Tori Castilla and Summer Bloom

Dr. Leafgren
EDT 473
Section B
23 November 2014
LESSON STUDY
1.

VOTING: Why we do it and what it is

2.

Social Studies & Language Arts

3.

This lesson focuses on voting using the two content areas of social studies and

language arts. The lesson taught the children about the voting process, the requirements
to be able to vote, why their vote matters and made them reflectively think about their
choices when voting. Their vote ultimately determined what snack the class would be the
following day. In the end, the students demonstrated what they learned about voting and
the process.
4. CONTEXT
Grade level: First grade

The learning experience for the students in this classroom is very hands on. The

students are used to an active style of learning. When working on a topic they use a
variety of lessons to learn. The students in this classroom are very enthusiastic about their
learning experiences. The children in our classroom are always eager to answer questions
and participate during lessons. There is a specific student in our classroom who is
constantly wanting to engage in class but does not always do it in the appropriate manner.
She expresses her love for learning and always has an answer yet tends to call out due to

her excitement during lessons. Another student in the classroom usually has something to
say but shies away from letting the rest of the class know. He will create an answer in his
head but when the attention is too focused on him he will revert away from answering.
Include a brief description of what the students have already done related (even
loosely) to the topic youve selected.
The students have loosely discussed the topic of voting. With voting week
coming up, the teacher has mentioned it previously but did not go into great detail.
5. DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THE LESSON
Social Studies standards:
8. Individuals are accountable for their actions.
9. Collaboration requires group members to respect the rights and
opinions of others.
Language Arts standards:
Grade 1 Unit 2 LG 4
EU: How to use written expression to communicate information using facts based on a
topic. W.1.2
LG4: The student will be able to write an informative/explanatory text on a given topic
using facts about the topic using facts about the topic and provide some sense of closure.
W.1.2
Describe in your own words what you believe are the overarching ideas/big ideas
related to your two standards above.
There is a lot of understandings that the students will ultimately take away from
these standards and the experience provided. Within the social studies part of our lesson,

this is something that the students will need to know learn for many future endeavors. It
is important for them to understand how to respect the rights of others opinions, and to
realize that they are accountable for their own actions. Through learning the importance
of voting they were able to see that each individual has a right to their own opinion and
vote. The students had to respect one anothers choices and be happy with the resulting
snack choice. They came out of this lesson understanding that while we may not always
be happy with the end result, everyone has a voice and that must be respected.
Through using writing in this lesson to be able to express ideas and communicate
facts based on a topic the students will have learned something that they can use later on
in life. While the writing activity was centered around a smaller topic in this lesson, it can
grow into a bigger picture in the future. The students were able to express their ideas
about the snack of their choice, and through this, communicate the facts that they had to
the class to show why their vote was for a certain snack. These children are going to need
to know how to communicate their ideas in an effective way to allow their voice to be
heard. If they do not know how to express their facts to others than they will be lacking
an important element of self expression in life.
6. DESCRIPTION OF LESSON DESIGN
In this lesson we will begin with a pre assessment of the students knowledge of
voting. We will create a KWL chart on the board. We will assess the students prior
knowledge by asking them to tell us anything they already knew about voting. The
students will then raise their hands to give any answers possible. We will write what the
class comes up with under the what we know section of the KWL chart. After the class
has given all of their information for the first section of the chart we move onto what we

want to know. We will ask the students what they want to know about voting that they
do not know anything about, or want to know more about. After they have had a chance
to share all of their ideas with the class and we have written on the board we will move
onto the next part of the lesson. We will have the students join us on the carpet for a
reading of My Teacher for President by Kay Winters. We will read this book to the
students, while asking questions throughout the story to get an idea of their
comprehension. After finishing the story we will discuss what we learned in the story on
the carpet as a class. We will answer any questions the students may have about what
they heard in the story. Then the students will be directed back to their seats for the next
part of the lesson. At this time we will explain that we will be voting on something as a
class. We will announce to the class that we are going to take votes on the classroom
snack. The students will be given three options that include pretzels, goldfish, and fruit
loops. The students will be asked to make a personal choice and take out their journals.
The students will be told to write three reasons why the class should vote for their snack
of choice. After they take the time to write why we should vote on their snack they will
get a chance to share if they would like. We will ask at least one student who voted for
each snack to be allowed to communicate why they want the class to vote for their snack
of choice. After the class has gotten a chance to share, we will hand out a ballot to each
student. We will express the importance of privacy of the votes. The students will circle
their vote and it will then be collected. After the ballots are all in we will count them off
in front of the class. The winning snack will be brought into the class the next day. We
will discuss as a class how the voting worked. We will take what we learned from the
book and make connections to the voting we did in class. We will discuss why this is fair

and why the snack that won is going to be brought in. After the discussion of the voting
that took place we will return to our KWL chart. The class will then be allowed to
express all information learned to add to the what we learned section of the chart.
Everyone will be given a chance to talk about what they learned about voting to complete
the chart as a class.
During this lesson, the students will be able to fully understand that collaboration
requires group members to respect the rights and opinions of others. Each student will
vote for a particular snack in confidence and after the votes are counted, one snack will
win. Although some students may be upset about the final decision, they will have to
understand that their classmates opinions went into this and they must respect that. In
addition, after the writing part of this lesson, students will share their responses about
why they chose a certain snack while their peers listen. Although many of them will
have differing opinions, they must realize that they can not be disrespectful of this.
This is also how the students will use written expression to communicate
information using facts based on a topic. The will write in their journals about why they
chose a particular snacks including 3 reasons for their choice. This will allow them to
have a rich experience practicing expressing their opinion in a professional way using
facts to support their reasoning.
There were several reasons we chose to do this activity in a particular way related
to the classroom context and the children in our host classroom. Everyday, the teacher
has a read aloud time in which the children come to a particular area of the room and sit
on the floor and listen. Because of this, we chose to do our read aloud in the same
fashion so that the children were familiar with it. We also chose the order of activities for

a particular reason. There are many students in the class who often get distracted if they
are in their seats for long periods of time, working on the same topic. Because of this, we
chose to go from a whole class discussion in their seats, to a read aloud on the ground, to
a voting activity, back to their seats for a final assessment of what they learned during the
lesson.
7. ANALYSIS OF THE LESSON:
Determine and list 3 of the best of the questions weve been working with that you
believe
can guide your teaching.
1. Was this lesson a hands on experience that would allow the children to ask and
answer their own questions? (taken from an in class video)
2. Were the children able to learn from their peers? (In class video)
3. Did this lesson allow for a powerful experience that would allow the children to
begin to discuss the importance of other issues? (BAB, pg 10)
Regarding your lesson/activity, respond to the 3 questions you selected in #1.
1.

This lesson was a hands on experience that allowed the children to ask and answer

their own questions. Curriculum should be more than pieces of information, more than
subject matter, more than the disciplines. (Liberating the Curriculum, 98) Students
should be able to create their own questions and engage in finding their own answers.
This lesson began with a KWL chart. This allowed the children to begin by seeing what
they already knew in the beginning of the chart. Then the children were able to write in
the middle of the chart what they wanted to know. This allowed them to to ask their own
questions about the lesson. At the end of the lesson they finished the chart with what they

learned. They were able to ask what they wanted to know, complete the lesson together
as a class, and answer their questions at the end. This showed the students what type of
conclusions they could come to on their own after going through the lesson. Through
voting for a snack on their own they were able to get the hands on experience of voting
for more of a personal comprehension.
2.

This lesson allowed the students to learn from their peers. The entire lesson was

done as a class which created an atmosphere for engaged learning. Through this the
students were able to create a shared learning experience, which is valuable for future
lessons to come. (Learning To Trust, 87) When creating the KWL chart, the students
were able to hear what their peers had to say, which would spark other aspects of voting
that they may have known. When reading their journal entries to the class on why we
should vote for a specific snack, they were able to hear what their peers had to say. When
listening to the other students it gave them a chance to learn more and hear an idea that
they did not originally come up with. Throughout the whole lesson there was a need for
respect. The students had to respect each others opinions when voting and respect the end
result that had the most votes. When observing their peers showing respect, other
students were able to view that behavior and follow it. This is all part of creating a
positive learning environment for children in which Ayers describes in the chapter
Creating an Environment for Learning in the book, To Teach.
3.

This lesson created a powerful experience that allowed the children to begin to

discuss the importance of other issues. The lesson that took place was about something
that could enforce skills the children will need to use the rest of their lives. The children
learned more about voting and how to respect others opinions. They learned the

importance of everyones opinion and the process that comes along with that. After this
lesson the students generated many questions that stemmed from what they had learned.
Students had questions about changing their mind and their vote. Students were curious
about not agreeing with another persons vote. Critical thinking has a huge impact on
children in the classroom (Black Ants and Buddhists, 17) which was implemented in this
lesson.