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Name: Electoral College: How the Electoral College Affects Our Elections Class/Subject: 8th Grade Social Studies

Date: 10/22/12 Student Objectives/Outcomes: 1 Students will learn the basic aspects of the Electoral College and how it functions in our country. 2 Students will analyze the Electoral College and its effectiveness while contemplating alternatives to the Electoral College system. 3 Students will apply their knowledge of the Electoral College by creating an Electoral College system within their school. Content Standards: IL 14.C.4 Describe the meaning of participatory citizenship (e.g., volunteerism, voting) at all levels of government and society in the United States. IL14.F.3a Analyze historical influences on the development of political ideas and practices as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Illinois Constitution. Materials/Resources/Technology: Power Point Smartboard School Map Large pieces of paper Dry Erase Board Class Civics Book Markers Teachers Goals: To clarify the role of the Electoral College in electing the President. To demonstrate how the Electoral College is calculated and used within the election. Lesson Instruction: (45 minutes total) Introduction (2 minutes) Tie in the upcoming 2012 election; ask the students if they think the election will be close. Then ask what they think will happen if there is a tie. This will lead into the discussion about the Electoral College. o We have been talking about the upcoming election quite a bit. Who thinks the election will be close? (Let students answer) What do you think would happen if there was a tie? o This serves as a way to connect the discussion of the upcoming election with a historical, but still relevant, concept of the Electoral College. Basic Concepts (p. 33) (5 minutes)

This section will touch on the readings from the book. This gives the students a little bit of history behind the Electoral College and why it was created. It will also allow students to build on any prior knowledge and will aid in the discussion and project planned for later parts of the lesson. This section fulfills IL Standard 14.F.3a by giving historical context to the Electoral College while also showing how the people of the time influenced its creation. The Electoral College was created as a way to select the President. Why do you think the Electoral College was created? Let students come up with 2-3 reasons. Looking for answers relating to its creation as a way to select the President without giving the people full power in the selection. Those writing the constitution did not believe the common man educated enough to vote on such an important issue. Have students highlight in their book: First sentence in 2nd paragraph First sentence in 3rd paragraph Second sentence in 3rd paragraph Before 1961, Washington D.C. was not allowed to vote for the President. Pull up map of past electoral votes and a prediction for this year using the Smartboard and PowerPoint we created. Why do you think this is? Do you think it was fair that they did not get to vote? Is it fair now that they have three electoral votes? Problems with the Electoral College (5 minutes) This section will allow students to analyze the Electoral College based on the knowledge we just gained. The purpose of this section is to spark discussion about whether the Electoral College system is fair or if it should be changed to make it fairer. From this discussion, students will be able to make connections between the Electoral College and what they learned earlier in the unit about proposing and ratifying amendments to the Constitution. This section fulfills IL Standard 14.C.4 because students will be discussing voting in the United States but also analyzing the importance of voting to the Electoral College and whether voting would take a different role in another political system. The Electoral College allows a person to be elected without winning the popular vote. Example: Al Gore v. George W. Bush in 2000 election Was this fair? Is it right that whoever gets the most votes still may not be elected? Would you change this system? What would you change it to? Does this system make you believe your vote does not matter? Why is it still important to be a participatory citizen? The answers to these questions will be all based on student discussion and opinion. There is no right or wrong answer, the ability of students to critically think about the role of the Electoral College is the most important. Changing the Constitution (p. 41) (5 minutes)

If you were to change the Electoral College, how would you go about that? Would it be easy or difficult? Steps you have to take to change the Constitution Must be ratified by Senate and House. The constitution has only had 27 Amendments added since it was formed.

Checks for understanding How to calculate the Electoral College (30 minutes) To assess what the students have learned throughout the lesson, they will create an Electoral College map for their school to be used in their school-wide elections that will take place on the same day as the actual election. This activity will give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to a familiar venue, their own school. These Electoral College maps will be drawn based on a school map and the calculation of Electoral votes each class gets based on the number of students in each homeroom. The sum of senators and representatives to each state is the number of Electoral votes each state receives (Washington D.C. gets 3 votes). 538 Electoral Votes for entire country. How to calculate the Electoral College for their school. Pull up map of the school on the Smartboard. Formula for calculating Electoral votes: total number of students divided by 430 then multiply by 535 (office gets 3 votes like Washington D.C.) Example: homeroom-->19 kids 19/430=0.04418 0.04418 x 535=23.6 We will have to round the numbers but have to make sure it equals 535 Assign each classroom a number of electoral votes on the map for the school wide vote These maps will be used around the school so that the students can color in each homeroom red or blue based on how each class votes. These will be updated regularly like in the real election. Closure The closure will summarize the points of the lesson and will bring the lesson full circle by relating the activity back to the initial discussion of the Electoral College. The Electoral College plays a significant role in the election process. The electoral votes are what actually select the President, not the popular vote. There has been debate about the usefulness of this technique since it has proven controversial in recent elections. It is imperative to understand the importance of being participatory citizens, despite the debates about the Electoral Colleges usefulness. Self-Assessment I will assess the lesson based on two parts. The first part of the assessment will be the completion and comprehension of the lesson based on review questions in the book. The students will complete 10 questions that will also help them on their state-mandated

Constitution test. The other form of assessment will be the maps that each student creates. The ability for each student to understand the formula and the reasons behind the formula will help me assess whether the students grasp the concepts of the Electoral College.

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