This lesson teaches 5th grade students about the three branches of the US government and the system of checks and balances. Over three class periods, students will research the responsibilities and connections of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. They will then create an infographic to explain their findings. The lesson supports standards about comprehending and integrating information from multiple sources to demonstrate subject knowledge.

1. A Three Ring Government-A MAET Lenses Lesson
As a culmination to our 5th grade American Revolution unit, students explore how
America’s government has changed and evolved since the beginning of the Revolution and our
current form of government. In this lesson, students explore the United State’s three branches
of government to explain their responsibilities and connections (checks and balances)
Learning Objective: Students will explore resources (print and digital via iPad) to gather
information in order to explain the responsibilities of the executive, judicial, and legislative
branches of government and how they are connected through the system of checks and
balances.
Learning Outcome: Students will use the information they have found to create an
infographic to explain the three branches of government, their responsibilities, and how the
system of checks and balances works.
Teaching Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3
Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or
concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7
Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an
answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.9
Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the
subject knowledgeably.
Sequence of Learning: This lesson will be at the end of the American Revolution unit.
Students will have already learned about America gaining independence from Britain, the
Declaration of Independence, early forms of American government with Federalists, Anti-
Federalists, and the Articles of Confederation. Students will also have knowledge and an
understanding about the Constitution and Bill of Rights prior to this lesson. Following this
lesson, students will be approaching the end of the unit and preparing for their summative
assessment. This lesson helps to prepare students for the summative assessment. Two of the
assessment questions students will need to answer are 1) Explain how the U.S. Constitution
created a better form of government than the Articles of Confederation and 2) What is
government? What should government do for its people?
Timeline:Students will have one class period to collect their information and two class periods
to create their infographic.
● Day 1-Students will explore print and digital (via tools on their iPads) sources to gather
information about the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government.
Students will be specifically looking for information to describe the responsibilities of
each branch and how they are elected to office. Additionally, they will need to be able to
give a basic explanation of how the system of checks and balances work. Students may

2. collect their information in a notebook or on their iPad using a tool of their choice
(Google Doc, Pages, Popplet, iCardSort).
○ Learning Target: I can conduct research in order to explain the responsibilities
of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government.
● Day 2-Students will be introduced to infographics and shown examples, some of which
they have already seen in other subjects. We will discuss what we notice about the
infographics (pictures, information, layout, etc.) and how a creator makes choices about
how to present their information. During the discussion, we will brainstorm a list of
questions for students to consider as they work using the why, what if, how framework
(ex. How might I best communicate an idea? How might I show this idea using pictures?
Why might I choose one layout or theme over another? How might I explain the main
ideas?). I will show students examples of strong and weak work to discuss what makes
for a quality infographic. After our initial discussion, I will introduce students to easel.ly,
walk through the basics of how to set up, and allow them time to explore the tools and
functionality. With the remainder of the class time, students will be able to begin working
on their infographics.
○ Learning Target: I can organize my research about the branches of government
in a logical way by creating an infographic to share with my peers.
● Day 3-Students will have a workshop day to complete their infographics. I will circulate
and conference with students as they work to answer any questions and provide
feedback. Students will need to have their infographic completed at the end of the third
day, ready to be posted to our class Schoology course where everyone can view and
comment on each other’s creation.
○ Learning Target: I can organize my research about the branches of government
in a logical way by creating an infographic to share with my peers.
Wrap Up: As a class, we will hold a discussion as to what information the students learned
about the three branches of government and clear up any misconceptions that remain.
Additionally, we will talk strengths students noticed when they looked at other’s infographics and
how presenting information in this way can help us retain information in a different way.