Title of Unit: The importance of voting Title of Lesson: I study the candidates.

Submitted By: Jennifer Nelson

A. Summary of the Lesson Plan: Students will become candidate researchers. There task is to learn as much as they can about the candidates so they can create an accurate candidate profile that will appeal to youth voters. Students will participate in guided research methods. B. Target Population: Grade Level: 4 Skill Level: All learning levels Grouping: o Warm up will be whole group o Activity will also be whole group o Campaign research teams will be small group-based on their groups decisions, delegated parts can be partnered or remain as small group. o Closure-whole group then individual C. Materials: KWL chart Student journals Computers for research Stickers for each child Poster boards Markers D. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards
C15.4.1 Explain the qualities of a leader. C15.4.3 Identify sources of information people use to form an opinion.

Student-Friendly Standards I will talk about the qualities of a leader. I will pick out sources of information people use to form an opinion.

E. Procedure: 1. Warm up- KWL chart o I will ask the students to fill out a KWL chart about what qualities make good leaders. We will then discuss the importance of gathering information and how it helps us to form opinions.
EDEL 453 - Spring 2013 Karen Powell- Instructor page 1

Nevada State College

Title of Unit: The importance of voting Title of Lesson: I study the candidates. Submitted By: Jennifer Nelson

2. We will then do a short activity to show the students the importance of gathering information. o Which hand? o I will get a small prize that I can conceal in one hand, such as a sticker, for each child. I will start the activity by telling the students that they may each guess which of my hands holds a prize. I will tell them that they will be able to decide correctly if they ask for information first. I will continue to tell them that information will help them to make a better decision. I will call the children up one at a time to guess which hand holds the prize. I will ask each of them if they would like some information. If they do, I will give them a clue. (Its the hand closest to the door, etc.) I will allow students to try again if they guessed wrong. I will then ask them the following questions: o o o Did information help you to make a good choice? Can information help you to make a good choice when choosing a leader? Where can you find information about people who want to be our leaders?

o o o o

3. Campaign research teamsI will then break the class up into two groups to research the two major candidates. I will then assign a candidate to different groups for them to describe their character, what they have done for others and if they have good leadership qualities using the following websites. http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/slideshow/barackobama-life/44576 http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/slideshow/mitt-romney-life/44546 Within their groups, students will come up with a way to present their candidate to the class. 4. Students will have the remainder of class time to do their research and start putting things together. I will be walking around the class posing questions about their candidates to get students to think more critically. The will be presenting the following day. 5. CLOSURE: I will have groups collaborate and come up with three interesting facts that they will share with the class. I will then have a ticket out the door posing the following question: Why is it important to gather information when it comes to making decisions?

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 2

Title of Unit: The importance of voting Title of Lesson: I study the candidates. Submitted By: Jennifer Nelson

F. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? I will use their candidate journals and ticket out the door. Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. Looking at their candidate journals, I will be able to see if they are participating in the research of their specific candidate. Collecting their tickets out the door, I will know that the students show understanding when they have an answer similar to: to make good choices. G. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? I think that the easiest part of the lesson would be the activity in the beginning. 2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? I think that it would be hard to stay unbiased, posing questions and hearing the feedback from students. I think that it would be hard not to keep my standing and beliefs on things out of the lesson. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? Students could prepare a memo for the campaign headquarters about possible vulnerabilities, both of their own candidate and of the opposing candidate. 4. What will you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? I will show them websites with candidate information on them, how to understand the information they find. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? I honestly believe that it might be too advanced for 2nd graders; I have had no experience with elementary school aged children. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? Guessing on how much time each task will take in my head.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2013

Karen Powell- Instructor

page 3