Content Area: Social Studies

Grade Level: 8th Grade
Content Area: Social Studies
Standard: SS.C.1.3.3, SS.C.1.3.2, SS.1.3.5. SS.1.3.4.,
Brief Description of instruction: Election Process
The students will all be assigned to a home group. Within their home group they will each be given a number 1 – 5. According to their number they are given that will be their expert group (All the 1’s will be a expert group, all the 2’s will be an expert group, etc) In the expert groups the students will study a particular subject area. Then in turn they will return to their home group and share all the information they gathered.
Rationale: To use cooperative learning to learn about particular subject areas and to be able to share that information with their other classmates.
Objectives / Lesson Description / Assessment / Materials Needed / Homework
Students will:
~ Work together cooperatively in groups to create a common goal.
~ Learn more about the local and state governments. Legislation branch, executive branch, and the judicial branch.
~Gather information about their special topic areas and interpret that information to their other classmates
/ The class will be divided into five groups. These groups will be the students’ home group. Then let the students know that each person in the home group will be broken up into expert groups. Each person in his or her home group will be given a number 1 – 5. Depending on their number determines their expert groups (all 1’s will be an expert group; all 2’s will be an expert group, etc).
Tell the students that in their expert groups they will be getting together to gather all the information they can about a particular subject. To be able to transport the information back to their home group. The subjects they will be researching are:
1. Local government
2. State government
3. Evacuative branch
4. Judicial branch
5. Legislative branch
To research these groups they will be using computers and a variety of book and magazines.
Before they break off into their expert groups they will make a foldable with tabs for these 5 topics. Each expert group will fill out their portion of the foldable in full detail. Then they will return back to their home group to share the information they found and fill out the rest of their foldable. / To assess what the students learned. We will assess how accurate the information they have gathered is. As well as playing Political jeopardy in all the terms they have learned. / - Computers
- Paper for a foldable
- Writing utensils
- Books
- magazines / To go home and possibly find at least two more facts about any of the subject areas in they’re foldable.
Accommodations/Modifications:
Student will be paired up with others to help if needed.
Provide visuals, if needed.
Give more time if needed.
Teacher assistance.
Easier reading material
Have the material read out loud.
Lined paper for foldable
Give them specific websites to look at.
ESE Collaboration:
Special educator in the classroom will assist those in specific areas of difficulty.
Both teachers will work with all students.
Grade Level: 8th Grade
Content Area: Social Studies/Language Arts

Sunshine State Standards: SS.C.2.3.1, SS.C.2.3.2, LA.B.2.3.1, LA.B.2.3.2, LA.B.2.3.3

Brief Description of instruction:
After researching about the U.S. President’s duties, students will brainstorm criteria for the “prefect president”. The information will then be used to create a job description and newspaper article to advertise the presidency. Students will listen to analyze a presidential speech in order to understand the principles held by the president and the historical context in which the speech was made. Prepare and hold a campaign and reelection simulation involving the featured presidents to compare leadership qualities; research and collect historical information surrounding the featured president.
Rationale:
Objectives / Lesson Description / Assessment / Materials Needed / Homework
*The students will understand that certain character traits will enhance the president’s ability to fulfill his responsibilities. *Students will show considerable comprehension of the president’s role in office.
*The student will analyze and critique media to gather details of the president’s role and create a written job description synthesizing information from different sources.
*The students will understand: 1. Presidents are judged during their time in office and afterwards as well.
2. Presidents often outline their goals in their inaugural addresses. / *Students will create a Bulletin Board from puzzle pieces of the prefect president. Visit President for the Day website for research. Go on a Scavenger Hunt about the responsibilities and life of a president. *Create a job description for the president.
*Create a News article detailing the perfect president. Student will respond to John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address by writing a newspaper article. / Students will be able to learn a topic through research, drawing and the production of a finished product. *Accommodations: Students will be very familiar with their topic and will have used some thinking, research, art and cooperative skills. / Bulletin Board: Poster board for puzzle pieces, magazines and newspapers for pictures, glue, paper and pencil, stapler.
Written Assignment: Computers with internet access and word processing program. / Students will visit discovery school website and take a look at some past presidents. Compare them to the job descriptions and news articles. Create a speech.
Adaptations:
* Visit the web site and discuss the steps of a presidential election with students. Students will briefly outline, web or number the steps in sequence of how the president is elected.
* Have students think about the president’s job in 100 years and determine if and how the job description change.
*Older students could work in groups as small newspaper teams. The entire newspaper could be about the “perfect president”. One student is Editor in Chief, one student is Proofreader, one student is the illustrator and another student is the Political humorist.
Grade Level: 8th Grade
Content Area: Social Studies/Language Arts

Sunshine State Standards: SS.C.2.3.1, SS.C.2.3.2, LA.B.2.3.1, LA.B.2.3.2, LA.B.2.3.3

Election Process Unit

Day / Objective / Lesson / Materials / Homework / Standards
1 / ~ Assess prior knowledge
~ Students will learn what they want to know about the election process.
~Students will learn more about the history of the election process. / Introduce the topic of the election process by doing a:
~KWL Chart – Fill out the What they know and What they want to know.
~Read “History of Elections”
KWL – fill out What I Learned. / KWL graphic organizers / No homework / LA.A.1.3.1
SS.C.2.3.3
SS.C.2.3.2
2 / ~ The students will work together as a group to research a particular subject area.
~ The students will learn more about the local government, state government, and the three branches. / Jigsaw activity – Spilt the class up into home groups and then into expert groups. The five groups will discuss (local government, state government, judicial branch, executive branch, legislature branch). Each group will fill out that part of a foldable and then return to their home groups share that information and add the rest of their information to their foldable. / ~Paper for foldable
~Computers to search for information / Response card on what they learned today. / SS.C.1.3.3
SS.C.1.3.2
SS.C.1.3.5
3 / ~To provide students with an understanding on how our leaders are elected.
~The students will learn what a primary is.
~The students will learn the aspects of the Republican and Democratic party / Overview of the Electoral Process. We will discuss as a group
· What a primary is.
· Republican party
· Democratic party
Once the students understand the difference between the different parties, they will choose and cut out which party they want to represent
~ Newspaper scavenger hunt – have the students look through the newspaper for people who are Democratic and Republican. / ~Newspaper
~Overhead
~Picture cut outs of a donkey and an elephant.
~Tape / None / SS.C.2.3.2
SS.C.1.3.3
SS.C.1.3.4
SS.C.1.3.5
SS.C.1.3.2
4 / ~The students will learn the details of the electoral college
~The students will learn the importance of registration and why it happens
~The students will perform a registration form to experience it. / Explanation of the electoral college.
· How it works
· Controversy of it
· Outcome of it.
Talk about registration and why voting is important. The history of voting in America and how voting has evolved.
Then relate it to the students by having them fill out a registration form to vote. / ~ Registration form.
~Map of the electoral college
~Example of the electoral college of 2000 to explain the controversy. / None / SS.C.2.3.2
5 / ~ Students will learn the process of campaigning and how to do it.
~ Students will use their creativity to come up with advertisements to promote the different sides. / Campaigning Day!!! Randomly two students from the class will be chosen to be the two candidates. This time will be used to make posers, and campaign slogans and what issues to support and to not support. Each student will make posters for both sides. / ~Poster board
~Markers
~Magazines / SS.C.2.3.6.
SS.C.2.3.5.
6 / ~The students will learn the aspect of propaganda and discuss the advantages and disadvantages.
~The students will be able to visualize propaganda by watching videos. / Students will be introduced to the aspect of propaganda. They will be viewing videos and different advertisements to discuss the different types of propaganda. During their search they will fill out a table of what they found in the different types of advertisements. / - TV and a VCR
- Magazines
- A propaganda table for each student / LA.D.2.3.6
LA.D.2.3.7
SS.C.2.3.5.
SS.C.2.3.4
7 / ~ The students will learn the aspects of writing a speech
~To understand the organization and preparation of speech writing. / Learning about speeches and questioning.
The students will do a scavenger hunt on the computer in groups to explore meaning and famous prior speeches by presidents.
Then all of the students will write a speech as if they were running for president. / Provide a “step by step to good speech making”
Computer / Questions to be answered about writing a speech / LA.B.2.2.3
SS.C.2.3.6
8 / ~ The students will use their skills acquired by writing speeches to inform the other students through their speech.
~The students will review what they have learned so far about electoral process through a game. / Candidates will give their speeches that they wrote the day before.
Electoral Jeopardy – reviewing all terms and content up to this point. The students will be in groups to perform jeopardy. / - Podium
-Video Camera to --tape the speeches
-Jeopardy game
- Different questions / LA.C.1.3.1
LA.A.1.3.3
SS.C.1.3.2.
SS.C.1.3.3.
SS.C.1.3.4.
SS.C.2.3.2.
SS.C.2.3.1.b
9 / ~The students will learn the aspects of debate and be informed on how to perform them
~The students will learn to use the information they have received throughout the campaign to vote for the best candidate / Introductions to debate. Go over rules about debates and how they are preformed. Then the two canidates will perform a debate with questions that are given by the other students.
After the debate the students will vote for the candidates they want to win. / -Podiums
-Voting cards
-Questions written on cards that the students are going to ask.
-Voting boxes / The students will go home and write why they voted for the person they did. / LA.D.2.2.3
SS.C.2.3.6.
SS.C.2.3.7
10 / ~The students will learn to calculate the votes for the candidate.
~Then students will learn to take those results and interpret them through graphing. / The winner will be announced this day and the candidates will make a quick acceptance speech.
Review of the votes then the students will interpret votes by making a bar graph. / - Graph paper
- Colored pencils
- Podium / The students will go home and write their thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of the election process / MA.E.1.3.1

References