Subject/Grade level: Social Studies/ High School Grade 10 Time Duration of Lesson: 90 mins

Central Focus (main idea & purpose) : Understanding the U.S. Electoral College and exploring alternatives to it. With the recent contentious
presidential elections in 2016 and 2000 many people do not understand how the electoral college works, its history, and ongoing efforts to reform or
replace it as the method in which the United States elects the President. This lesson will explore all those areas with goal of providing students with a
good working knowledge of the Electoral Colleges organization, function and history.
Standard(s) Addressed (state or national & ISTE-- list number and text): OR Content Standards:
HS.5. Examine and evaluate the origins of fundamental political debates and how conflict, compromise, and cooperation have shaped national unity
and diversity in world, U.S., and Oregon history.
HS.27. Examine functions and process of United States government.
HS.34. Explain the responsibilities of citizens (e.g., vote, pay taxes).
Objectives (observable, measurable, action verbs SWBAT do what, how): Students will examine the electoral college through reading
documents, viewing videos, listening to podcasts, and playing online games. Students will create persuasive technology-enabled presentations
on defending, reforming or replacing the Electoral College as method for electing the President.
Vocabulary words taught: popular vote, primary, caucus, campaign, Electoral College
Instructional Resources and Materials (include separate files for any handouts, templates, slides, etc. used during this lesson):
All the materials are uploaded to Schoology, iPads or other internet devices, Headphones, BackStory Segment
https://soundcloud.com/backstory/electoral-knowledge , Paper, Pens, iCivics, Win the White House, Google Form Quiz

Instructional Strategies and Learning a detailed outline

Tasks: Write of your lesson. Each section MUST include how you will differentiate your
to accommodate a variety of learners (i.e., students mentioned in the context)
lesson
Phase / What Teacher Will Do (Include the setting, such as whole class, What Students Will Do
Time small group, individual)
Stamps
Opener: Teacher will introduce the subject in context to the 2000 and 2016 1. Students will read How We Elect a President: What
set purpose, Presidential elections where George W. Bush and Donald Trump Is the Electoral College? 5 mins
engage won the presidency on the electoral vote without winning the
students, popular vote total number or percentage of votes received by a
activate candidate). In 2016, Clinton received almost three million more
prior votes (65,845,063 to 62,980,160) in the general election than Trump,
knowledge giving Clinton a popular vote lead of more than 2% over
Trump.[28]This also happened in 1824, 1876 and 1888.

Page 1 of 4 (FOUR PAGES MAXIMUM PER LESSON)

 Teacher will direct the students to open their iPads to Schoology
https://app.schoology.com/course/985214918/materials Access
Code: 5N3DX-DNN44
1. Where they will read the How We Elect a President: What
Is the Electoral College?
Body of
Lesson 1. Teacher start introduce and start the national archives video
teacher on the electoral college.
instruction 2. Teacher will direct the students to listen the BackStory
& student Segment in the Schoology Lesson. Students will complete a
learning Google Form quiz during or after listening to segment.
activities https://docs.google.com/a/pdx.edu/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdOs
8-hBH4nZKGx-_9hm6sjpZA_iIRlun9vcnJrLfQWJ8cU4g/vi
ewform?c=0&w=1
3. Teacher will be divide the class into teams and will assign a
position to each team. Teacher will provide a article to each
team on their position. Teams are encouraged to research
further to back up their positions:
a. The Electoral College is the best way to elect the
President
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp
/2016/11/15/in-defense-of-the-electoral-college/?ut
m_term=.9963b0d31663; Arguments for the
Electoral College
b. The Electoral College needs to be reformed but not
scrapped;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vot
e_Interstate_Compact; National Popular Vote
NCSL
Page 2 of 4 (FOUR PAGES MAXIMUM PER LESSON)
1. Students will watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caRt0eHA0Pk&l
ist=PL4AZw512X5mziAyVJlr7CJFhYrrLcFjPK&ind
ex=4 5 mins
2. They will listen to the BackStory Segment on the
electoral college.
https://soundcloud.com/backstory/electoral-knowledg
e 9:07 min Students will take notes while they listen.
3. Students will complete an online Google Form
assessment of the knowledge. During/After they
listen to the podcast.
https://docs.google.com/a/pdx.edu/forms/d/1jOq5Lx
OMNlWjA-0jK2lNutsSJnaSc8BEpyLG0nyLEWU/e
dit?usp=drive_web 10 mins
4. Each team of students will work on a persuasive
presentation using technology. They will read two
position articles to get a background then they will
develop an presentation using an infographic, comic
or Educreation depending on their choice of
technology. Links are included in Schoology. 35
mins.
5. After creating their presentations students will have 5
mins to present their positions. 15 mins
 c. The Electoral College needs to be scrapped, and we
need something better
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-electoral-colle
ge-history-20161219-story.html; Arguments against
the Electoral College

There are also videos supporting each position in my

YouTube Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4AZw512
X5mziAyVJlr7CJFhYrrLcFjPK
4. Teacher will instruct the teams to start their presentations.

1. Teacher will instruct the student to go to the iCivics game 1. Students will login to play a round of Win the White
Win the White House. Teacher will instruct the student to House. As time permits. The game can be saved. I
set-up and start a game. see this being played over several class periods. 15
mins

Closure 1. Teacher will bring the class back together to discuss the 1. Students as a class will discuss what learned. 5 mins
assess what they learned today.
student
progress on
objectives

ASSESSMENT: Describe 1 informal and/or 1 formal assessment.

Informal Assessment (describe the assessment and what is being assessed):

The Google Form quiz during the podcast is assessment of comprehension of what the students are listening to.and will test them on what they read. It
could also be used to prepared for a summative assessment. I could see the questions on the quiz being used on the test later in the overall unit.

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Formal Assessment (describe the assessment and what is being assessed):

The team presentations are assessing the students overall learning of the subject and they will be the main focus of assessment and grading.

Note: Informal assessment is used to monitor student learning and provide ongoing feedback that helps teachers improve their instruction and
helps students improve their learning. Data is gathered on individual students in a variety of ways, e.g., graphic organizers, worksheets, online or
paper quizzes, students oral responses, observation of students skill development, etc. Informal assessments are designed to help students
identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work. Informal assessment is sometimes called Formative assessment or
assessment FOR learning.

Formal assessments are often standardized measures or tests used to measure a students overall achievement and compare it to others at the same
age or grade. Formal assessment is sometimes called Summative assessment or assessment OF learning.

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