Goal
Students will know the differences between redistricting and gerrymandering.
ObjectivesStudents will manipulate Representative Districts in various simulations in order to cater to the local population, party self-interest, and partisan coalition.
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Common CoreCCWS.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the specific task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and over reliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation
Content Standards
12.6 Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices.
6) Analyze trends in voter turnout; the causes and effects of reapportionment and redistricting, with special attention to spatial districting and the rights of minorities; and the function of the Electoral College. |
The class and I will play a little Mini Voting Activity to call back on Direct Democracy and Representational Republic. First, I tell everyone a quick scenario, “We are deciding on drinks for a class party,” and I pick students raising their hands to request their drink of choice. After a minute, I will have written on the board “Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Sunny D, Fruit Punch, Arizona Tea, Sprite, Hot Cocoa, Martinelli’s, and Mountain Dew.” Everyone then votes on any and all drinks they would like, leading to two drinks of preference, Dr. Pepper and Martinelli’s. I then call upon Direct Democracy and out of thirty students, a majority of eighteen picks Martinelli’s. The whole class gets Martinelli’s under this system, but 40% of students really wanted something else. “Is that fair? Is that Proportional?” I ask. Now I call upon Representation, the front row students act as officials for their rows and everyone votes again. This time, the five row officials cast a vote for the majority of their row, two Dr. Pepper and three Martinelli’s. Now, for every three Martinelli’s we get for the party, we also need two Dr. Peppers. I ask them again, “Is this fair? Is this proportional?” At the end of this activity I have students ponder on a possibility. “What would happen if, before we all voted I took two rows that favored Martinelli’s 3/2 and 4/1 and switched two students to make the rows’ favor 2/3 and 5/0. “How differently would the election turn out?”
Content Delivery: 5 minEveryone is assigned a Chromebook and given a worksheet. On the worksheet, students are instructed to go onto RedistrictingGame.org and play a game. At each level, five in total, there will be different statistical requirements they will need to complete and record on the worksheet. Upon accomplishing each level’s task, they must write down the victory headline so that they have verification that they finished the game. The first level, I will assist the student by doing part of the level on the overhead projector. Presenting them a partial tutorial of the first level lets me point out the different features of the game and gives them a demonstration of how to look at key information in order to properly manipulate the districts.
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VocabularyDirect Democracy Representational Republic Redistricting Gerrymandering Coalition Partisan |
Student Engagement: 2½ Days
This game allows students to manipulate representative districts for various goals and interests throughout each level. From whatever party they choose in the game, they will have to acquire statistical knowledge from the map in order to create districts that compliment bi-partisan coalitions to secure easy majorities, and deliberately adjust the districts to favor their party at the expense of an opposing party candidate. The end statistics they need to record are so that they have same material to use in group discussions at the end of the game.
Having group discussions at the end of this activity allows students to articulate their experience and knowledge gained. As politics is disciple that lives in conversations, discussions are a perfect means to facilitate students’ comprehension of the content. During discussions, the back of the worksheet will act as a means to record notes, comments, and insights the students gained by talking things out with their peers. This will be beneficial to them when they leave for the day, because student will need to write a one page summary and reflection on the game, their groups’ discussion, and their own opinions throughout the activity. |
Lesson Closure: 20 min
As discussions start to quiet or trail off topic, I gather everyone’s attention back to a whole class setting. I ask a few broad questions about the game to everyone and gradually, selecting students in different groups, inquire on more specific experiences and details about Gerrymandering. I build the class up to ponder an ethical question, “Should a map have greater influence on an election than the voters themselves?” Finally, ask students if they have ideas that would fix or alleviate that problem, so that they can be heard and responses can be given.
Assessment
The worksheet is a Formal Formative assessment of the students’ participation in the activity and discussion. Upon completion, students will hand it to me and I will give it a stamp for their Unit Folders. The summary and reflection paper is a Formal Summative assessment of this lesson. It will be turned in for a grade and then put in their Unit folder upon return.
Accommodations for English Learners, Struggling Readers and Students with Special Needs
Both English Learners and Struggling Readers benefit from visual aids is a lesson. The worksheet can include icons from the activity to help them correlate information. The statistical information they need to record could also be configured in the same way as it is displayed in the game. Additionally, demonstrating part of the first level on the projector allows them to actually see it be done. The students with Special Needs that will have the most difficulty with this activity will be those who are visually impaired. I have seen a blind student at my school, so making accommodations for this is prudent. The most direct, but probably most uncreative, accommodation would be for me, a peer, or their Aide interact with the Chromebook and narrate all the data, graphics, and game objectives to that student. However, a better solution would be to make the introduction activity bigger and more elaborate so that they could physically interact with this lesson.