Grade 2 | HISTORY AND SOCIAL STUDIES
WEEK 5 • TEACHER GUIDE AND ANSWER KEY • DAYS 21–25
Read each lesson aloud with the child and model the worked example before practice. Do not show this key during practice. Accept oral, drawn or written answers where the child cannot yet write the whole answer. On Day 25, read aloud if needed but give no hints.
Week 5 Student Textbook | Week 5 Practice Workbook | Week 5 Teacher Guide | Week 4 Student Textbook | Week 6 Student Textbook | Grade 2 index
Day 21: Why Government Has Three Branches
Standard: SS24.2.2
Practice record: The three branches, printed on the Week 5 Practice Workbook.
Worked example: Why does the Constitution divide power among three branches? Worked answer: So no one person or group has too much power.
- The legislative branch (Congress).
- The President.
- In a fair game, one group makes the rules, players follow them, and a referee decides what the rules mean when there is a disagreement. No one side controls everything. Accept any comparison showing that the jobs are shared.
Teaching note: Draw a tree with three branches and label each one.
Day 22: The Legislative Branch: Congress
Standard: SS24.2.2
Practice record: Congress, printed on the Week 5 Practice Workbook.
Worked example: How many senators does Alabama have in the United States Senate? Worked answer: Alabama has 2 senators.
- The Senate and the House of Representatives.
- 100.
- House members are given based on how many people live in each state. A state with more people needs more members so all those people are represented. Accept any answer linking population to number of members.
Teaching note: The numbers 100 and 435 are set by law. The goal is understanding, not memorizing.
Day 23: The Executive Branch: The President
Standard: SS24.2.2
Practice record: A bill becomes a law (the usual way), printed on the Week 5 Practice Workbook.
Worked example: Where does the President live and work? Worked answer: The White House in Washington, D.C.
- The executive branch.
- Every 4 years.
- Congress writes and votes on the bill, and then the President usually signs it to make it a law. That is the usual way. (Congress can also pass a law over the President’s veto, which students learn in later grades.) Accept any answer that names Congress voting and the President signing.
Teaching note: Keep the focus on the office of President, not on any particular person or party.
Day 24: The Judicial Branch: The Courts
Standard: SS24.2.2
Practice record: Which branch?, printed on the Week 5 Practice Workbook.
Worked example: What is the highest court in the United States? Worked answer: The Supreme Court.
- 9.
- The judicial branch.
- Votes on a bill: legislative. Signs a bill: executive. Decides whether a law follows the Constitution: judicial. Congress makes the law, the President carries it out, and the courts make sure it follows the Constitution, so each branch checks the others. Accept all three branches with a reason about sharing power.
Teaching note: Use the tree drawing from Day 21 and add the courts to the third branch.
Day 25: Independent Check: Three Branches
Standard: SS24.2.2
Practice record: News report (written for this lesson), printed on the Week 5 Practice Workbook.
Worked example: Which branch carries out the laws? Worked answer: The executive branch.
- The legislative branch (Congress).
- To the President.
- Legislative: Congress voted on the bill. Executive: the President may sign it into law. Judicial: the courts may decide whether it follows the Constitution. Accept all three branches with their parts.
Teaching note: Independent check: read the report aloud if needed, but do not give the answers. The report is an invented example.
Sources
USA.gov, Branches of the U.S. government | National Archives, The Constitution of the United States
Week 5 Student Textbook | Week 5 Practice Workbook | Week 5 Teacher Guide | Week 4 Student Textbook | Week 6 Student Textbook | Grade 2 index