7 – Government (Theme #2)
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
7th Grade History (GCP)
Mr. Lindy
Objectives:
1. SWBAT define democracy, monarchy, theocracy, legislative, executive, and judicial.
2. SWBAT compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of each type of gov.
3. SWBAT tell another empowering memory and draw another problem solving lesson from history.
Opening:
1. Do Now --- HAND SIGNALS FOR EACH THEME (mountains…)
2. Go over responses. Hit: definition = LAWS, trick – FIRST LETTERS (hand signals?)
3. Yesterday – first theme: geography and adaptations
- today – second theme: government – how laws get created and carried out
- different types
- becoming judges yourselves, deciding WHICH TYPE IS BEST
4. Behavioral expectations (earn special activity w/ costumes, volunteers, and props)
Introduction of New Material:
1. Distribute classwork
2. volunteers and expectations for scenes (audience and actors)
3. Debrief w/ front side of sheet.
4. THEN transition to story about democracy (Greece)
- pre-reading routine / chant
- predictions, connections
- questions
5. THEN partnered evaluation of government types on back of classwork sheet.
Guided Practice:
See #3 above
Independent Practice:
See #5 above
Closing:
1. NOTECARD! – w/ terms, types, best kind of government
2. Word Wall: 6 terms
3. Homework
4. “Today we study history; tomorrow we make it.”
Name: ______Do Now
August 23, 2005History - ____
Do Now #7
Directions: Read the selection below. When you are finished, answer the questions in complete sentences. Be sure to use NEAT handwriting and strong seventh grade vocabulary.
Yesterday we discovered our first theme for the year: geography. We added several tools to our social studies toolbox: continents, oceans, and adaptations. We also learned to heed a warning left by history: beware of leaving armies exposed to the Russian winter. Some of us will grow up to lead this country, and we now have another jetpack for jumping over future “walls.”
Today we tackle our second theme: GOVERNMENT. Many of us had forgotten some words we learned last year in history, so here’s a quick review. Every government has three jobs.
- The legislature creates laws for a country.
- The executive makes sure people follow those laws.
- The judiciary (or judicial branch) decides whether the laws are just.
Be ready to learn much, much more about government today. We will see this year that many different types of government exist and that each type has its advantages and disadvantages.
1. What is our new theme for our toolbox today? ______
______
2. What word do all three government jobs have in common? ______
______
3. What, then, might be a good definition of “government”? ______
______
4. Can you think of a good trick for remembering the difference between legislature, executive, and judiciary?______
______
______
Above and Beyond: Explain anything you know about legislature, executive, and judiciary in the United States.
Name: ______Classwork
August 23, 2005History - ____
Classwork #7:
Governments --- the FORCE of the LAW!
Directions: Get ready to watch our first skit of the year unfold on stage. As our actors perform, you must evaluate their performance.
Scene #1:Confidence: (1-5)Volume: (1-5)
1. Actor’s name: ______
2. Description (in your own words):
______
______
3. Who does each job? Legislative:Executive:Judiciary:
______
Scene #2:Confidence: (1-5)Volume: (1-5)
1. Actor’s name: ______
2. Description (in your own words):
______
______
3. Who does each job? Legislative:Executive:Judiciary:
______
Scene #3:Confidence: (1-5)Volume: (1-5)
1. Actor’s name: ______
2. Description (in your own words):
______
______
3. Who does each job? Legislative:Executive:Judiciary:
______
Partner Practice! With your partner, decide on one STRENGTH and one WEAKNESS for each type of government.
Name: ______Homework
August 23, 2005History - ____
Homework #7:
Governments --- the FORCE of the LAW!
Directions: Answer each of the questions below. Be sure to use complete, neat, and intelligent sentences.
Lessons from the Past:
1. Who were the Spartans, and why is our memory of them EMPOWERING?
______
______
______
2. How did Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King fight segregation on buses in the American South?
______
______
3. How might another future leader use the “jetpack” from #2 to solve another problem?
______
______
4. If Hitler had been more of an extraordinary historian what would he have learned from Napoleon? (In other words, what jetpack did he not have that he should have had?)
______
______
5. In what ways can our memory of the Athenian democracy be an empowering one?
______
______
6. How can the Athenian democracy also warn us about another wall we may need to climb?
______
______
(more on the back)
For #4 – 6, circle the THEME that we see in the description. Then, explain your choice in a complete sentence on the lines below. What words show you that this number is about the environment and its effect on people? What words show you that this number is about making laws?
7. The small village was built around a central well. The well was on only place in the desert for miles that provided any kind of water.
GeographyGovernment
______
______
8. Many new diseases thrived in the warm, moist rainforest air. Many of the first explorers in this area fell ill and died before returning home.
GeographyGovernment
______
______
9. The family knew that the church officials would not approve of the new law. Within a matter of days, the law would be replaced by their interpretation of God’s will.
GeographyGovernment
______
______
10. The king had decided to punish anyone guilty of theft by cutting off his or her right hand with an axe. He was hoping to lower a crime rate that had recently taken off.
GeographyGovernment
______
______
Above and Beyond: Create your own (like #7 - 10) at the bottom of this page. Be sure to explain what theme is being used.
When Democracy Goes Wrong:
Ancient Athens & the Sicilian Expedition
In the ancient world, Greece stood as the paragon (best example) of artistic and intellectual accomplishment. The ancient Greeks made important discoveries in science. They were the first people to calculate the size of the earth using mathematics. They wrote some of the world’s earliest and best plays, many of which we still perform today. Their art and architecture was so popular that many American buildings are designed to look like Greek ones.
In all of ancient Greece, the most talented and most creative city was Athens. Athens became the first democracy in Europe and possibly in the entire world. The Athenians believed that every free man should vote for the laws that would govern the city. (Athens did not allow women or slaves to vote.) People would make great speeches and have great debates in the center of town before important votes.
However, in less than one hundred years, Athens went from the top of the Greek world to total, complete defeat. There were many young men who wanted to advance their political careers. They wanted to become the most powerful, most popular political leaders. So they started making these long, exciting speeches to convince the Athenians that they could quickly and easily defeat a nearby county called Sicily. In their speeches they told the Athenians over and over again how great and powerful they were and how rich they would become if they conquered Sicily.
The problem? The Athenians listened. Instead of defeating Sicily, the Athenians were slaughtered. Those same young men who made the powerful speeches eventually switched sides and fought for the Sicilians! Politicians will often tell people what they want to hear. In Athens, that meant hearing from politicians that they could become rich by defeating Sicily. In a democracy, politicians will often tell people what they want to hear if it will make them more powerful.