Unit Five Lesson Plans

Lesson 1: Party Preference

• survey questions

After students are given background information on political parties from Unit Five’s background information section, a copy of the survey questions is handed out to each student. Students are given time to mark their responses privately. Allow time to discuss the survey conclusions in small groups or as the class as a whole group.

Quite often voters find themselves in agreement with some parts of each party’s platform. Voters have to weigh the issues that seem most important to them when making the final decision. Agreement with the odd-numbered statements indicates support of Republican Party principles. Agreement with even-numbered statements indicates support for the Democratic Party principles. If the majority of the statements are marked "don’t know," the voter is uninformed on major platform issues and needs to gain additional information prior to affiliating with a particular political party.

Fill in the following survey. It focuses on differences in the current Republican and Democratic party platforms. The result will indicate which of the major parties you might tend to support.

1. The best cure for poverty is "individual initiative"
2. The Equal Rights Amendment should be added to the US. Constitution
3. The U.S. should go to war in Iraq
4. The U.S. should slow the growth of defense spending
5. There should not be any type of Federal tax increase
6. The U.S. should seek a nuclear weapon freeze agreement with all other countries
7. The U.S. should keep building nuclear weapons so that the U.S. would clearly prevail in any world conflict

Lesson 2:  Differences and Similarities

• party information
• newspaper articles
• news magazines
• Internet political web sites

• Through lecture and class discussions based on party information and Unit Five background information share the historical development of the two major parties with students. Share information such as:

• Historically, Republicans represent whites, Protestants, non-union workers, small rural areas, and suburban voters.
• Historically, Democrats tend to draw votes from Southerners, union members, citizens of industrialized metropolitan areas, minority ethnic groups, Blacks, Jews, Catholics and Mexican-Americans.
• Conservative groups are considered principle supporters of the Republican Party.
• Democratic voters favor greater government involvement in socioeconomic affairs.
• Both parties include individuals with widely differing ideologies. There are issues on which viewpoints overlap and are similar.
• Over the years, studies show that on some controversial public policy issues, certain groups tend to go along with one political party or the other.
• In national elections, followers have changed parties causing party control to change in many areas.
• One must be careful in analyzing differences between the two parties not to over generalize. However, by studying closely the trends due to certain events, one may be able to identify patterns of party composition.

• List on the chalkboard the names of several recent Presidents. Ask students to tell which are Democrats and which are Republicans. Then ask if they can briefly describe the differences between the two parties.
• Lecture for about ten minutes on the historical development of the two parties from 1932-1996, noting the basic principles of each party. Textbooks, party headquarters, and party web sites are good sources of this information.
• Have students make written reports on some political aspects of the two parties.
• Ask students to explain the philosophy associated with "wealth-poverty" as it relates to party affiliation.
• Summarize the socioeconomic relationships which seem to affect the direction of the two parties.

Lesson 3: The Two-Party System

• Through class lectures and discussions share the following information:
  • A review of the history of parties in Alaska.
  • In the election of the President, we still follow the wishes of the framers of the constitution.
  • The Electoral College is based on popular votes of each of the fifty states.
  • The party organization may, through its success, develop into a machine.
  • The use of patronage and political bosses, along with political contributions, keep the machine well oiled.
  • Improving the mechanics of state government, by use of a short ballot, and the use of voting machines, helped defeat national bossism.
  • Identify some ways of helping to make it convenient for more voters to turn out. Pass these ideas on to party headquarters or the Division of Elections.
• Show the organization of a political party in Alaska using Unit Five background information.
• Describe the differences among "blanket," "open," and "closed" primaries. Why have we experienced each in Alaska?
• How are campaigns conducted and financed? Can you bring in party representatives to discuss this with your students?
• List several new legal restrictions on political contributions.
• Have students research the steps in the election of a governor and lieutenant governor.
• Have students research the work of political party organizations.

Lesson 4: Local and National News

The explosion of television into Alaskan households over the past 25 years brought a new and unique source of information, news and political analysis.  Major candidates now turn to state-wide broadcast news to get their messages, and both radio and television provide extensive coverage of state-wide political campaigns. A majority of Alaskans get most of their news from television, and as many as 40 percent receive all their news from television.

Radio and television news is an open window to the world. With radio, we are told what is happening, and with television, we can see an event take place before our eyes.

• Copy this story on the chalkboard or overhead transparency. Ask students to read the story below and to put a number by the sentences that answers the 5 "W’s’’ and the one "H."

"John Runs For President": John Anders decided to run for class president of Service High School. He was a sure winner until August when his best friend stepped into the race. The two candidates will debate next Thursday morning in the multipurpose room."

• Opinions are judgments that express someone’s views about a topic. They are not facts. When reporters give the facts, they should not add personal opinions. Sometimes reporters can care too much about the event they are covering. It may be hard for them to hold back their point of view. It is up to the listener, viewer, and reader to distinguish facts from opinions.

Ask students if they have ever heard an adult state an opinion as though it were a fact. Remind them that a statement is fact if it can be checked for accuracy. Opinions cannot. But facts can be cited to support belief in a popular opinion.

At times, reporters’ statements are factual, but their tone of voice, facial expression and gestures may communicate an opinion.

Ask students to look for this when they watch or listen to the news. Ask them to make a copy if possible or remember the situation so they can imitate it in class.

• Ask students to count the first 100 words of a hard news article passed out to each student. Using a second hand of a clock, they should then count the time it takes to read the 100 words aloud. Ask students to approximate what percentage of the article was left out. Ask them to figure out whether those 100 words contained the most important information.

Disscuss with students where they would go if they wanted more information about a news event. Discuss where they should go to find the most current information.

• Review the two principal ways (hard and feature) campaign news is covered on television and radio. Ask them to listen to the afternoon or evening newscast with their families and to list examples of hard and feature news stories.  
• Ask students to use newspaper and magazine clippings to locate example of hard and feature stories. Display them on a prominent bulletin board. Put letters "H’ and "F" in a colored marker over hard and feature news respectively.
• Have students listen to an editorial on television or read one in the newspaper. Discuss in small groups the topic of the editorials. How do these editorials influence readers and listeners.
• Facts are true statements that may be checked for accuracy. The facts of a good story will usually answer the following:

1. Who is the story about?
2. What happened?
3. Where did the event occur?
4. When did the event occur?
5. Why did the event occur?
6. How did the event occur?

Help students learn and recall these key elements of a news article by reading 20 articles each and identifying the key elements by marking the sentences.

• Bring a radio and a newspaper to class. Listen to headline news and compare the leads of the radio news stories with stories on the newspaper front page. Circle those that are the same.
• Invite broadcast reporters and persons involved in a local or national campaign to answer questions or help with classroom activities.
• Ask students to watch one of the Sunday talk shows, such as Face the Nation or Meet the Press with an adult family member. Ask them to note what issues were discussed. Were their arguments persuasive? Did the candidates arrive at any conclusion?  What did the students and family members learn? Check a Monday. Newspaper to see if anything said on a Sunday talk show is included. Discuss why the particular talk show references were included.

   

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