Vote Smart: Civics Matters Curriculum

Details

Main Website:

http://votesmart.org/education/classroom

Activity Website:

http://d20b91ibeoos7k.cloudfront.net/static/pdf/K-12/talking-heads-worksheet.pdf

Activity Description

Students learn about the legislative branch of government in this activity. They learn the number of the House and Senate district where they live, the names of the senator and representative who represent their district, the votes of a senator or representative on current issues in the state legislature, and become familiar with the Vote Smart Web Site and how it can be used to obtain information.

Preparation

Students should understand the basic organization and responsibilities of state and local government and should have already completed the "Introduction to the Web site Lesson & Worksheet" for Grades 5-8.

Download, review, and print a copy for each student of the "Talking Heads Lesson & Worksheet" from the files section. Make sure you have red and blue colored markers for each student.

How-To

Lead a discussion about the organization of state government to activate students' prior knowledge.
Distribute the "Talking Heads Worksheet" to each student and have them complete it.
Lead a discussion of their answers.
Have students use the red colored markers to indicate the issue(s) about which the representative and the senator appear to hold the same opinion and blue colored markers to indicate the issue(s) about which they personally feel very strongly.
Have students write a letter to either their senator or representative to express their own opinion or ask for help with a current issue.

Teacher Tips

Students should have basic computer and Web site navigation skills before conducting this activity.

More Ways

This site offers excellent lesson plans and materials on a variety of topics for Web-based inquiry of the Vote Smart Web site. Lessons include:

Contacting a State Official
State Governor
Talking Heads
Voter Registration
Meet Your Senators
Campaign Finance
Follow the Money Trail
Special Interest Groups
Values and Legislation

Program Areas

ESL: English as a Second Language

Levels

Intermediate Low
Intermediate High
Advanced

Documents

talking-heads-worksheet.pdf -

Tags

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