Idaho Social Studies 9-12.GOV.21
The Standard
Identify and be able to engage with key officials, both elected and appointed, in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches at the federal, state, and local levels.
Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies · Citizenship and Civic Participation
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find the names and jobs of officials in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches at the federal, state, and local levels. They check whether each official is elected or appointed and choose whom to contact about a specific issue.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can find their representatives, governor, mayor or county executive, and judges on government websites. They can match a concern to the right office and draft a clear, respectful message through a public contact channel.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may mix up a state legislator with a U.S. representative or assume every judge is elected. Some send policy requests to judges or think a private message about an active case is an appropriate way to contact a court.
How to Assess It
- Give this exit ticket: “A crosswalk near school needs repair. Name a local official to contact, say whether that role is elected or appointed here, and write a two-sentence request.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs sort nine official cards into a federal, state, and local branch grid, then check selection methods on government websites.
Ask, “Should a municipal judge get an email asking for a streetlight repair? Who should get it instead, and why?”
Play “Who handles it?” with cards for a zoning vote, a state park rule, and a federal court filing; students name the right office.
Use a city or county website to find a council member or commissioner, then draft an email asking about a local road repair.
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Printable 9-12.GOV.21 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 4.SS.4.5
Identify elected officials, how they can be contacted, and how they are responsible to their constituents.
- 3.SS.4.6
Identify local government officials.
- 4.SS.4.1
Identify the people and groups who make, apply, and enforce laws within state, local, and tribal governments how they function, and the relationships between th...
- 4.SS.4.6
Identify ways to be informed about and participate in state, Tribal, and local governments.
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