HIST/GOV'T - Did you do, or assign, this project? Need help.

[Tita Gidge]

I'm an immigrant so U.S. Government is a weird subject for me to be teaching, but it was assigned to me for co-op. One mom mentioned a project SHE did as a kid at public school, but she couldn't elaborate enough to help. I'm hoping this project sounds familiar to someone. She'd like to incorporate it from a U.S. perspective:

 

 

1. Students are given 3+ handouts to read over.  They choose the handout they most identify with or support.

2. The handouts are GENERIC, and the kids don't know it but each handout represents the beliefs and words of a famous politician.

3. The students are split into groups based on which handout they chose to identify with or support.

4. It's revealed that they chose either: Hitler, (someone), or (someone) ...  She chose Hitler so that's the only name she remembers..

 

 

If I were doing this for U.S. GOV'T, which American politicians (through history) should I include?

 

If I were doing this for HISTORY, whom else should I include? This is my Plan B if I can't figure out the U.S. stuff.

 

 

Has anyone done this? Does anyone have excellent Google skills that can help me find someone who has done the prep work already?

 

This is such unfamiliar territory for me and I'm stressing about it because they have me teaching it to other people's kids. :willy_nilly:

 

 

Edited July 21, 2016 by Tita Gidge

[almondbutterandjelly]

Never did something like that.  Don't particularly like it.  

 

If I were teaching Government this year (actually, I am but at home), I would do stuff on the election.  Like pick some issues that are important to you and research what each candidate's stance is on them.  Discuss the electoral college with a big map.  Mark it the day after the election and discuss.

 

HTH!

[regentrude]

Never did this. Don't like it particularly.

 

Teaching government this year should be easy because of the presidential election. I would incorporate as many election related activities as possible. Debates, electoral college, voting process, etc. I have postponed DS' government studies so it would coincide with the election.

 

Btw, it has been my experience that immigrants often have a better understanding of US government than many US citizens. Even though the citizenship exam is not particularly rigorous, it is there and forces an immigrant to learn about different aspects of government.

[Haiku]

I would NEVER put a student in the position of inadvertently identifying with Hitler.

[Guest]

Uh... I don't think that is a particularly instructive exercise, unless the point is to show how wolves can show up in sheep's clothing.

[MariaT]

I agree with other posters about that activity. It sounds like it could easily go very wrong.

You don't say how old your class is. Below are links to lesson plans about the election. I haven't used them, so I can't vouch for them but if I had this assignment I would start here.

 

When my sons were in Cub Scouts and studying citizenship, we staged a mock election for governor: Godzilla vs. King Kong. The whole pack got to vote at a monthly pack meeting. They split up into campaigns, making posters, brochures, flyers. They made speeches. They had a lot of fun. You could have your class organize a mock election for the entire coop to vote on-- candidates could be super heroes or other fictional characters. (Godzilla won)

 

Here are lesson plans:

 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/US-election-teaching-resources-matt-davis

 

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson331.shtml

 

http://lessonplanspage.com/elections-htm/

 

Good luck!

Maria

 

[Momto6inIN]

I personally would let her know in a kind, polite way that if she wants to dictate how the class is taught she is welcome to teach it herself. Otherwise, you'll be glad to listen to ideas, but the final say about what to include goes with you. :)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I taught what I called a US Government Study Group in a coop.  We did group projects and simulations.  I had a couple recommended texts and a general syllabus of what chapter to read for each week, but I did not give tests, quizzes or grades.

 

Some projects we did:

 

I had the students do storyboards for mock political ads that related to an issue (ex. environment, jobs, marriage).  We discussed types of ads (positive and negative) and persuasive techniques.  We also went over a lot of logical fallacies and tried to spot them in each of the ads.

 

I assigned a state congressional district to each student.  Then I gave them a list of 20-30 things they were supposed to research about their area (main industries, population demographics, income levels, political leanings, religious composition, education levels).  The districts were chosen to represent a wide variety of rural and urban, different racial and ethnic majorities and different industries.  

 

We did a mock Congress in which each student introduced a bill and they debated the bills.  They were to do their best job of representing the interests of their district.  

 

We did Supreme Court oral arguments.  I picked a couple cases that I thought were interesting and important, but that were neither landmark decisions nor super recent.  I wanted them to feel current but not to have been in the press or to have a foregone conclusion like Brown v Board of Education.  I think I ended up with one about a school disciplining a student for a "Bong Hits for Jesus" sign and another where the school had cancelled an issue of the school paper over content.  Two students were assigned opposing sides of the case.  Three others served as judges.  The students were able to give about 10 minutes of oral arguments before the panel of judges.  The judges were allowed to interrupt and ask questions during each student's oral argument.  Then the judges ruled on the case as it was presented.

 

I also like this site:  iCivics

[Tita Gidge]

Thank you, everyone. You've given me the support I need to better flesh out this course. The class is 11th-12th graders, with one 10th grader.

 

We're doing a six week mini-unit on elections up through Election Day. That's what prompted this mom to suggest the project, she wanted to use it as a platform to do exactly what Kinsa pointed out - as a lead in to conversations about propaganda, rhetoric, and all of that. I need to channel my inner Momto5inIN and offer to hand her the reins to the class if she wants it taught a certain way. I just feel insecure because this isn't a class I've ever taken and am uncomfortable planning without input from people who have taken it. The replies here have definitely helped with that.

 

Lady Sebastian, we're going to spend the rest of the Fall semester arguing Supreme Court cases. I was going to let the kids research and select a case, but I like your idea of ME picking ones (using your same parameters) - thanks for that, and also for the idea of assigning each kid a district and doing a mock congress. That's something that would go over so well with this group of kids!

 

MariaT, I also love your idea of a mock election. When I teach co-op I actually pull ideas from my boys' BSA merit badge books LOL but since the Citizenship badges are Eagle-required, several of the boys in my class have already done the work from those badges. I didn't consider going back farther to get some ideas!  I'm clicking through the links you provided now, thank you!

 

Regentrude, I've heard others share your sentiment. For our first day of co-op, I'm planning to give the kids the naturalization test to see how they do. Maybe I'll have them take it again at the end of the year also, make it their final exam LOL.

 

:patriot: Thank you again, everyone!

[happypamama]

I would NEVER put a student in the position of inadvertently identifying with Hitler.

For young students, no way! But for kids who are about to be voting adults, I can see how it might be useful as a jumping off point to discuss how candidates manipulate voters, how things actually looked in retrospect, how to evaluate what people really mean. I think it sounds kind of interesting. Maybe in a different form -- like, if they've had US and world history already, maybe give them a bunch of quotes/speeches and see if they can identify who said them? You would still get the element of, "Wow, Hitler really fooled people!" But without the aspect of making a kid inadvertently identify with Hitler.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

This is a site I used for logical  fallacies:  https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/

 

This is similar to the handout I used for persuasive techniques.  

 

When I had the kids do political ads, I required them to use at least two techniques.  I also had the rest of the class try to spot which technique they used as well as any logical fallacies.

[justasque]

Critical Thinking Press has a nice 2-book set called You Decide! covering several Supreme Court decisions.  We used it in a co-op setting and it went very well.  Students got a sense of the complexities of both sides of each case, and quite a bit of useful discussion was generated.
 

When You Decide! court is in session, the honorable “judges,†your students, will be asked to decide cases based on the first eight amendments to the Constitution. Students will sharpen their critical thinking skills and their legal and historical knowledge as they analyze the amendments, discover their origins, and rule on actual cases presented before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Each unit explores:
     - the language, meaning, and history of an amendment.
     - how the amendment was applied in various cases.
     - classic and contemporary cases students must decide based on what they've learned about the amendments

 

 

Also, the now-defunct Justice Talking radio show featured debates about various issues involved in then-upcoming Supreme Court decisions (and at times other current events type topics, many of which are still relevant).  Speakers were top-notch, and covered the various sides very well. (I often went in with a particular point of view and came out having a much more complex understanding of both sides, if not changing my mind entirely.) There are also some supplemental materials to go with each show.   Well worth a look.  (And aside from the topical content, these shows are excellent examples of a variety of debating styles and techniques.  There is much to discuss here about how each speaker goes about trying to bring the listener over to their point of view.  Quality stuff!!!  If you have big kids, consider downloading a few and listening in the car on your next family trip.)