Participation in Government Unit Election Campaigns

Lesson
Goals & Objectives:
Students will describe the text in a discussion in regards to the role of soft
money and political actions committees in campaigns.
Students will evaluate the discussion by writing about the knowledge they
acquired.

California State Content Standards:

12.6: Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and
local elective offices.
4. Describe the means that citizens use to participate in the political process
(e.g., voting, campaigning, lobbying, filing a legal challenge, demonstrating,
petitioning, picketing, running for political office).
5. Discuss the features of direct democracy in numerous states (e.g., the
process of referendums, recall elections).

Common Core Literacy Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source;
provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the
key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.3
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which
explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the
text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.5
Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how
key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the
whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.8

Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or

challenging them with other information.

Driving Historical Question

What strategic decisions must political parties and candidates make during
each campaign?
Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge)
Time: 7 mins
A student will read what the Viking in the political cartoon is saying. Next,
students will be collaborating with their think-pair-shares on what the
message the cartoon is conveying and what the role of political action
committees have on political campaigns. Finally, there will be a class
discussion in regards to the analysis of the cartoon. This will re-introduce
students to what exactly a political candidate for a campaign is, to speculate
what political party he may be from, and what kind of money is directly &
indirectly spent for a cause or candidate.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development) Time: Anticipatory Set
The vocabulary words will be used throughout the lesson and will be learned
as it is blended with the activities:
Campaign Manager
Image
Political Action Committee
Soft Money
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) Time: 15 mins
Students will be given directions that detail the upcoming Socratic Seminar
assignment. Next, the students will break off into pairs to form circles: an
inner circle and an outer circle. The pairs will be sitting in front and back of
each other facing the center of the circle. Guided notes and a controversial
news article titled, "Overview, Part 4: Soft Money - A Look at the Loopholes"
will be handed out to every pair who will be given an opportunity to read it
during this time. The article goes hand-in-hand with the political cartoon in
the anticipatory set in that it contrasts soft money and hard money as well
as the role of political action committees in political campaigns. This needs
to be an ongoing conversation so that students know all the facts about the
document. Before the activity begins, I will read the article and elaborate on

any words or sentences that may be too advanced. Students will be

annotating the reading as they listen. Students will also be asking questions
on anything in the reading that seems unclear.
Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) Time: 20
mins
During this activity, students will engage in the text with their partners by
having the inner circle of students be the speakers, while the outer circle of
students are the notetakers and listeners. The notetakers will again use their
guided notes to write. There is a portion in there to jot down their ideas.
There will be moments in the activity where partners will turn around and
exchange ideas with their partners. The speakers will analyze the text to the
rest of the class, while the notetakers write down intriguing points and the
main ideas. After the speakers are done speaking, they will then call on
another speaker in the inner circle to give their analysis.
Lesson Closure Time: 10 mins
Students will conduct a quickwrite discussing three statements from their
peers and/or the text that sounded appealing to them. This should be as long
as one to two paragraphs. They also write about a main idea or significant
detail that stood out to them.
Assessments (Formative & Summative)
Formative - Whether it is notetaking or speaking, all students will be
assessed based off their participation in the class. As they respond, I will
offer them verbal feedback when necessary by informing them if they are in
the direction, correct, or not. Monitoring will include observing and mentally
recording the progress of all students. My physical presence will involve
keeping eye contact of the class and monitoring more than more student at a
time.
Summative - The quickwrite will be collected and graded based on merit.
They will be assessed based on whether the three points are related to the
topic that was discussed in the Socratic Seminar.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with
Special Needs
For the Socratic Seminar, students can create concept maps to supplement
taking notes. The English learners can also utilize all methods to supplement
notetaking, such as by creating a concept map and creating images to
demonstrate their thoughts. The partners should recognize that these kinds

of notes are acceptable. Striving readers are expected to think more critically
than their peers. This would be beneficial for all students.
Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)
US Government textbook by Richard C. Pemy
Overview, Part 4: Soft Money - Look at the Loopholes. Washington Post. 1998.
Political Cartoon.