Add To My Planner Customize Print
Lesson Presentation
Start

Chapter Planner and Suggested Pacing Guide

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN®

Enduring Understanding

  • The president, as the head of the executive branch, executes laws, commands the armed forces, and engages with foreign leaders. The president’s veto and appointment powers serve as a check on the other branches.
  • The president has seven main roles: head of state, chief executive, commander in chief, chief diplomat, legislative leader, economic planner, and party leader.

Essential Questions

  • What are the powers and roles of the president and how have they changed over time?

Students will know:

  • the roles of the president and how they have changed over time.
  • how presidential power has grown in relationship to the U.S. Congress.
  • that the Founders created a strong executive to carry out the acts of Congress and to hold the legislature in check.
  • key presidential powers include the power to execute laws, veto legislation, command the military, and engage with foreign leaders.
  • that inherent powers are powers claimed by the president that are not clearly expressed in the Constitution.
  • that executive privilege is the power of the president to withhold from Congress or the courts information about communications between himself and his advisers.
  • that the president fulfills several roles, among them head of state, chief executive, commander in chief, chief diplomat, legislative leader, economic planner, and party leader.
  • how the president fulfills the role of head of state.
  • how the president fulfills the role of chief executive.
  • that among the president’s executive powers are the power to appoint top officials to his administration and to appoint federal and Supreme Court judges.
  • that executive orders are presidential directives that have the force of law without being approved by Congress.
  • the difference between a reprieve and a pardon.
  • how the president fulfills the role of commander in chief.
  • that the president often claims increased powers to protect the nation in times of war.
  • how the president fulfills the role of chief diplomat.
  • how the president has the sole power to negotiate and sign treaties and that two-thirds of the Senate must approve all treaties before they can go into effect.
  • that presidents may agree to pacts with leaders of other countries called executive agreements and these do not require the approval of Congress.
  • that the president plays a significant role in influencing legislation in Congress.
  • that the president has the power to veto any bill that Congress sends to him for approval.
  • how the president fulfills the role of chief economic planner.
  • that the president creates an annual budget and submits it to Congress.
  • how the president fulfills the role of political party leader.

Students will be able to:

  • identify the powers of the president.
  • explain how the powers of the president have grown over time.
  • describe the checks on the powers of the president.
  • analyze the importance of the president’s ceremonial roles.
  • determine the source of the president’s executive power.
  • compare and contrast the powers of the president with those of a prime minister.
  • analyze how the presidential power to make war has changed over time.
  • describe the powers of the president as chief diplomat.
  • explain the advantages the president has over Congress in making foreign and defense policy.
  • outline the tools or powers a president can use to advance his or her legislative agenda.
  • identify the powers the president has as chief economic planner.
  • explain the role of the president as party leader.

Predictable Misunderstandings

Students may think:

  • the president has complete control of the military. Instead, the president shares control of the armed services with Congress, which has the power to declare war and fund the military.
  • the president derives his powers from the Constitution. In truth, the Constitution is relatively vague on the topic of executive power when compared to the powers given to Congress. Instead, the president’s powers are granted by Congress, which can vote to stop or pass such items as presidential bills, declarations of war and emergency powers, and even the president’s appointees and nominations to federal positions.  
  • the president is required to run a “transparent” administration. However, “executive privilege” is a right claimed by presidents since George Washington. This gives the president and his advisers the right to withhold from Congress, and the public, information discussed between the president and his advisers. While executive privilege is not a right given by the Constitution, it has been upheld by the Supreme Court. 

Assessment Evidence

Performance Tasks:

  • Hands-On Chapter Project

Other Evidence:

  • Guided Reading Activities
  • Vocabulary Activity
  • Lesson Quizzes
  • Chapter Tests, Forms A and B

SUGGESTED PACING

½ day — Introducing the Chapter
 1 day — Lesson 1
½ day — Lesson 2
 1 day — Lesson 3
½ day — Lesson 4
½ day — Chapter Wrap-Up and Assessment

4 Days — Total

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

The activities presented are suitable for all levels. Modifications for student ability levels are available for many of the activities. The type of modifications available are indicated by the icons below.

AL Approaching Level

BL Beyond Level

ELL English Language Learner

All students benefit from activities that utilize different learning styles. Activities are designated with the labels below to help you differentiate teaching by the types of learners.

Intrapersonal
Logical/Mathematical
Visual/Spatial
Verbal/Linguistic
Interpersonal
Auditory/Musical
Kinesthetic
Naturalist

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

Expand All

  • Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

    Below are the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills covered in this chapter.

    (1) History. The student understands how constitutional government, as developed in America and expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution, has been influenced by ideas, people, and historical documents. The student is expected to:

    (A) explain major political ideas in history, including the laws of nature and nature’s God, unalienable rights, divine right of kings, social contract theory, and the rights of resistance to illegitimate government

    (F) identify significant individuals in the field of government and politics, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan

     

    (4) Geography. The student understands why certain places or regions are important to the United States. The student is expected to:

    (A) identify the significance to the United States of the location and key natural resources of selected global places or regions

     

    (7) Government. The student understands the American beliefs and principles reflected in the U.S. Constitution and why these are significant. The student is expected to:

    (D) evaluate constitutional provisions for limiting the role of government, including republicanism, checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, and individual rights

    (F) identify how the American beliefs and principles reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution contribute to both a national identity and federal identity and are embodied in the United States today

     

    (8) Government. The student understands the structure and functions of the government created by the U.S. Constitution. The student is expected to:

    (B) analyze the structure and functions of the executive branch of government, including the constitutional powers of the president, the growth of presidential power, and the role of the Cabinet and executive departments

    (G) explain the major responsibilities of the federal government for domestic and foreign policy such as national defense

     

    (10) Government. The student understands the processes for filling public offices in the U.S. system of government. The student is expected to:

    (A) compare different methods of filling public offices, including elected and appointed offices at the local, state, and national levels

     

    (12) Government. The student understands the similarities and differences that exist among the U.S. system of government and other political systems. The student is expected to:

    (A) compare the U.S. constitutional republic to historical and contemporary forms of government such as monarchy, a classical republic, authoritarian, socialist, direct democracy, theocracy, tribal, and other republics

     

    (13) Citizenship. The student understands rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The student is expected to:

    (E) explain the importance of due process rights to the protection of individual rights and in limiting the powers of government

     

    (20) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:

    (A) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions

    (B) create a product on a contemporary government issue or topic using critical methods of inquiry

    (C) analyze and defend a point of view on a current political issue

    (D) analyze and evaluate the validity of information, arguments, and counterarguments from primary and secondary sources for bias, propaganda, point of view, and frame of reference

    (E) evaluate government data using charts, tables, graphs, and maps

     

    (21) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:

    (A) use social studies terminology correctly

    (C) transfer information from one medium to another, including written to visual and statistical to written or visual, using computer software as appropriate

    (D) create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information