Lessons

Sample Lesson Plan

Title (or focus) of the Lesson: Introduction to the Debate & American Presidential Debate Activity

Grade Level(s): 8 Time Required for Lesson Delivery: 160 Minutes (4 classes)

Content Area Standards

Standard 5 – Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Intermediate Level

Students will used a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrated their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including the avenues of participation.

4. The study of civics and citizenship requires the ability to probe ideas and assumptions, ask and answer analytical questions, take a skeptical attitude toward questionable arguments, evaluate evidence, formulate rational conclusions, and develop and refine participatory skills.

Students:

Respect the rights of others in discussions and classroom debates regardless of whether or not one aggress with their viewpoint
Explain the role that civility plays in promoting effective citizenship in preserving democracy

ISTE NETS Standards

Standard 3 – Research and Information Fluency

Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.

Students:

Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.

Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.

Standard 4 – Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.

Students:

A. Identify and define authentic problems and significance questions for investigation.

C. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.

Student Objectives:

1) Given an explanation on the upcoming presidential debate, the students will hold a debate in class.

2) After being divided into sides, John McCain and Barack Obama, the students will discuss their debate topics and plan for a debate.

3) Students will research issues for John McCain and Barack Obama using Internet sources bookmarked for this assignment.

Anticipatory Set – Show the students the Alice Animation that was created to have the students start thinking about Election Day in the United States. Introduce the assignment to the class. Break the class into John McCain Barack Obama groups. Explain of the debate activity to the class. Hand out the scoring guide, the debate assignment directions, and the debate assignment topics.

Provide Information:

The teacher will provide the students with a handout for directions of the assignment. Also, the teacher will explain at the beginning of the assignment the directions and the objectives of the assignment. The teacher and the consultant will be working with the students so they will be available to answer any questions on the assignment. The students will find the information during their research process on the computers in the library or at home from the websites www.johnmccain.com and www.barackobama.com. The students can use other media sources to research as well, as long as those sources are relevant.

Materials: Teacher materials include 1) a podium to serve as a moderator for the debate; 2) a projector; 3) computer; 4) a projection screen; 5) Alice Animation.

Student materials include: 1) a pen or pencil to take notes during the class; 2) a handout on debate issues (prepared by the teacher); 3) a handout for the debate directions; 4) a handout of the scoring guide; and, 5) computers to go on the Internet to research the issues for the Presidential nominees (library).

Introduce the Learning Activity:

The teacher shows the students the Alice Animation as an opener to the debate assignment. After the students watch the Alice Animation, the teacher will hold a brief discussion with the class that discusses the upcoming election. The students ask any questions about the election. Then, the teacher introduces the assignment for the upcoming debate and why the assignment is important. The teacher also explains why debates are so vital for elections. The teacher explains the directions of the assignment. Each student is expected to research a candidate’s stances on certain issues. The teacher will explain how it is important that students become involved and know the issues because someday they will be expected to vote on Election Day. The teacher explains that having informed voters is the best way to demonstrate their civic duty, along with voting.

The teacher will serve as a motivator for the assignment because the teacher, along with the librarian or consultant teacher, will assist the students in their research process. The teacher will show the students the Alice Animation before the assignment is introduced to get the students interested in the assignment. The teachers will assist the groups and ask them how their candidate feels on certain issues. The students will be interested in the debate because of the incentive that being a member on the winning team is the only way to get a 100 on the assignment.

Instructional Strategies: Teach to the Objectives (TTO)

I. Opener: Show the students the Alice Animation that was created by the teacher for the assignment. A prompting discussion that introduces and explains to the students about the upcoming presidential debate. The students ask any questions they have about the debate or the directions for the upcoming days. Explain to the students that they will participate in a class debate the day 4. Explain to the students that after the introduction of the assignment on day 1 that the remaining time will be used divide the students into either McCain or Obama groups and to research the issues of the candidates. Day 2 will be used for more research and meeting with group to discuss the debate. Mr. Castine will work with one group of students and the Consultant teacher will work with the other group. Day 3: Debate preparation in classroom. Students will participate in creating the opening/closing statements. The groups will go over the issues with each other. On day 4, the debate will be held in class with Mr. Castine serving as the moderator for the debate.

II. Body: Introduce the students to the importance of the upcoming presidential debate. Group #1 will be in favor of John McCain. Group #2 will be in favor of Barack Obama. Distribute a handout of debate topics. This debate will fall under current events in their class. Ask the students if they have any questions regarding the debate questions. Have the students break into their groups to discuss the debate questions. Have the teacher walk around to answer any questions the students have concerning the debate. Have the students report to the library on day 1 and day 2. The students will research the debate issues with help from Mr. Castine, depending on which group. Also, half the students in the group will research the views of the opposing candidate and the other half of the group researching the candidate’s views. Day 3 will be used as a preparation of the opening/closing statements for the groups. Also, the groups will discuss the issues with one another. On day 4 have the students participate in the debate that is prepared, with Mr. Castine serving as the moderator.

III. Closing: Hold the debate on day 4. After the debate is completed, have a brief discussion with the class. The teacher asks the students what they learned from this assignment and ways to improve upon it. The teacher asks the students what they thought of the assignment overall. Give positive feedback to the class on the wonderful job they all did for the assignment.

Provide Practice:

The Content Standard states, “the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including the avenues of participation.” The students will learn about the responsibilities of citizenship and avenues of participation because they will participate in the debate. Also, the students demonstrate these objectives during the research portion of the assignment, especially the ISTE NETS Standards. The students will participate in discussions before and after the debate, where the class discusses debates and the importance of Election Day.

The students will work individually in the computer lab or library as each student researches their assigned issue for their candidate. Each student will be assigned an issue, but due to class size, some students might have more than one issue for their candidate. On day 3, students will work in their groups to help write the opening statement and the closing statement. The group will help students who struggled during the research process in researching the candidate’s stance on that issue, if need be. The group will also work together in creating posters for the debate that will be held on day 4. The whole class will participate in the debate. Also, all the students will participate in the class discussions before and after the debate. This allows different opportunities for the students to interact with one another.

As the teachers walk around and monitor the students working on days 1-3, the teachers will offer verbal feedback on their effort they are putting forth. The positive verbal reinforcement will help keep the students on task and it is important to offer students positive feedback for their effort. The students will also receive written feedback when they are given back their scoring guide. The scoring guide will list the student’s grade, as well as include written feedback on their effort they put forth. It is important to offer both verbal and written feedback to all the students.

Review the Activity:

The teacher asks the students what they learned from this assignment and ways to improve upon it. The teacher asks the students what they thought of the assignment overall. Give positive feedback to the class on the wonderful job they all did for the assignment. The teacher will ask the students how it felt to research for their candidates. The teacher will ask the students if their opinions changed for either of the candidates after hearing their stance on the issues. The debate is where the students will summarize the important points of the assignment because the students are expected to explain their candidate’s stances on the issue they were assigned.

Method of Assessment: From the classroom debate, the teacher will assess how well the students have an understanding of debates. The students will be expected to research and address all the issues selected. The scoring guide created will be used to assess the students’ participation in the group, as well as the debate.

I. Tools for Assessment (and Evaluation, if applicable): The teacher will walk around and monitor the class during day 1 and 2. Mr. Castine will work with one group in the library, while the Consultant teacher or librarian will work with the other group. This allows the teacher to assess the group work the students are doing. Day 3 will also be used for the students to prepare for the debate, with teachers assisting the students create their opening argument, closing argument, and ensuring that the students properly researched the issues.

II. Evaluation (if applicable): Participating in the debate will be part of the student’s class participation grade. The student’s preparedness for the debate will also be part of their participation grade. The evaluation should be on accuracy of the content and delivery of the information during the debate, as seen on the scoring guide.

III. Self-assessment / reflection: The teacher reflects on how well the lesson plan and objectives were understood by the class in his personal journal. The teacher determines if all the students were fully prepared to participate in the debate. The teacher decides if more debates should be done throughout the year. From the students’ feedback, the teacher can assess if the assignment is worth doing again.

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Date Page was last Modified: December 01, 2008