Presidential Power Lesson Plan: Power, Authority, and Governance

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Presidential Power Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Presidential Power, and supports the standard of describing how government’s powers are acquired, used, and justified. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display this image of the U.S. Presidential Seal:

Prompt students to share their observations of the words and images on the seal. 

Ask:

  • What might these words and images show about the president’s role?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read the description on the Presidential Power topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
  • Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “In Depth,” “Around the World,”  or “Way Back When” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign Presidential Power Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about presidential power while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Produce a video diary about a day in the life of a U.S. president. Describe different responsibilities, and how they interact with their cabinet and with other branches of government.
  • Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying and describing presidential responsibilities.
  • Creative Coding: Code a museum exhibit about presidential power with artifacts representing the role’s responsibilities and restrictions. 

More to Explore 

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of power, authority, and governance with these topics: Branches of Government, Presidential Election, and U.S. Constitution.

Convene the Council: Acting as President, players make decisions about foreign policy in this interactive game. 

Teacher Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Related:

    Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, BrainPOP, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.4