Supreme Court Lesson Plan: Government

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Supreme Court Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Supreme Court, and supports the standard of identifying the powers of the judicial branch of the U.S. government. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students: 

  • What do you know about the Supreme Court? For example, how many justices sit on the Court?
  • What role do judges play in a court case?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read aloud the description on the Supreme Court topic page. 
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
  • Assign Related Reading. Have them read one of the following articles: “Famous Faces,” “Laws and Customs,” or “Personalities.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign Supreme Court 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 the Supreme Court  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: Create a mini-documentary answering this question: How does a case reach the Supreme court? 
  • Make-a-Map: Make a concept map identifying and explaining the powers and processes of the Supreme Court. 
  • Creative Coding: Code a flag that represents the Supreme Court and its importance for U.S. citizens.

More to Explore

Argument Wars: Students argue a real Supreme Court case in this learning game.

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of government and law with these topics: Branches of Government, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights.  

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