Curriculum / ELA / 4th Grade / Alternate Unit 4: Politics and People: U.S. Government / Lesson 10
ELA
Alternate Unit 4
4th Grade
Lesson 10 of 29
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Analyze and debate unit Essential Questions using details and understandings from the text.
Book: For Which We Stand: How Our Government Works and Why It Matters by Jeff Foster
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Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
Use details from the entire unit to answer the following unit Essential Question.
What are the main functions of each branch of the United States government?
An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.
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SL.4.1 — Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
W.4.2 — Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
W.4.2.a — Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
W.4.2.b — Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
W.4.2.c — Link ideas within categories of information using words and phrases (e.g., another, for example, also, because).
W.4.2.e — Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.4.3 — Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
L.4.6 — Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).
W.4.9.b — Apply grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., "Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text").
W.4.10 — Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Lesson 9
Lesson 11
Describe federalism and why the United States chose it as a form of government.
RI.4.2 RI.4.3
Explain what plan the Constitution made for the government of the United States.
Describe a few of the rights protected by the Bill of Rights.
Writing
Write a paragraph explaining what the Constitution of the United States is and why it is important.
W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.c W.4.2.e
Explain what the sections "What Does the Government Look Like?," "The Three Branches," and "Checks and Balances" are mostly about.
RI.4.2 RI.4.7
Describe why the executive branch is important and why the President's Cabinet is important.
RI.4.3 RI.4.8
Describe the difference between the Senate and House of Representatives and why they are both important.
RI.4.2 RI.4.3 RI.4.8
Explain how bills become laws and why there are so many steps.
RI.4.3
Explain what the Supreme Court is and why it's important using reasons and evidence from the text.
RI.4.2 RI.4.8
Discussion & Writing
SL.4.1 W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.c W.4.2.e
Informative Writing – 4 days
Write an informational report about an act or amendment that is important in U.S. history.
L.4.1.f L.4.2 W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.c W.4.5 W.4.6 W.4.7 W.4.8
Explain what candidates do to try and win an election.
RI.4.3 RI.4.7 RI.4.8
Debate if everyone has always had the right to vote.
Describe the evidence the author gives to support the point that "to be a woman in 1840 was to be less than a man."
Explain how an author uses reasons to show that a "once-promising strategy had reached a dead end."
Explain why the opposition to women's suffrage was so difficult to overturn.
Explain why the New York Times called the parade "one of the most impressively beautiful spectacles ever staged in this country"?
Explain who Harry Burn was and why he was important in the Women's Suffrage Movement.
Create a mini-poster highlighting the key contributions of a radical.
Explain why Dennis "Dioniso" Chavez was important.
Explain the role that Thurgood Marshall played in Brown v. Board of Education and what we can learn about him from his involvement in the case.
Explain how Thurgood Marshall wove equality into the fabric of American justice.
Explain who and what inspired Shirley Chisholm to get involved in politics and fight for change.
Explain who and what inspired Sonia Sotomayor to get involved in justice and fight for change.
Analyze how Barack Obama showed that "holding fast to hope despite obstacles is the first step to making any dream come true."
Debate and analyze unit Essential Questions.
SL.4.1
Assessment
Writing – 5 days
Research a local or national election and decide who you would vote for and why.
SL.4.1 W.4.1 W.4.1.a W.4.1.b W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.c W.4.2.e W.4.7 W.4.8
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