It’s easy to focus on just the President when teaching the Executive Branch, but it’s important also to stress the role of the four million other people who make up this branch of government.

With a few targeted activities, though, you can cover the president and the operations of the whole branch in just a couple of weeks.

Here are some of my favorite lessons and activities for teaching the executive branch in my high school Civics and Government class. But first, let’s go over what the branch does exactly.

What does the Executive Branch Do?

The executive branch is the doing of the government. The branch enforces laws, carries out policies, and manages the federal government’s day-to-day operations. 

The branch is a vast network of agencies and departments, with the White House acting as HQ. The president plays the CEO role, but they’re joined by the vice president, cabinet members, and dozens of advisors, who each bring expertise on specific topics. 

Then, there are the millions of civil servants who complete the orders. They conduct food inspections, deliver supplies after natural disasters, complete military missions, and renew passports. Every part—from the Department of Education to the Environmental Protection Agency—contributes to executing laws passed by Congress and serving the public’s needs. 

That’s why it’s essential to emphasize that this branch involves more than just the president when teaching it. Doing so gives students a fuller picture of how the government works behind the scenes.

Lesson Ideas for Teaching the Executive Branch

Decide how much time you can dedicate to this branch. I spend about three weeks covering the president and the branch. Below are my essential and most favorite activities. 

 If you’re starting from scratch and need everything, you can grab all these lesson activities as a done-for-you unit.

1. Powers of the President Stations Activity

Since there are so many powers, both expressed in the Constitution and implied, I like teaching them as various roles or hats the president wears in a station activity. 

First, though, I introduce them quickly in a lecture so students have a general overview of them before diving in. I sort all the power into nine roles. 

There are five official roles: Chief Executive, Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, Chief Legislator, and Check on the Judiciary. 

There are also four unofficial roles: Chief Citizen, Chief Guardian of the Economy, Head of Party, and World Leader. 

For each station, I pick an action by a recent president that neatly demonstrates one of the powers. 

For example, as a world leader, President Clinton helped Ireland and Northern Ireland join in a peace treaty. Or President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act was him fulfilling his Chief Legislator role. 

Students read a summary of the president’s actions at each station and decide which role is being exhibited. 

I like how this uses real executive actions as examples and creates the chance to show how important soft skills like negotiating and compromising are to be president. 

Head over to this blog post where I share this activity in more detail.

2. The Cabinet & Federal Departments Posters

After gaining a solid grasp of the many aspects of the president’s job, students are ready to explore the top officials who advise the president and the departments they oversee. I like assigning students one cabinet member to conduct light research on and then create a one-page poster. The next day, we put them up around the room in a gallery walk activity to learn about these few dozen people quickly. 

It’s important students understand that voting for president is voting for all these people, too, since the president directly appoints them. 

I always share a one-page sample poster of the president, so students have a model for making their own. Do so really helps them create high-quality ones themselves. 

You can grab this ready-to-go project kit here. 

3. Simulate the Electoral College 

The Electoral College is definitely not something to rush through. It’s a bit complicated, which means it also offers great opportunities to practice critical thinking and social studies skills. 

We do a simulation of how the votes are counted using dice and tally sheets which helps it make sense for students. 

I also like to simulate the two main alternatives: the District and the Proportional plans. This gets students talking about how any counting method has pros and cons!

Using something in place of candidates also makes it a little more fun. My Electoral College Simulation Kit uses different types of potato chips because students already have strong opinions about the best flavor. 

This leads perfectly to debating and deciding the best vote-counting method among multiple options, none of which everyone can agree on is the one perfect method. 

You can read more about this simulation in this blog post here.

4. Dive into the Current President  

The Gallup approval rating polls are THE percentages that matter in Washington, D.C. Have students explore the line graph that tells the story of the current president. Then, compare it with previous presidents. 

Students will be able to see how all presidents tend to start with high approval ratings that drop over time and how outside forces, like 9/11 or a recession, factor in a ton in who we feel the president is doing. 

You can do so much with Gallup’s Presidential Job Approval Center website that it’s worth some class time. 

Political cartoons are another way to quickly explore the president and their administration’s major events and policies. Pull several that cover a variety of opinions and topics for students to examine in stations or small groups.

My go-to is PoliticalCartoons.com because you can search by topic. If you want an easy strategy for analyzing cartoons, grab my free Political Cartoon Analysis Kit. 

5. Analyze the State of the Union Address   

The State of the Union Address is delivered in late winter, usually February, when there isn’t an Inauguration Address. So, while it may not fall within the dates of your executive branch unit, I still highly recommend taking a day to watch and analyze it. 

The speech is the president’s chance to shine in their leadership role by reporting on how they feel the nation is doing and what they want to achieve in the new year. 

There’s also so much tradition behind the speech that it’s fun to invite students into the ritual of the event since it’s the one time of year when the nation comes together politically to hear a single message.

And with the counterspeech offered by the opposing party, it’s the perfect material for students to compare to the president’s speech and draw conclusions. 

You can grab the same State of the Union kit I use every year.   

And that’s it! Between these several activities, you’ve covered the branch and related standards well in just a few weeks. 

Check out my Executive Branch unit bundle for all the activities mentioned, which you can also purchase individually to plug and play into your existing middle or high school Civics and Government course. 

Feature image photo credit: René DeAndra