Democracy in the ClassroomAnnie Dardis

ED 417-02Dr. Ronald Helms

Democracy in the Classroom

• Unit: Government• Grade level = 3• Lesson on Voting and

Elections

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

• Materials• Voter Registration Cards• Pencils• Markers

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/