Medea E. Lamberti-Sanchez
Classroom activities will include viewing multiple resources, both print and digital in order to get a good understanding of the government and provide a stimulation of mental pictures or images that the students can become excited to learn about. There will be three classroom activities that the teachers can modify and adjust according to the needs of the students. These activities may take up to three classroom sessions and cannot be finished within one fifty minute class period.
Classroom Activity One: Voter Informational Brochure/Poster
This first part of the activity will teach the students about voting rights by having them create an informative poster or brochure on the topic. They will use the knowledge that they collected through discussions and by visiting The Democracy Project at http://www.pbs.org, There the students will see an interactive voting booth. The student clicks on the selective topics on the booth, and he or she can electronically cast his or her own votes about what issue matters or be transported into another time period to learn about people that impacted voting rights. Students can read about the qualifications for voting in the United States and other states, and they can see why voting matters to the world around them.
Goal:
The goal of the activity is for the students to understand that the choices they make impact the future they will occupy. The students need to recognize that if they do not exercise their right to vote, then change won’t happen. Voting allows people to take a stand and exert power over an issue they feel strongly about. This lesson is centered around this ideal.
Materials:
white chart paper, colored pencils, crayons, markers, computers, construction paper, scissors, glue, and notetaking outline.
Length of Time:
52 minute class period x 4 days, if possible.
Preparation:
Prior to the distribution of computers, students will be shown the website and explained the notetaking outline carefully.
Activity:
How can you be a part of an election? The poster must encourage young people to get involved and be a part of a democratic society. Students can brainstorm ways for them to become involved in debates, community issues, or important causes that require change.
Discussion:
Before, during, and after the project is completed the students will be talking about what facts should be included in the posters and decide how the project will be presented.
Closure:
The students will present their projects to the class, and
Classroom Activity Two: Political Parties
Since the focus of this activity is for the students to understand the purpose of political parties, they will be researching and creating a political commercial to advertise the party platforms and the role of the parties.
The students will read
The Origins and Functions of Political Parties: An Encyclopedic article from Grolier Online and the New Book of Knowledge.
They will also view the book,
How do we Elect our Leaders
, in order to read about Political Parties and the symbols that represent them.
Goal:
The goal of this activity is for students to describe what the Democratic or Republican party symbolizes, and explore the party’s ideals, morals, and values.
Materials:
chart paper, colored pencils, crayons, markers, computers, construction paper, scissors, glue, and pictures of the topics printed from the computer.
Length of Time:
52 minute class period x 4 days, if possible.
Preparation:
The students will be given the book and the article to read and discuss cooperatively. Next, the students will list issues that they care about, i.e. school culture, environment, uniforms, etc. They will discuss the issues that are of common interest.
Activity:
Students will read, analyze, and take notes on political parties. They will decide the common interests that they have and share the ideas. The teacher will explain to the students that people within the parties have differing opinions and it is perfectly fine to disagree, but they must identify the common interest that binds them together. Next, the students will decide upon a symbol to represent their beliefs and a list of current issues that ties them together. They will then construct the slogan and symbol. The students can vote on the symbol, if everyone does not agree.
Discussion:
Is there a relationship between political parties and voting? How does understanding the political platforms allow people to make educated decisions about voting for the candidate of their choice? These questions facilitate brainstorming and discourse about the connection between these two topics.
Closure:
The students will present their slogans, symbols, and ideas for their campaign commercials.
Classroom Activity Three: From a Woman's Portrait to Hillary Clinton
The students will learn about the suffrage movement by writing about and titling photographs of suffragette leaders. The students will then view a picture of Hillary Clinton and compare/and or contrast the historical significance of her candidacy to the movement of the suffragists.
Students will view photographs of women from the Library of Congress website: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroom/classroommaterials/womens-suffrage and read articles on the history of women’s suffrage. The photographs depict portraits of women who worked to create a change in the area of voting rights.
Goal:
The objective for the students is to read and examine primary sources in order to learn the historical background of women’s suffrage and connect it to voting rights and, ultimately, the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.
Materials:
Pencils, pens, computers, library of congress website and handout, and writer’s notebook
Length of Time:
The activity can take up to two class periods to complete, and the narrative writing should be completed through writer’s workshop.
Preparation:
Students should observe these photos, first with the teacher modeling the strategies for noticing details and formulating questions about the photos. Once the teacher has modeled the activity, then the students can try as a group or individually. In addition, the students should review the elements of narrative writing.
Activity:
The students will be making inferences and predictions about the photos and use them in a narrative story written from the perspective of the woman in the photo. The students will also view the campaign posters of the women and their slogans for voting rights. After examining the posters, pictures, and articles, the students will take notes on the photographs using the Analyzing photos and prints handout from the Library of Congress website.
Students will also view pictures of Hillary Clinton, and her campaign slogan and draw conclusions about her attempt to change the views of the people about voting for a female president. Students can choose to connect what she is aiming to do to change people’s perspectives, and what the women suffragists were proposing.
Discussion:
The teacher may ask the students to find the link between the work of these leaders to the work and to the work Hillary Clinton wants to do. Can you compare/contrast Hillary Clinton to the women suffragists?
Closure:
The students can brainstorm the answers to these questions or any question raised throughout this lesson, and think about how far women have progressed over the years, and are still progressing with the historical nomination of Clinton.
