VOTING RESTRICTIONS & ELECTIONS

• Introduction
• Learners
• Standards
• Process
• Resources


• Student Page

Teacher Process

These following WebQuest acitivities will take approximately 3 weeks total (1 week per activity).  Your role is to facilitate discussions and provide the resources for them to complete the activities.

Note: All text in red are changes or additions made to the original website's activities. 

Week 1: African American Suffrage

Assignment:  Remind the students that for every social studies period complete only ONE main bullet point per day.  Also, if they finish early or just want to learn more let them explore the additional websites provided in the "conclusion" section of the table of contents. Be sure to take time will be taken from each day, so that they may share what additional knowledge they have gained.

Day 1: 

• Have students individually, read the following article titled Race and Voting in the Segregated South and answer the "For Discussion and Writing" section in their voting journals.  During this time walk around and discuss with some students their responses to this article.
  

Day 2:

• Have students individually complete the "Who Should not Vote" activity found in the above article and write their responses and arguments in their journal.  Remind them to list both sides of the argument on whether or not they are for or against a restriction on voters based on the 5 traditional restrictions.  Be sure to point on the table provided below as a tool for your students to keep track of their work throughout this assignment:
  

State to the class that they will be sharing in a group discussion tomorrow, so be prepared.

Day 3: 

• Have the students form small groups. They are to have a discussion on the "Who Should not Vote" activity.  Everyone is to take turns and share their responses.  Students are to note in their journal what arguments they liked, did not have listed when they reflected individually, and even write down arguments against your group members points if you do not agree with them or to just play devil's advocate.  As the teacher, you should be walking around listening to discussion and engaging in multiple discussions.  You should be the best devil's advocate, so prepare responses!
  

Day 4:

• Students will be split into small groups of about 4 people (2 for and 2 against), assigned 1 of the 5 traditional restrictions to specialize in, and will debate with the people in their group.  Emphasize that the students must know their section well because they will be the class experts in that area.
  

Day 5:

• On the last day, each group takes time to state their arguments for and against.  When students are finished presenting, open the floor for questions and then take a class unanimous vote to see if the class would change any of the restrictions. Students are to explain why they voted for or against each of the 5 restrictions in their journals.  When students are finished writing, collect the voting journals for a sub-assessment and keep track of the vote, so you can read the results off the next class.  This will make the kids motivated to want to come to class and see the results next time.

Remind the students that for every social studies period complete only ONE main bullet point per day.  Also, if they finish early or just want to learn more let them explore the additional websites provided in the "conclusion" section of the table of contents. Be sure to take time will be taken from each day, so that they may share what additional knowledge they have gained. 

Day 1:

• Begin this activity by asking the students to reflect on what they think women's suffrage means. 
  

• After place this video to see how people defined women's suffrage in a random mass interview of women (stop at 0:18 so students can write down the definition of women's suffrage, then restart the video.  Let it plat till 1:20 because the  students will get the point very quickly and will find it VERY entertaining).

• As a class, discuss women's suffrage in the United States. Have women always had the right to vote in the United States? What were attitudes toward women in the past - focus on periods of history that students may have recently studied like the American Revolution or Civil War. Let students reflect and then write in their journals.  Scholastics recommends writing these ideas and facts on the board, but I feel individual student reflect and then research will give the students a great sense of accomplishment that they could come to these conclusions themselves.  I would only do this if I felt my class was lost with blank stares and pencils still.
  

• Students are to go onto WebQuest and read the History of Women's Suffrage.  Students should individually read each article, circling the vocabulary words they do not know. Take time out during class to go over these words and perhaps integrate into you vocabulary lesson.
  

  Once students have read and understood the articles, send them to the computer stations to take the interactive, "Show What You Know," quiz. Students should print their final page and turn it in for assessment. If computers are not available, you can print the quiz beforehand and have students return the printout for assessment.

Day 2:

• Continue the lesson by directing students to read Effie Hobby's story on voting in 1920. Alert students to the "Think About It" question on the bottom of each page in Effie Hobby's story. These thought-provoking questions allow students a chance to write responses in their voting journals.

Day 3:

• When students have completed the "Show What You Know" quiz and Effie's story, regroup as a class to discuss what they have read. See Discussion Starters below. As a class, come up with questions for Effie and submit those questions before March 20, 2004. Effie will answer a select number of questions. Add to the board any new ideas and facts. Focus students on why some people wanted women to vote while others were against the idea and what world events might have allowed people to change their opinions. Expand the discussion women's rights around the world. Do women have the right to vote in every country?

• Copy and distribute printouts of the Voting Dates Fact Sheet (PDF) and direct students to the "When Did Women Vote?" section of the activity. Depending on the availability of computers, you may assign individual students to each computer or group students according to reading level. If time a concern, you can break half the class to explore the U.S. map while the other half explores the world map.

  With their filled out Voting Dates Fact Sheet (PDF), have students discuss any patterns they see in the years that different countries and different states adopted women's suffrage. What can we learn about these patterns and the changing attitude toward women's rights over time?

Day 5:

• Explain to students that they are taking a virtual trip in time, back to 1920. The states are about to vote on whether to pass the 19th Amendment. Each student is going to write a persuasive essay to convince an audience either to vote for the 19th Amendment or to vote against it. As a class, make a list of arguments they can make in support of and against the amendment.

  Direct students to the Writing Workshop Persuasive Writing project, where students will be directed through the step-by-step process of writing a persuasive essay. Students should hand in a copy of their persuasive essay for assessment.

Here are some GREAT discussion starters provided by Scholastics:

• Why did women ask for the right to vote?
• What were the arguments for and against allowing women to vote?
• Which countries were the first to allow women to vote? Why do you think these countries were ahead of others?
• Which countries do not allow women to vote today? Does this reflect women's rights or do men have the right to vote in these countries?
• What arguments were made for not giving the women the right to vote before World War I? How was this evidence supported? How did these attitudes change after the war?
• What tactics did suffragettes use to persuade government officials to change the suffrage laws? Were these tactics always effective?

Week 3: Class Election

Remind the students that for every social studies period complete only ONE main bullet point per day.  Also, if they finish early or just want to learn more let them explore the additional websites provided in the "conclusion" section of the table of contents. Be sure to take time will be taken from each day, so that they may share what additional knowledge they have gained. Your role is to facilitate discussions and provide the resources for them to complete the  activities.

Introduction to next task: 

Student are to reflect on the questions below and then will regroup for a class discussion (Reminder: reflections and notes on discussions should be noted in their voting journals!):

1. Think of times in history that played crucial roles for voters/ non-voters (note general dates if you can name them or place them in chronological order to the best of your ability).
2. Think of some ways in which you would strategize as a candidate hoping to win an election.

Day 1:

• Have the students look at their own timeline on the history of voting and compare it to this timeline. What are the similarities?  Differences? Students are to add onto their timeline in their journal. They are also to write down the significances of each event next to the date or draw a picture to accompany significances of the dates.
  

Day 2:

• Today, the class is going to be split up into 4 groups with specific delegation of tasks: voters, speech writer, campaign manager, and candidate.  Below is a description of what each delegates task entails. Have students come back from the computers if they have any questions. Students are to keep in mind what job they would like and will be ranking them.
  

Once jobs are decided upon as a class, give time for non-voters to prepare and read strategies; meanwhile, voters can read also read strategies for preparation of becoming future voters in society. 

If they are not a voter , they will be reading the following: How to win an election
    -Students will be writing down the strategies they intend to use for their particular job in their journal.

If they are a voter, they will be reading the following: How to vote
    -Students will be write what they found to be useful tips in their journal.

Day 3:

• Campaigning.  Before class place blue tape onto the floor.  This will represent district lines in the classroom.  During this activity, students will notice how district mapping can influence an election.  When class starts, explain to the class the tape represents district boundaries.  Make it clear that voters are to sit in their chairs and remain in their required districts, while the campaign managers and candidates try to influence voters. At this point students are sent to the computers to reflect about the prompts below:

• Things to think and to note in your journal about as a candidate team force:
• If you only had 10 minutes, how and who would you campaign to?
• Did the districts influence your decision?  If so, how?
• Did the beliefs of the general district influence your decision?  If so, how? 
  
• Things to think and to note in your journal about as a voter:
• How many candidates tried to campaign to you?  A lot or a little?  Why do you think this was the case?
  
• Were they effective?
• What worked and what did not?
• During the campaigning you will be reviewing the speech writer's speech.  When you are finish making revisions, take time to walk around and observe the campaigning strategies going on.
  
• After facilitate a class discussion, so students can express their reactions orally to this campaign.

Day 4: 

• Speeches.  Before the period, you are to collect the speeches, blackout the names of the speech writer and the candidate.  When class starts have students read, rank, and reflect on the speeches.  This will give you a good idea on how to grade the speech writers piece and student comments can be added for critique.  You may hold a class discussion about what they felt the strengths and weaknesses were in the pieces.
  

• Voting will occur.  The candidates come up and read their team's speech.  Voters are to note what they liked about the speeches in the journals, as well as make recommendations.   Candidates are choose a candidate besides themselves to vote for and explain why.  Voters are to write in their journals who they picks and why. You are to take notes and evaluate the effectiveness of the speaker as well.

IF INTERNET SOURCES ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO YOU: 

If the internet is not available for full classroom use, you can print out the articles from the websites and make copies for you class.  The only activity that may pose problems is the interactive women's suffrage activity, but you can always have students do research in the library or offer a text book in the classroom that has these dates and students can just discuss the patterns of women's suffrage and why they changed.  For the class election, the only change is that you may want to provide a handout with the strategies and roles on it and distribute it to the class.