What Would Happen If...?

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This lesson is most appropriate for High School classrooms.

Theme: What are the structures of local governments--who has executive, legislative, and judicial responsibilities

MCF Benchmark: Use the ideas in the Declaration of Independence to evaluate the conduct of citizens, political behavior, and the practices of government.

Other benchmarks this lesson targets include: Evaluate how effectively the federal government is serving the purposes for which it was created.

Materials needed:

  1. PowerPoint Slide Show
  2. Organizational Charts (federal and state)
  3. Copy of The Declaration of Independence
  4. Poster board or large flip chart and colored markers for graphic organizer
  5. Rubric for assigned assessment
  6. Readings on forms of local government
  7. More about graphic organizers
  8. Discussion Guide for Step 8

Methodological procedure:

  1. Given a copy of the Declaration of Independence, students will be asked to read and locate what the Founders envisioned a government should provide for its citizens. Together as a class, students will discuss ideas that state a government instituted by men to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are desired. (Show slide 1)[8 minutes]

  2. Teacher bridges the lesson by emphasizing that in the United States we divide governmental power. Power is divided (distributed) so that no one person or group gets all the power. Power is divided between the levels of government as well as the branches of government in America. Explore through student discussion their common learnings about separation of powers at the federal level and state level. (See charts on federal and state division of powers.) [6 minutes]

    In the next part of the lesson, students will examine how this division of power also organizes and distributes resources to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness within Michigan's forms of local government. Teacher presents logically: if all power in the United States is divided, that same model of division can be found in local government.

  3. Students will first be divided into groups of four. Each group will receive a reading on a specific form of local government in Michigan. (Depending on the class size, some groups may be assigned the same form of local government.) Each group of four students will be required to read and verbalize their specific form of local government in terms of how power is divided or distributed. (Readings #1-4) [15 minutes]

  4. After reading and conferencing about their assigned form of local government, students will design for presentation a poster size graphic organizer illustrating and instructing their classmates how power is distributed within their assigned form of local government. (Teachers can choose the type of graphic organizer or students can be given the choice how to best represent the information. See the attachment on graphic organizers.) One student from each of the original groups of four will be chosen to present the graphic organizers to the class.
    [20 minutes]

  5. The selected students will present their graphic organizers to the class. Students may wish to take notes based on the presentations for a future writing assignment. [20 minutes]
    Through the following class experiences, students will understand what makes effective local government.

  6. Each group will then receive three scenarios, patterned after 'real life' cases for local government. Each group will use their graphic organizer to reason how their form of local government would solve each of the problems or treat the scenarios. (Slides 2,3 and 4) [allow 8 minutes for each scenario]

  7. The assessment will be a reflective essay: Giving detailed examples, explain why local government divides power. Your answer should include how a problem would be solved and who would be involved in solving the problem. (See attached rubric.)[homework assignment]

  8. Class discussion will follow on factors that assist and hinder the effectiveness of local government in protecting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for citizens.
    (See discussion guide.) [8 minutes]

Author's notes:

In the class discussion (step 8), an implied benchmark likely will be covered: "Analyze causes of tension between the branches of government."

Assessment strategies:

This essay assessment should be assigned as a take-home assignment. It is reflective in nature and based on class experiences during the previous two days of class. Question: Giving detailed examples, explain why local government divides power. Your answer should include how a problem would be solved and who would be involved in solving the problem. (Students should also be responsible for following school/class writing guidelines.)

Enrichment suggestions:

Other scenarios could be written by the teacher or the students. Students could write and exchange scenarios.

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