Presidential Election Vocabulary

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We cannot take it for granted that our students understand what they hear relating to the upcoming election, especially our ELL students. Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings and is acquired though exposure and explicit instruction. Vocabulary instruction involves review, repetition, word-learning strategies and getting students actively engaged in using and thinking about basic election word meanings. By using formative assessments (teacher observation, classroom discussion, analysis of student work, etc), teachers can see if they need to make any instructional adjustments such as re-teaching, more opportunities to practice, or more class discussion.

OBJECTIVE

Formative assessment is achieved by observing students as they respond to questions, ask questions, and interact with other students during activities. During this unit, I will monitor my students' progress and modify the instruction accordingly. The students will be able to monitor their own progress as they get feedback from their peers, as well.

LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Explicit Vocabulary Instruction
Lesson 2: Applying New Vocabulary
Lesson 3: Campaign Time!

REPRODUCIBLES
Election Vocabulary List (PDF)
Presidential Election Crossword (PDF)
"The Presidential Election" Reading Passage (PDF)
"The Presidential Election" Comprehension Questions (PDF)

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

Students will campaign for one of the presidential candidates. If you have enough students for four groups, assign two groups the Democrats and the other two groups the Republicans. Each group will present to the class. For example: posters, speeches, campaign slogans, songs, raps, commercials, etc. After the group presentations, the students will cast their secret ballots and the votes will be tallied.

SUPPORTING BOOKS

Books for Presidential Elections

Reading in the Content Areas: Strategies for Reading Success by Dr. Kate Kinsella

As our middle school 2008-09 Teacher Advisor, Sandra Blair uses the READ 180 program to help her 7^th and 8^th grade struggling readers and expects all students to succeed.

Formative Assessments That Motivate Underperforming Teens
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Connotation: Effective Word Choice
Promotes effective word choice, with a fun and exciting introduction of connotation through an examination of sports team names.

Winter's Tail: Lessons & Printables
Explore the world of dolphins with science and vocabulary lessons. Students will learn about dolphin biology and marine life through quick language...

ARTICLE	Write About Research has shown that summarization yields some of the greatest leaps in comprehension and long-term retention of information (Wormeli, 2005). A WriteAbout is a concrete tool for summarization in which students use key vocabulary terms (the language of the content area) to synthesize their understanding in a paragraph as well as represent key ideas graphically. Combining both verbal-linguistic and spatial intelligences, this assessment tool is a favorite of many students.
LESSON PLAN	Applying New Vocabulary Vocabulary instruction emphasizes building vocabulary word knowledge, comprehension and word-learning strategies related to the upcoming presidential...