Debates and Mock Election Lesson Plan

Submitted by: Kim Seward

Grade Levels: 3-5

In this debates and mock election lesson plan, which is adaptable for grades 3 through 5, students use BrainPOP resources to explore the differences between the Democratic and Republican political parties. Students then create a presidential race within their school and perform the parts of a formal debate.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.6

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.6

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.6

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships (e.g., however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.4

Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.5

Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.

Grade: 03

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.6

Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 3 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.4

Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.5

Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

Grade: 04

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.6

Differentiate between contexts that call for formal English (e.g., presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g., small-group discussion); use formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 4 Language standards 1 here for specific expectations.)

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.4

Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.5

Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

Grade: 05

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.6

Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 5 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

Students will:

Be able to identify the difference between the Democratic and Republican parties
Create a presidential race within their school
Know and perform the parts of a formal debate

Materials:

Computers with BrainPOP Election resources and internet access
Poster board
Markers
Ballot box
I Voted stickers
Assembly hall with stage

Vocabulary:

democracy; republican; democrat; primaries; debate

Preparation:

A ballot box will need to be constructed or purchased prior to the lessons. Also, you will need to get "I Voted!" stickers for all students in your school that participate in the voting.

Lesson Procedure:

Attention Grabber: Show the BrainPOP Political Parties movie.
Explain to the class that we are going to have our own debate, and that half of the students will be representing the Democrats and the other half will represent the Rpublicans.
Tell students that for the next week, we will be watching the BrainPOP election videos (one each day) and have a discussion about each in this order: Democracy, Political Party Origin, Political Beliefs, Presidental Election, Primaries and Caucases, and Voting (note: BrainPOP Jr. movies arealso available on President, Rights and Responsibilities, Local and State, and U.S. Symbols).
Based on what they learn from each of the videos, students will decide which party they want to represent in our school election.
Once they are on a political party campaign team, they will begin to research the beliefs and ideas of the candidates running in this election.
Each student in the group will write a short speech on why they should be their party representative for the school speaking on behalf of either the Republican or Democratic nominee.
Their party will choose one person in the group to represent them after everyone presents his/her speech in class. The whole group will then work together and create a speech and/or debate notes for their representative to present to the whole school or grade level.
Students will create and post campaign posters around school for their party.
The school will come together for a half hour debate to listen to the students representing the Democrats and Republicans.
After the speeches, there will be a school election.
Teachers will bring their classes to your room and your students will run the election process. (Make sure they give out the "I Voted!" stickers).
Students will tally votes and the school presidential winner will be announced.
After the real election, students will return to the topic and see who the next President of the United States will be and see if it was the same outcome as their school election.

Extension Activities:

You can use BrainPOP Activities & POP Quizzes or create worksheets to assess comprehension of videos and topics. These can also aid in planning for the reports and debates. Your class can create rubrics for speeches, campaign posters, and reports together.