Note to Educators

Anatomy of a LessonEach lesson in the 2010 Municipal Resource aims to help students understand a different facet of the upcoming 2010 Ontario municipal and school board elections while also providing instructional choice for educators depending on the needs of a particular group of students. The following features of lessons have been designed to further this aim.

Enduring Understanding – Beneath the title of each lesson, an enduring understanding is stated as a guiding concept that students will hopefully comprehend long after the details of the lesson have been forgotten. Lessons have been structured with the aim of helping students to discover this understanding for themselves rather than having it taught through direct instruction as a fact.

Hook – The hook is a brief introductory activity intended to activate students’ intrinsic motivation to learn about the topic by presenting a challenge, problem, or provocation that challenges the knowledge students bring to the classroom. Hook activities have been phrased in manner that speaks directly to students, rather than instructing the teacher on how to conduct the activity.

Essential Learning – This section is comprised of activities recommended to help students acquire fundamental knowledge, understandings, and skills related to the topic. The emphasis on factual knowledge in these activities is intended to equip students with the essential information that will enable students to make an informed voting decision on Student Vote Day. Essential learning activities have been phrased in manner that speaks directly to students, rather than instructing the teacher on how to conduct the activity.

Extended Learning – Extended learning activities are designed to provide educators with opportunities to differentiate student learning while challenging students to employ analytic and creative thinking skills to the topic. The activities have been ranked according to increasing difficulty, and so educators should assess the ability of students before assigning an extended learning activity. Extended learning activities have been phrased in manner that speaks directly to students, rather than instructing the teacher on how to conduct the activity.

Key Terms – The list of key terms are intended to highlight election vocabulary that might be new to some students; consequently, educators might consider previewing or posting these terms in order to support student learning. Definitions of key terms can be found in the Glossary of this resource.

Essential Questions – Essential questions have been posed for each lesson as suggestions for promoting inquiry leading to the heart of a topic and for generating debate, discussion, and reflection among students. An extended list of questions related to each topic can be found in the Additional Resources section of this resource. Teacher Preparation – Each lesson involves some forethought and preparation on the part of the educator in order to tailor learning for a particular group of students. Teacher preparation notes are intended to help ensure that teachers have materials, activities, and instructional strategies prepared for students.

Assessment – Although an assessment tool with descriptors for levels of mastery has not been included in this resource, criteria for demonstrating understanding have been included in each lesson to guide educators towards the evidence that should be sought from student activities

Instructional ChoicesBecause each group of students is unique, all teachers are strongly advised to consider the activities and instructional activities that will best help their students to acquire a multi-facet understanding of municipal and school board elections in Ontario. In this regard, the following reminders are offered:

Alternatives to Written ArtifactsStudents do not necessarily demonstrate their understanding of elections in written form. Many of the activities have been worded in a way that leaves students free to express their thoughts through discussion, debate, oral presentations, dramatic presentations, and images. When seeking evidence of understanding, educators are strongly encouraged to vary the form of evidence required in order to allow all students to successfully demonstrate mastery of election knowledge and skills.

Emphasis on Literacy Skills … On the other hand, a significant proportion of lessons in this resource and of publicly-available election information rely on print material. Do not be daunted; rather, please consider using these lessons as an opportunity to practice literacy skills and learn about elections at the same time. Links to exhaustive literacy teaching strategies provided by the Ministry of Education are listed at the end of the Additional Resources section in this resource.

Authentic Tasks Student Vote strongly encourages students and educators to share products of learning activities with the public; the publication or distribution of information and commentary on the municipal and school board elections lends authenticity to student tasks and has the opportunity to generate greater public interest in local election campaigns. Please consider publishing student work in a special run of school newsletters, posting work on bulletin boards throughout the school, making student-made content available online, or encouraging students to submit artifacts of learning to the local newspaper. Educators are also encouraged to invite feedback, be it from another class of students, members of a social network, or individuals living in the community, because dialogue with parties outside the classroom often enhances the authenticity of learning exercises, justifies learning in the eyes of students, and triggers students’ intrinsic motivation to learn about elections.