Election Lesson Plan

This is a lesson that I taught recently in the field. For privacy purposes, I have removed the name of the School and the host teacher. Overall, this lesson went great. The only thing that I chose not to do was to discuss the candidates' views on certain issues. I chose not to do this because the students in this classroom would have be overwhelmed by all of the information that was being given to them. I also felt that they would not grasp this component. The power point that I used in this lesson is at the bottom of this blog post for you to see.


Lesson Title: Let's vote for President!

Grade Level: 3rd grade

Time: 60 minutes

Objective: In this lesson, students will be exposed to the importance of the President of the United States and why it is important to vote for President by participating in a mock election.

Standards: These are Indiana Academic Standards.
Social Studies

• 3.2.2 Identify fundamental democratic principles and ideals
• 3.2.6 Explain the role citizens have in making decisions and rules within the community, state, and nation.

Literacy

• 3.5.5 Write for different purposes and to a specific audience or person.

Materials Needed:

• Barack by Jonah Winter
• My Dad, John McCain by Meghan McCain
• President PowerPoint (at bottom of blog post)
• Ballots and a ballot box
• If I were President...worksheet
• I voted! stickers

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to give students a hands-on experience voting for the President and expose students to the important rol the President plays in our government.

Procedure:

1. Discuss the executive branch of the government and the role of the President of the United States. (PowerPoint Presentation)
2. Discuss election and the importance of voting using the vocabulary words. (PowerPoint Presentation)
3. Ask the students if they know anything about the current presidential election that will occur on November 4th, 2008. Ask them if they know who the candidates are.
4. Read Barack by Jonah Winter and My Dad, John McCain by Meghan McCain. After reading each book discuss what sutdnets learned about each candidate.
5. Using the PowerPoint Presentation, talk about the candidates' views on the following issues: education, global warming, and healthcare. *See note at top of post concerning this step.
6. Students will participate in a mock election by voting for President of the United States. Student votes will be counted aloud. Point out that even though they may not like who is elected, it is still important to support whoever is elected as our President.
7. Students wil work on If I were President...worksheet. They will describe what their responsibilites would be if they were President.
8. Students will each receive an "I voted!" sticker for their participation.

Homework: none

Assessment: The students will be assessed based on their response on the If I were President.. worksheet.