TOPIC/TITLE:
The Election Process/ So You Want to Become President?

QUESTION THIS LESSON WILL ANSWER:
How is a President elected?

PURPOSE/RATIONALE/GOALS OF THE DAY'S LESSON:
The purpose of this lesson is to teach how the election process works.  The goal is that students will come away knowing about the Electoral College and its role in the election process.  This is a very important topic, especially with what occurred during the Presidential election of 2000.  Good citizens need to know how the election process works to understand how a person becomes President.

OBJECTIVES:
SWBAT:

• Dissect the election process into separate phases;
• Discuss the role of the Electoral College;
• Evaluate the current election process.

• The nominating process;
• Campaign funding and spending;
• The influence of media coverage, campaign advertising, and public opinion polls;
• Democratic causes and political effects of reapportionment and redistricting;
• Voter turnout and the constituencies of the major political parties; and
• The Electoral College.

• Assist learners to understand the origins and interpret the election process;
• Guide learner efforts to identify, analyze, interpret, and evaluate sources and examples of citizen's rights and responsibilities to vote;

• Electoral College---an assembly elected by the voters to perform the formal duty of electing the President and the Vice-President of the United States.  The electors of each state, equal in number to its members in Congress, are expected to cast their votes for the candidate selected by the popular vote in their state.
• Elector---A member of the Electoral College.
• Electorate---All those qualified to vote.
• Incumbent---The holder of an office.
• Mass Media---Newspapers, magazines, radio, and television as the means of reaching the mass of people.
• Mudslinging---The practice of making unscrupulous verbal attacks, as against a political opponent.
• Candidate---One seeking office.

ANTICIPATORY SET:

• Ask the students to make a concept map of the election process.
• Allow only 5-10 minutes to work on this activity.

• Use the Election process website or CD to go over the election process.
• Pass out the election worksheet to the students so that they may use the tutorial to complete the worksheet.
• Use the script provided to go through the lesson with the students.
• The bolded questions are to be asked in class during the lesson.
• Once the CD is completed, have students draw a concept map of the electoral process in order to dissect the process.

• Make corrections to the content map of the election process that were completed during the anticipatory set.  This activity should only take 5-10 minutes.  If there is not enough time to complete this task, it will be completed the next class period.

• Write a short journal explaining the role of the Electoral College in the election process.  This should not exceed 1 page.
• Complete the rest of the election worksheet.