Democracy in the Classroom Annie Dardis ED 417-02 Dr. Ronald Helms.
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Transcript of Democracy in the Classroom Annie Dardis ED 417-02 Dr. Ronald Helms.
Objectives
• Students will develop an appreciation for the power and influence of voting in a democracy
• Students will learn how to study the candidates and issues relevant to the elections
• Students will understand what is involved in the registration and voting process
• Students will learn how to stay involved with the civic affairs after an election
Objectives cont.
• Students will practice good handwriting and spelling skills
• Students will stay focused and on task during the assignment
• Students will use mathematical skills to interpret graph data
• Students will work cooperatively in pairs for one assignment
• Students will actively participate in all classroom discussions
Introductory Activities
• Writer’s Workshop• Have students write what the word “democracy”
means to them• Select a few students to share • Make a class list of some of the characteristics of a
democracy
• Next have students write a response to 5 W’s of voting
• Why voting is important? • Who is allowed to vote? • What they vote on? • Where they vote? • When do we find out the results?
Activity 1 – Registering to Vote
• Explain the importance of registering to vote
• Choose two students with the same name and acknowledge how some people could vote for others or multiple times if we did not have registration cards
• Students will complete registration cards and teacher will display them in classroom
Activity 2 – Meet the Candidates
• Materials• Meet the Candidates Handouts• Pencils• Scissors• Campaign literature
Activity 2 – Meet the Candidates
• Have students bring in campaign literature to class (newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, etc.)
• Divide students into pairs to work together
• Have them look through campaign literature and select three candidates and their promises
• VS
Activity 2 – Meet the Candidates cont.
• Students will cut out pictures of the candidates and glue them on their papers
• Students will write down three of each candidate’s promises and be prepared to share with the class
• Have a follow up discussion and ask the students who they would consider voting for based on their promises
Activity 3 – Voter Apathy
• Materials• Ballots handouts • Please Vote Today Handouts• Cardboard box• Construction paper• Pencils
Activity 3 – Voter Apathy
• Discussion to introduce the ballot and its format
• Have students create issues for the ballots
• When students come in each morning, they will pick up a ballot and vote on a different issue each day
Activity 3 – Voter Apathy cont.
• As the teacher, do not remind students to vote every morning because everyone does not always vote
• Follow up at the end of the week by tallying votes, discussion questions, and voter apathy
Activity 4 – Voting Graphs
• Materials• Construction paper• Scissors• Shower curtain with rod• Markers
Activity 4 – Voting Graphs
• Cut out construction paper into two inch squares pass them out to the class
• Create the graph with appropriate labels • Children will vote on 3 issues relevant to
current election issues that are appropriate for the classroom by placing their square up on the shower curtain graph
• The class will then tally or count votes to compare and contrast the 3 graphs
Activity 5 – Watching the Returns
• Materials• Map of United States• Colored pencils – red, white, and blue• Television or internet source
Activity 5 – Watching the Returns
• Discuss as a class what resources provide update information about the voter turnout/returns
• Students will complete the map at home with parents
• Students will return to class with map and we will tally the votes to determine which party won the presidential election
• Class disscussion on thoughts, emotions, or concerns regarding the election
Website Resources
• Kids Voting USA• www.kidsvoting.org
• Kids Voting Ohio• www.kidsvotingohio.org
• The Democracy Project• http://pbskids.org/democracy/vote/
• Kids for Democracy• http://www.kidsfordemocracy.org/
• Democracy for Kids• http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/
indepth/democracy_plaza/