barack Obama Reading
“100 Civics Questions” covered in this lesson
13. Name one branch or part of the government.
15. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
26. We elect a President for how many years?
27. In what month do we vote for President?
28. What is the name of the President of the United States now?*
29. What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now?
30. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
31. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
32. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?
Suggested Tasks & Activities
●  CPtT: 138-144: Key Words - Executive Branch, President, Vice President, White House, military, elect, serve. You can go over some of these pages as a class or pair up students and have them work together. If you pair them up, go over the pages afterward as a class.
-  After going over the textbook pages, do the Jigsaw Review. Give the lower students Student A and the higher students Student B. Then pair correct.
●  Barack Obama reading: Read as a class, individually, or in pairs. NOTE: The “fun facts” can be passed out or used as an additional exercise.


Citizenship A Curriculum

Unit 10: American Government: Executive Branch

Lesson 2: The Cabinet and Secretary of State

Lesson Objectives: / Materials
Students will…
●  read about the Cabinet and Secretary of State
●  use the computer to read and answer questions about Hillary Clinton / ●  CPtT: 145-147
●  Hillary Clinton: www.famouspeoplelessons.com/h/
hillary_rodham_clinton.html
“100 Civics Questions” covered in this lesson
35. What does the President’s Cabinet do?
36. What are two Cabinet-level positions?
Suggested Tasks & Activities
●  CPtT: 145-147: Key words – cabinet, advises, Secretary of State, labor. Go over these pages as a class.
-  Extension activity: write several of the new vocab words from the previous and today’s lesson on the board and either have students try to define the words and/or write sentences with them. Put students in pairs for this activity.
●  Hillary Clinton reading and activities: This can be done on the computer in pairs or as a class. An alternative is to print out the reading and activities as handouts.
Notes for Teachers
●  Hillary Clinton reading: This reading may need to be adapted and simplified for your class. Also, not all activities are level-appropriate, so the teacher should review the material and choose those activities that best suit the level of the class.


Citizenship A Curriculum

Unit 10: American Government: Executive Branch

Lesson 3: Executive Branch Review

Lesson Objectives: / Materials
Students will…
●  review the material covered in this unit
●  dictate questions and answers / ●  CPtT: 148-151
●  Separation of Powers Sort
●  Politician pictures
Suggested Tasks & Activities
●  Cut up the separation of powers sort and politician pictures and have students organize the information for the three branches of government
●  Review (CPtT: 148-151). There are several ways you can use these pages. The easiest would be to print them out and have students work on them individually or in pairs; OR you could read the Yes or No portion on pg. 148, for example, and have students answer the questions orally. You could also give students the vocabulary words on pg. 148 and have them define the words. Afterwards, they could compare their answers with the book’s. Have fun and be creative!

Minnesota Literacy Council

Citizenship-A Curriculum. CASAS 180-210

March 2012