Documentation:Lesson Plan 2
Lesson Name: What is Democracy (Part 1)
Course: Socials 11 Duration: 80 Minutes _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prescribed Learning Outcomes: (from the Social Studies 11 IRPs)
- “The aim of social studies is to develop thoughtful, responsible, active citizens who are able to acquire the requisite information to consider multiple perspectives and to make reasoned judgments. The Social Studies 11 curriculum provides students with opportunities to reflect critically upon events and issues in order to examine the present, make connections with the past, and consider the future.”
- Demonstrate understanding of the political spectrum.
- Explain how Canadians can effect change at the federal and provincial levels.
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Instructional Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students will…
- Understand the origins of democracy.
- Understand the fundamental concepts of democracy and their operative functions.
- Develop a fundamental understanding of democratic participation.
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Introduction
Begin class by having students imagine this scenario: There are plans to change the school logo. There are various ways a decision could be made: 1 The principal makes the decision 2 The principal makes the decision with some members of senior staff 3 The whole school including parents, staff and students participate and vote directly on the issue. 4 Each year a group of students and the staff elect a group of representatives to discuss the issue with senior staff.
Get students to suggest what they think are the strengths and weaknesses of each method. Which one do they think is the best. Introduce the fact that 'We live in a 'democracy'. People from all over the world want to live in Canada because of our system of government and our society and the freedom that we enjoy. WHY? What is it about democracy? What does democracy mean? What is it? How does it work?
Students brainstorm in small groups before presenting their thoughts to class.
Students led through a discussion prompting them to consider basic elements of a democratic system. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Body of Lesson
Our democracy has its roots in the classical world - Athens. Students given resources to learn about the origins of democracy. Strengths: high level of public participation in decision making, decisions taken with the agreement of the majority, no one individual able to amass power - all individuals given the chance for a role in the Council Weaknesses: the 'people' only included male citizens, high level of participation makes decision making complex and lengthy process, members of the Council untrained and un-elected (chosen by lot), participation in this way not possible with much larger populations, requires time and commitment
Students study info cards & diagrams on Athenian democracy. Students identify key features - they could do this in the form of strengths and weaknesses in a table. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Closure
Students then brainstorm the similarities and differences between the Athenian system and our current system. Some examples include: we have more people, women are included, we have representative democracy etc. Similarities include that every citizen should have the right to vote and to hold office, the duty of all citizens is to participate actively in the system, and decisions should be made by a majority vote. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assessment
Formative assessment in terms of student participation and engagement. Teacher will monitor both. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Extension
Students can be directed to government websites to gather more information concerning Canada’s democratic system (http://www.canada.gc.ca/home.html)
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Multiple Ability Tasks
1) Provide constant visual cues (ie. powerpoint presentation) for those students requiring visual aids.
2) Formative assessment for participation and engagement for students who are not inclined to written communication.
3) Notes will be provided for students as needed, especially those experiencing difficulty in processing information during class time.
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