Lesson Plan #1

Fourth Grade
Social Studies Content Area:
4-C5.0.1 Explain responsibilities of citizenship (e.g., initiating
changes in laws or policy, holding public office, respecting the
law, being informed and attentive to public issues, paying taxes,
registering to vote and voting knowledgeably, serving as a juror).
4-C5.0.2 2 Describe the relationship between rights and
responsibilities of citizenship.
4 - C3.0.1 Give examples of ways the Constitution limits the
powers of the federal government (e.g., election of public
officers, separation of powers, checks and balances, Bill of
Rights).
Material and Resources Needed:
See How They Run
Slips of paper with voting groups on them
Access to the Internet
Blank US map
Big Idea
Being an active member in society and knowing how the election
process works
1. Objective/Purpose
a. The students will be able to describe the rights given to US
citizens to vote from the Constitution by
b. The students will be able to explain why it is important
everyone votes following the lesson
c. Students will be able to express how electoral college
works by
2. Anticipatory Set
Literature Based
a. Have students desks clustered together, with some desks
having more people at them. Have each table represent
their little state of desks to decide whether or not to have
assigned seating. One person shares the states opinion
on the issue.
i. More votes wins
b. Have the students tell me what they know about elections
in America, either national, state, or local.
c. See How They Run
i. Read the book See How They Run
3. Input
a. Electoral College
i. How it works
b. States Rights
i. What they mean, how they work

4.

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c. In the Constitution
Modeling
a.
b. Hand out to students slips of paper dividing them up into
groups that would represent the voting population like by
race. Explain how we have the ability to amend when
things are not working2/3 Congress vote plus states
must ratify.
c. Show how voting by everyone matters, show how electoral
college works
Checking for Understanding
a. Who wants to be president? What are the requirements of
being the president?
b. Which states would be ones you would spend more time
in? Going against tradition? Or
Guided Practice
Technology Integration
a. Have the students use computers and go to the website
Electoral College. Ask the students to name a state that is
the biggest, then how many electoral votes they get. Why
is there a difference among big states and small states and
how many electoral votes they get.
Independent Practice
a. They students get their own US map and get time to look
up the number of electoral votes each state gets. Then,
following the 2016 election, have them color in which
states voted which way.
b. Are there patterns?
c. Can we have an educated guess of who will become
president?
Closure
a. Review the importance of voting, how to vote, and
b. Finish with a speech about how people of any color, any
gender, and any religion can run. No females or other
ethnicities besides white and black have become president
yet, you could become president.