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Let's Vote for Our President!

SUBJECT: Social Studies

GRADES: 3-5

by Beatrice Garcia, Elementary Ed./Home Educator Teacher
The Garcia Family Home Study Program ,Georgia

BRAINPOP MOVIES	BRAINPOP JR. MOVIES
	Rights and Responsibilities

OBJECTIVES Students will:

1. Talk, draw, and write about the rights and responsibilities of a good citizen.
2. Identify and choose, based on information collected, which presidential candidate they would vote for during the 2008 Presidential Elections.
3. Exercise the right to vote by dramatizing a presidential election.

MATERIALS

• Posters, newspaper or magazine pictures of the 2008 Democratic and Republican parties candidates (Rep: J. McCain, S. Palin; Dem: B. Obama, J. Biden).
• Teacher made signs denoting voting propaganda and precinct voting directions.
• Two or three boxes large enough for children to use as voting cubicles.
• Teacher made Voter's Registrations for each student.
• BrainPOP Jr. movie "Rights and Responsibilities."
• Audio-visual materials necessary to project the BrainPOP Jr. movie for students.
• Enough computers so each child can work at his/her own computer, if possible.
• Teacher made voting ballots.

PREPARATION
This lesson plan has been developed taking into consideration the special needs student. Therefore, it is highly visual and kinesthetic. It is also required, prior to teaching this lesson, that the students have knowledge of the responsibilities of the U.S. President. This can be accomplished by utilizing all the ideas, resources, and movie of the BrainPOP Jr. Social Studies lesson "President."

1. Arrange classroom as a voting precinct. Decorate outside the classroom with posters or magazine pictures of the 2008 Election candidates.

2. Prepare teacher made propaganda such as "Vote for..." and place on the outside walls of the classroom.

3. Prepare teacher made instructions for voting precinct such as signs for last names beginning with A-G, H-N, O-T, and U-Z. Prepare Voter's Registration Cards.

4. Number each cubicle box 1, 2, and 3, and place in a private area of the classroom.

5. Collect and cut several pictures with their captions from newspapers and magazines of the presidential and vice- presidential candidates for the 2008 Presidential Elections.

6. Print out the following BrainPOP Jr. handouts from the movie "Rights and Responsibilities" Talk About It - What rights do you have? What responsibilities do you have? (one page for teacher), and Activity - Responsibility Quilt Squares (one square per child).

7. Prepare a two box chart on the board that reads: Democratic Party on one box and Republican Party on the other box.

LESSON PROCEDURE

1. Day 1

Have students walk around your decorated classroom and encourage them to ask questions about the signs, pictures, and directions they see. Explain that they will be learning about rights and responsibilities of citizens.
2. Proceed to play the BrainPOP Jr. movie "Rights and Responsibilities." Pause the movie (when pause button blinks red) to clarify or check for understanding of concepts.
3. After viewing movie and using the handout from section Talk about It, "What rights do you have? What responsibilities do you have?," model by typing into the web page or list on the board the rights and responsibilities of a good citizen that the students mention. Have students review Word Wall to get acquainted with vocabulary words: right, responsibility, law, citizen, common good.
4. Ask students to go to Draw About It and draw "What can you do to make your community better?" and print out their drawing. Help students as needed.
5. Distribute squares from Activity - "Responsibility Squares" (one square per child). Have students write their names and the responsibility they drew about on the previous section Draw About It.
6. If you like, make a quilt out of the "responsibilities" your students drew, or display their drawings and descriptions in any fashion you want.
7. Close Day 1 lesson by summarizing all the concepts learned.



8. Day 2


9. Explain to students that today they will be dramatizing "Voting for Our President." Give a brief review of what you did in the previous lesson. Remind your students that voting for our new president and his cabinet is our right and responsibility.
10. Write new vocabulary on the board: candidate, vote, president, vice-president, Democratic Party, Republican Party, elections. Read these words with the students and use BrainPOP Jr.'s Word Wall to briefly explain their meanings. As the lesson progresses, you can stop and explain with more details what they mean so that the students will better understand their meanings.
11. Divide students in groups of two and distribute various newspaper and magazine pictures of the current 2008 Presidential Elections candidates.
12. Have the students look at the pictures, describe who and what they see, and read the captions. Help students whenever necessary.
13. Ask students to select a speaker in their group in order to tell about their pictures.
14. Make a chart on the board - "Democratic Party - Republican Party." Write down the names of the candidates on their respective section of the chart as the students mention their names: J. McCain, S. Palin, B. Obama, J. Biden. Briefly explain what the parties mean.
15. After each group talks about their pictures, help students summarize the information of that group by writing it under the Democratic party or the Republican Party chart.
16. After all the groups present their findings, have students individually think which candidate they consider best for president of the United States of America.
17. Distribute the Voter's Registrations to the students. Explain that now that they know who to vote for, they will be role playing the election of the USA President. Explain that the voter's registration gives them the right to vote and identifies them as US citizens with all the rights and responsibilities.
18. Have the students make a line and proceed to vote. Assign some students or ask for volunteers to verify the voter's registration and give out the ballots to vote. Later, these students will also vote.
19. Have a student count and tally the presidential votes in front of the class. Emphasize the importance of being truthful when counting the votes.
20. Announce which candidate is the winner.
21. Close Day 2 lesson by encouraging students to use vocabulary words to tell what everybody in your class did on that election day.

VOCABULARY
"Rights and Responsibilities" movie Word Wall - right; responsibility; law; citizen; common good; plus the words, vote; candidate; president; vice-president; Democratic Party; Republican Party; voter's registration; election.

ACTIVITIES
1.Students can accompany their parents to vote on Election Day and write or draw about their experience.

2. Students can track all election votes by viewing the news and finding out who won the elections.

3. Students can be introduced to how the president of the USA is elected through the "Electoral College."

I can provide samples of all teacher made materials.

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