Ms. Calhoun's Video      
 In the Limelight LoTi Teachers Website
Wanda Calhoun's  Election Day Lesson
Lesson Plan Objective
Students study the process and purposes of voting, collect data for analysis and predicting an outcome of a mock election for Mayor.

Other Activities
*Students will plan the steps needed in an election.
*Students will keep a journal of their activities and what they have learned.
*Students will make predictions about the outcomes of the election.
*Students will be shown a real voter registration card.
*Students will make paper voter registration cards for the voters at their school.
*Students will make a voter registration card online and place it on the class web page so the public can register to vote.
*Students will register voters.
*Students will make cards to remind their family members to vote in the real election and online in their election.
*Students will create and carry out their own campaigns for Mayor...Red Rabbit, Purple Porcupine, or Forest Green Frog.
*Students will make campaign slogans, campaign buttons, speeches, signs, etc. to use during the campaign.
*Students will create and take surveys to help predict the winner.
*Students will create voting booths and a ballot box to be placed outside their classroom.
*Students will encourage all employees and students at the Primary school to be responsible, good citizens and exercise their right to vote in the election.
*The class will create their own web page and post an electronic voting site on the web page introducing the candidates, along with a ballot where the public can cast their vote in the election.
*Students will send out emails to invite the public to participate in their election.
*Students will be shown a real sample ballot used in the Wilson County election.
*Students will hold a mock election.
*Students will count the votes from the paper ballots and graph the results using an internet graphing site.
*Students will obtain the results from the electronic voting site and graph the results using an internet graphing site.
*Students will compare how the students and the employees of the Primary school voted to how the public voted.
*Students will combine the results from both the paper ballots and the electronic voting site to see who the overall winner is.
*Students will turn in the results of the election to the principal and he will announce the results over the intercom at school.
*Students will post the results of the election on the class web page.
*Students will celebrate the victory (and their hard work and excellent learning) by having an inaugural ceremony.
*Students will reflect on this lesson--the best part, least favorite part, what they learned, describe one activity and its importance to the election, tell why elections are important, what they would do differently next time.

Activities

*Introduce the concept of voting to the students. Relate it to the voting in real life situations.
*Ask and explain why we vote--so that a group of people can make a decision. *Talk about fairness and the importance of everyone having a part in decisions. *Discuss the responsibilities that students and citizens have to their schools and to their communities, as well as to themselves and their families. *List vocabulary words on the board as they come up in discussions...citizen, community, good, responsibility, and service.
*Read aloud the book Duck for President.
*Use the following questions to generate discussion about the story:
**How did this story begin?
**What did Duck want to do?
*What happened next?
**What did the other animals think about Duck?
**How do you think this story is like elections in real life?
*Tell students that in our country, each citizen (person who is a member of the country) has certain responsibilities. One responsibility is a civic responsibility.
*Explain that an example of civic responsibility is voting.
*Tell students they will be learning about voting and elections for the next few weeks.
*Show and read a couple of short newspaper articles about candidates in the real election. Then pin them to the bulletin board.
*Discuss the difference between fact and opinion and how it is important during an election.
*Talk about fairness and the importance of everyone having a part in decisions.
*Explore and bookmark different internet sites about elections and voting.
*Make an interactive KWL chart about voting using Kidspiration.
*Explain that the class will now vote to make a decision. What is your favorite farm animal?
*Have students make a graph using Post-it Notes.
*Convert the paper graph to a computerized graph using an internet graphing site.
*Throughout this unit, use the voting process to make classroom decisions.

Description of activities that support the Bloom's level
Knowledge--Students will define the meaning of responsibility.

Comprehension--Students will explain one reason why that candidate received his vote.

Application--Students will keep a journal about their activities and write about what they have learned.

Analysis--Students will compare and contrast the results from the school election to the results from the public election.

Synthesis--Students will create at least two original slogans for his candidate. Students will also construct personal voting booths to be used the day of the election.

Evaluation--Students will evaluate, combine, and organize the information from both elections, and create a graph to display the results.

Resources
Books about voting, computer, online resources, projector, video camera, digital camera, newspapers

Technology Applications
Internet research, web projects, web page creation, internet graphing, internet voting, video photography, digital photography
 

Culminating Performance Task
The student will demonstrate knowledge of registering voters; campaigning; voting; creating slogans; creating buttons, banners, or posters; and organizing the results from a mock election by creating a chart or graph displaying the results.
 

Election Rubric