It's rare to have such a lively opportunity to teach
about democracy, but here it is. Bring the Citizens' Assembly into
your classroom and
inspire your students about
voting and civic participation. Read a
letter to Educators from the Chair of the Assembly, Jack
Blaney.
Teaching aids, lesson plans, word games, and voting
education kits are all listed below, to help educators
explain and students examine electoral systems. By
engaging your class on this important public
issue, you can also clearly fulfill BC's learning
outcomes. Scroll to the bottom for related learning
outcomes for grades 5 and 8-12.
After checking out this page of educator's resources,
also visit:
» CUSTOM
RESOURCE
A unique
lesson aid package is now available to help classrooms explore the
Assembly's work and final recommendation.
Assessing Electoral
Systems: opportunities for political education and
active citizenship is especially useful to Socials 11 and Civic
Studies 11 classes. Download:
-
Lesson aids in
Word (136K)
or
PDF
(164K)
-
Appendix in
Word
(9.6M) or
PDF
(2.3M)
-
Presentation on electoral system families, suitable for a Model
Assembly at your school, in
PowerPoint
(42K) or
PDF
(110K)
Students and Assembly member at model Citizens'
Assembly.
Paula Waatainen, of Rockridge Secondary School in West
Vancouver, developed these lesson aids as part of her work towards
receiving a Masters degree in social studies education. She was
inspired by a Model Citizens' Assembly she organized at her school
(pictured
above).
As participants in the model Assembly, a group of 60 Grade 11
and 12 students spent a morning learning about electoral systems.
Then, they came to an agreement on what they thought was best
electoral system for BC. Five of these students
presented
their
views (PDF 128K) to a Citizens' Assembly
public hearing in
North Vancouver.
» EDUCATIONAL LINKS
The following websites are helpful in teaching about
electoral systems. However, the research staff at the
Citizens' Assembly do not endorse these organizations or
websites.
Education level: (P)
Post-Secondary (S)
Secondary (E) Elementary
Teaching Aids
Lesson Plans for
Evaluating Electoral Systems
Voting Education Kit
Built by
Elections
BC, these education kits introduce youth to the basic
principles of a provincial election under our current electoral
system, with a focus on the importance of
voting.
Lesson Ideas
Word Games
Here are samples from American and Canadian websites. Use these as
examples to create your own!
Math Exercises
» PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Bringing the Citizens’ Assembly into your classroom
can contribute to prescribed learning outcomes. For
example, in grade 11 Political Issues I, "it is expected
that students will:
-
identify the structure and operation of Canada's federal,
provincial, and municipal governments
-
explain Canada's political system and contrast it with other
political systems"
Related Prescribed Learning Outcomes for BC classrooms:
-
-
Grade 8
Social Studies Applications, Information Technology
-
Grade 9
Social Studies Applications, Information Technology
-
Grade 10
Social Studies Applications, Information Technology
-
Grade 11
Political Issues, Social Studies Skills and Processes,
Communications
-
Grade
12 Cultures and Values, Communications
The Citizens' Assembly and the upcoming referendum are also a
relevant additions to any current events
curriculum.
levelCMS