Subject: Social Studies
Lesson Length: 40 - 45 mins
Topic: Democracy
Brief Description: Students will explore ways in which citizens can participate in the democratic process in the United States.
Know Before You Start:
- Students should understand what a Democracy is and that the United States is a Representative Democracy.
- Students should know the terms:
- Democracy.
- Politics.
- Representative democracy.
- Democratic process.
Hook:
- Read and discuss the sample comic.
- Have you ever gone with a parent to vote?
- What was it like?
- Ask students if they have ever participated in a democratic process at school.
- Lead a discussion about the different ways students can get involved at school.
- Discuss similarities and differences between school involvement and citizen involvement in the democratic process of the United States.
Activity: Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a one-panel comic demonstrating a way they can participate in the democratic process in the United States.
Closure:
- Have students print or digitally post their comics.
- Have students work together in teams to categorize each participatory activity as something that is done at the local, national, and/or federal levels.
Differentiation:
- Provide visuals and definitions of terms to know.
- Display examples of ways students can participate in the democratic process and allow students to choose one to illustrate.
Resources:
- Comic to print or display: Comic.
