Federal Government Three Branches — Treaty Clause and Unit-Content Connections

Sovereignty Promise. Recall G4-Fall: state 3 branches. Today: federal 3 branches — parallel structure.

• Connect to G4-Fall
• Note parallel structure

Direct teach federal 3 branches: EXECUTIVE — President + VP + Cabinet + ~2 million federal employees in agencies (Department of Interior + NPS + BIA + NMAI etc.); LEGISLATIVE — Congress (Senate 100 members + House 435 voting members + DC + territorial delegates); JUDICIAL — Supreme Court 9 Justices + federal courts. Article II Section 2 Treaty Clause: President negotiates treaties; Senate ratifies by 2/3 vote. Unit connections: Indian Removal Act 1830 (Congress passed + Jackson signed); Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848 (Executive negotiated + Senate ratified); Pacific Railway Act 1862 (Congress passed + Lincoln signed); Homestead Act 1862 (same); Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 (same); Cherokee Nation v. Georgia 1831 + Worcester v. Georgia 1832 (Supreme Court ruled). Each child identifies own state's 2 US Senators + 1 US Representative (by congressional district).

• Knowing your representatives is the foundation for civic action. Tomorrow we write to them.

  model Find by zip code at house.gov. Each state has 2 US Senators + a number of US Representatives proportional to population (CA has 52; WY has 1; etc.). House of Representatives = 435 voting members.

  prompt Who is your US Representative?

• Name the 3 branches.
• Who are your 2 US Senators?
• Who is your US Representative?
• What is the Treaty Clause?

Article II Section 2 Treaty Clause is a primary-source excerpt: WHO wrote? Constitutional Convention 1787; WHEN? September 1787, ratified 1788; WHY? to balance treaty-making between Executive and Legislative; CONNECTION to unit? Every treaty in this unit went through this clause.

M-4-S-CIV-19-A Diagram

Three-circle Venn-style diagram showing Legislative (Congress — 100 Senators + 435 Representatives) | Executive (President + VP + Cabinet + agencies) | Judicial (Supreme Court 9 Justices + federal courts). Treaty Clause Article II Section 2 quoted in margin. Article I Section 1 (legislative powers) and Article III Section 1 (judicial powers) also referenced.

• 3-branches diagram with current officeholders labeled.

  scaffold Anchor chart; current-name cards.
• Unit-Content Connection chart: pair each unit law/treaty/ruling with the branch(es) involved.

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'The [law/treaty/ruling] involved [branch(es)] because ___'

M-4-S-CIV-19-B Chart

11x17 chart with two columns: LEFT 'Unit law/treaty/ruling' (8 entries: Indian Removal Act, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Pacific Railway Act, Homestead Act, Chinese Exclusion Act, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Worcester v. Georgia, Page Act) | RIGHT 'Branch(es) involved'. Children pair items.

• Name your 2 US Senators.
• Name your US Representative.
• What is the Treaty Clause?

• Preview tomorrow's federal Civic-Action Letter drafting lesson

• With caregiver, look up your 2 US Senators and US Representative at senate.gov + house.gov. Write down their names and a brief note about each.