Tier 2 & 3 Words
- Tier 2 words often appear in written texts than speech. The teacher will briefly review these words because they will show up in the articles and throughout the class. Our grade level students might already know these words but our below grade level students or English learners might not. The teacher will print out a list of these terms for the students to reference. This will also give students the opportunity to use these words in their assignment (venn-diagram).
- The teacher will focus on reviewing Tier 3 words, which are specific to the lesson. It is important for students to understand these terms in order to comprehend the text in the articles and to complete the assignment, stated in the objective. These key concepts will help them build content knowledge about the lesson (political parties). These terms will be repeated throughout the lesson. These terms will be introduced in the articles, and the video. These words are: political party, republican, conservative, democrat, liberal, nomination, vote, legislature, debate
Key Concepts & Academic Terms
Tier 3:
Motivation
PHASE 1:
Advance Organizer
Key Concepts & Academic Terms
Tier 2:
Introduction of the Advance Organizer
Model of Teaching
- Each current event article (grade level reading) will contain information about each dominant party's ideals, policies, and examples of political figures from each party.
- Article 1: Democrat (2-3 pages)
- Article 2: Republican (2-3 pages)
- Article 3: Both parties and their similarities (2-3 pages)
- The teacher asks the class if they have any questions about the articles & content
- The teacher will review some of the images (political figures) covered in the articles and ask the class to participate in some discussion
- "What do you think this article is about?"
- The class can name some examples of political figures from each political party that was not mentioned in the article
- The teacher will help students realize that each political party supports different laws and ideals
- Again, the teacher asks if the class has any questions
- This short clip will briefly introduce the two-party system in the United States
- The teacher informs students that there are more than 2 political parties in the US and the political parties in the US are dominated by a two party system (Republican and Democrat).
- We want students to draw reflections on how the political system can affect their daily lives
- It will show the core differences between Democrats and Republicans
- It will get the students informed and thinking about the differences but possibly the similarities as well
- Students may already have some sense of political parties from their home life
- Some students may not have any sense of the two parties and this video will serve as a concise introduction
- The information in this video may complement or challenge some of their notions of the political system in America
- The video will definitely draw on prior knowledge
- Provide students with hard copies of 3-4 current news articles with a few images on them about the two political parties
- The teacher reminds students that there are third parties but Democrats and Republicans dominate the political system. The teacher says:
- "Although our lesson focuses on two parties, we will discuss the importance of 3rd parties on a different lesson, but today we will focus on the two dominant parties."
- The teacher reminds students that there is no "right or wrong" political party, and that it is important to understand each party's role in the political system.
- These articles will also be projected on the board so that the teacher can briefly review each article with the class (the title & the content of each article). This will help students understand how to utilize each article for their venn diagram.
- The students would follow along, using their own articles, as the teacher reviews each articles on the projector.
- The teacher will choose articles that are not too challenging for the student's reading level (check model of teaching slide for concrete plans for scaffolding the readings for some students). And the teacher will also review each article so that the class has a general understanding of what each article will be about.
Advance Organizer: Venn Diagram
GROUP 1
- The teacher will ask students to think about the differences and similarities of the two political parties related to the articles presented in class and write them down on a venn diagram
- The teacher draws a large venn diagram on the class white board and explains what should be on it
- The teacher does a few examples with the class and writes them down on the board so that students have a general idea of what they are suppose to do
- The students will participate by providing some examples of each space on the venn diagram
- The teacher will ask if anyone has questions
- The teacher will ask students to utilize the articles distributed in class to fill out their venn diagrams
- The teacher tells students to write at least 8-10 examples on their diagram (if they don't have space, students can ask for more copies of the venn diagram worksheet)
- The teacher reminds students to constantly refer back to their articles for reference in completing their venn diagrams
- Students will write examples on their own and will be split into groups to share some examples with their members
The Articles (Resources)
1. Charelle
- Will sit near the teacher
- The teacher will constantly make eye contact after and ask her some questions related to the lesson
- During group work, the teacher will check up on Charelle to make sure she is participating in her group and understands the assignment
2. Tariq
- The teacher challenges Tariq to read the articles and checks to see if he comprehends the text without any assistance.
- Tariq can add a few more examples to his venn diagram if he finishes early or read other articles that the teacher has related to the topic (but will only be graded on the 3 articles given to everyone in class).
- Tariq will engage in group discussion and the teacher will help him generate questions for his group
3. Xitlalic
- Make sure she is participating in her group (focusing on the work instead of socializing)
- Ask her questions about the text and checks if she comprehends the article
- If the articles are too challenging, the teacher will give her a copy that highlights the main important facts (the article is the same as everyone, except hers has highlights).
- Provide a hard copy of the academic word bank reviewed in the beginning of class
- As the teacher walks around, the teacher will check to see that she is completing her work
- Current Events(n): important events that are happening in the world.
- Political Party (n): an organized group of people, often with common views, who come together to contest elections and hold power in government. The party agrees on some proposed policies and programs, with a view to promoting the collective good or furthering their supporters' interests
- Republican (Conservative) (n): (of a form of government, constitution, etc.) belonging to, or characteristic of a republic (Will explain to students the definition that society uses)
- Democrat (Liberal) (n): an advocate or supporter of democracy (will explain to students the definition that society refers to)
- Nomination (in politics) (n): is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award
- Vote (v,n): a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or courses of action, expressed typically through a ballot or a show of hands or by voice.
- Legislature (n): a deliberative body of persons, usually elective, who are empowered to make, change, or repeal the laws of a country or state; the branch of government having the power to make laws, as distinguished from the executive and judicial branches of government
- Debate (n): a formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward
The Venn Diagram
Dominant Political Parties
(Two-party System)
GROUP 2
- Venn Diagram (n): a diagram representing mathematical or logical sets pictorially as circles or closed curves within an enclosing rectangle (the universal set), common elements of the sets being represented by the areas of overlap among the circles.
- Evidence (n): the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.
- Controversy (n): disagreement, typically when prolonged, public, and heated
- Content (n): the things that are held or included in something
- Context (n): the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
- Both parties do not always support or agree with their party
- Supporter of strong American economy
- Trump
- Support 2nd Amendment
- Less government
- oppose abortion
- stricter immigration policies
- Hillary Clinton
- More gun control
- open borders
4. Alicia
- The teacher will give Alicia the same articles that the class has; however, the teacher will highlight important sentences that Alicia should focus on and read
- The teacher will also summarize complex sentences (since some of the news articles might be challenging to comprehend) and make them into simpler sentences on the back of each news article.
- The teacher will print the academic word bank so that Alicia can reference it for a better understanding
- Alicia can also use the academic word bank to help her classify terms that she does not know
5. Charlie
- Similar to Alicia, the teacher will provide Charlie the same articles as the class but highlight some of the main important facts of the article.
- This will challenge Charlie enough but at the same time he knows what part of the article he should focus on. Since Charlie is below grade level, the teacher will facilitate by asking him questions about the article to make sure that Charlie is able to comprehend what the article is about.
6. Sarai
- Teacher goes around and makes sure Sarai is on task.
- The teacher asks Sarai questions about the article and whether she found it engaging.
- The teacher asks her some questions about the content of the article and see what political party resonated with her the most.
- The teacher asks if she would like to read other articles related to the topic of political parties.
PHASE II & 111
Share & Summarize
Standard:
8.3.6: Describe the basic law-making process and how the Constitution provides numerous opportunities for citizens to participate in the political process and to monitor and influence government (e.g., function of elections, political parties, interest groups)
- Class will be divided into two groups to complete their Venn diagrams and to present them
- One group of the class will represent the Republican party, and the other side will represent the Democratic Party (using their venn diagrams)
- The students will elect a group speaker who will speak for each party
- Students from each group will discuss the list of party identifiers gathered from the resources provided to them in the lesson.
- The teacher reminds students that this is not a debate but a way to create understanding of both parties in an unbiased approach.
- The teacher will call on the two elected speakers to incorporate the conclusions made by each party.
- Students will verbally communicate their findings.
- After each group presents, students have the opportunity to ask questions.
- The teacher will make sure that questions are appropriate
- The teacher will ask questions like: "Did anyone find other information that was not covered in the group presentation?"
- After both groups present, the teacher will engage in class discussion about the similarities
- "Based on each group presentation, what are some similarities you found/noticed?"
Objective:
Students will be able to compare & contrast (thinking skill) today’s dominant political parties (Democratic and Republican Party) in the US (content) using news articles about current events (resource) on a venn diagram (product).
PHASE II
- Students will work on their venn diagrams
- In groups, students will share and summarize some examples from their venn diagram with each other
- Students will discuss their findings utilizing the articles given to them in class
- (Each student will submit their own venn diagrams)
Sentence Frames
One similarity between Republicans and Democrats is________.
Republicans believe in _____, whereas Democrats believe in____.
While both Democrats and Republicans are_____, ______ are _______.
Discipline: US History & Geography
Grade Level: 8th Grade
Nancy Jenkins, Bradley Taylor, Andrew Travers
English Language Standards
Part 1 A.1 EM ELD
1. Exchanging information and ideas with others through oral collaborative discussions on a range of social
and academic topics
Sl.8.1 ELA
1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Integrative Reconciliation
- After students share their venn diagrams based on each political party, the class will engage in discussion about what they have learned.
- The teacher reminds students that there are other political parties in the United States but our current political system is dominated by two political parties (Republican and Democrat). Teacher reassures students that the class will learn about third parties in a different lesson.
- The teacher will engage in an in-class discussion based on a few of these questions:
- What did you find interesting?
- Was the venn diagram (AO) useful?
- Does anyone want to share information that was not covered in the articles?
- Are political parties important?
- How should we treat others with a different political view than our own?"
Lesson Resources
- Projector
- White Board
- Markers
- Hard copy of articles for the class
- Additional articles (students will only be graded on the content from the 3 articles handed out to everyone)
- Internet
Advance Organizer