Government and Civics – Everyday Americans, Exceptional Americans

Declaration of Independence

Jessica Kilday — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:40:36 +0000

The students will investigate the tone of resentment the colonies had against Great Britain from two modes: 4 historic pictures and one contemporary video. The students should rely on their background knowledge of the time period to understand the events that led up to the writing of the Declaration of Independence and ultimately the Revolutionary War. The students will look at Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration and question the changes that were made. If indeed, the Declaration was meant to be read then the students will watch a video of a host of celebrities reading the Declaration. How does the tone of this video compare to the music video? Finally, the students will look at certain passages of the Declaration and note how these ideas are infused in our government today.

The Articles of Confederation

Jessica Kilday — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:03:01 +0000

The topic of this lesson is examining the Articles of Confederation and how they influenced the Constitution. The students will investigate several pre-determined articles to determine how they influenced the writing of the Constitution. The students will examine Articles II, III, and VIII. This is in accordance with the state standards of VA.

The learner will investigate the primary sources to understand the importance’s of the Articles of Confederation, why they failed, and how specific Articles helped shape our current form of government, the US Constitution.

The Selective Service: What does it mean for you?

Jessica Kilday — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:50:51 +0000

During this lesson, the student will look at D. S. S. Form 150 (Order to Report for Induction), the 1970 Random Selection Sequence (lottery), and A Volunteer Military or a Draft? (video) Through the investigation of these sources, background information on the sources, and teacher-guided discussion, the student will learn how the Selective Service relates to their own lives. By these means, the student will gain a better understanding of how our government impacts their lives and will be one step closer to being informed participants in the political process.

Analyzing Political Campaign Commercials

Jessica Kilday — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:04:48 +0000

In this activity, the students will analyze four political campaign commercials to understand some of the roles of political parties as well as how citizens make informed choices during elections. Two of the commercials are from the 2004 presidential election and concern the war on terror. The other two commercials are from the 1964 presidential election and concern the Cold War. The students will examine these commercials from two perspectives. One perspective is that of a presidential election campaign staff member, which will help the students to learn how campaign commercials are used as a tool to educate voters and to help candidates win elections. The students also will analyze the commercials from the perspective of a voter to further understand four ways that citizens make informed choices in elections: by separating facts from opinions, detecting bias, evaluating the source of their information and identifying propaganda.

For the assessment piece, the students will create their own campaign commercials for the 2012 presidential election. The commercials will reflect their understanding of the roles of political parties during elections and the ways in which voters make informed choices during elections.

Third Parties in the American Political Process

Jessica Kilday — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:15:03 +0000

The topic of the lesson is the role of third parties in the American political process. My students will be investigating the development of third parties in the United States focusing on the Progressive and Prohibition Parties, parties active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I want students to understand the important role third parties play even though a third party candidate has never won the presidency. Students will also use contemporary primary sources to see if the role of third parties has changed over the course of the last century. The lesson fulfills Virginia Standard of Learning CE.5b – Third parties – introduce new ideas and/or press for a particular issue and often revolve around a political personality (e.g., Theodore Roosevelt).