Lesson Title : Defining Democracy

By: Maria Inglefield, Teacher Consultant, Wasatch Range Writing Project

Burning Question: What is Democracy, in theory and practice?

Objective/introduction: The objective of this lesson plan is to help students define Democracy and to consider how Democracy works in our daily lives.

Context: 8-12 grades in U.S. History or Government or Literature

Materials:

• web-based texts
• Paper, Pen/Pencil,
• Document Camera (helpful),
• Poster board, glue, index cards, etc.

Time Span: Variable

Procedures:

• Discussion: Democracy- a system in which the governed can participate in their own government, not just through voting. Democracy means you can protest or instruct or initiate law yourself. If you cannot do these things, the order established is not Democratic.
• Class Conversation Starters/Writing Prompts: How do you participate in a democratic society? Is a school a democratic institution? What is the role of student government in your school? Do you understand that having a say means you also have a responsibility to listen to someone else’s opinions?
• Introduce students to examples of democracy created prior to the establishment of the United States (1783):
  • The Iroquois Confederacy. The people of the Six Nations, also known by the French term, Iroquois Confederacy, call themselves the Hau de no sau nee (ho dee noe sho nee) meaning "People Building a Long House." Located in the northeastern region of North America, originally the Six Nations was five and included the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. The sixth nation, the Tuscarora, migrated into Iroquois country in the early eighteenth century. Together these peoples comprise the oldest living participatory democracy on earth. This council operated on consensus. Benjamin Franklin  was particularly impressed by this confederation.
    • After working with the Iroquois Constitution and other materials, students will work in groups about these issues:
      • Describe the deliberative process at the Iroquois councils.
      • What was the political role of Iroquois women?
      • How did the council document important decisions and laws?
      • How were the Sachems (Lords) kept accountable and responsive to the people?
      • What are the main similarities and differences between the Iroquois and United States Constitutions? Do you think that the Iroquois influenced the founders? Why or why not?
    • Students in small groups use the talking circle (For description see: http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/leadership/teachers/circle.htm) to make a decision about policy in the classroom.
      • What is important to you in the daily workings of a civil classroom community?
      • Do you think you could make positive changes?
      •  Do you feel your teacher is willing to listen to your ideas?
  • New England town meetings. New England Town Meetings first began 300 years ago, approximately 1620, in the New England colonies. The Puritans developed a type of town meeting to discuss issues religious and secular. Town meetings are still held in New England. At these meetings, usually held once a year, all eligible citizens of the town may become legislators; they meet in face-to-face assemblies, debate the issues on the agenda, and vote on them.
    • After working with information about town meetings, students could:
      • Consider an issue in the school or in the community. Assign students to research the issues through interviews and research.
      • Review basic parliamentary procedures with students.
      • Hold a town meeting at which the issues is discussed. Vote on solution.
  • Pirates. According to new research, far from being the bloodthirsty fiends portrayed in popular culture, pirates created a harmonious social order. Pirates created self-regulating, democratic societies aboard their ships, complete with checks and balances, more than half a century before the American and French revolutions brought such models to state-level governance.
    • After working with information about pirate democracy, students could:
      • Write a code for the class.
      • Write a code for the school. How does it compare with the institutional code the school already has?

Extensions:

• Building on found lines in Founding Documents or using the poems about Democracy found on PoemHunter.com, create your own shadow poem. Copy and paste the original lines onto a document, leaving space for your own lines in between. When you are finished, you can keep the original lines embedded in your poem and consider it a poem for two voices or erase the original lines for your own stand alone poem. Always make sure (if sharing these with peers or not) that the original author is credited.
•  Pick favorite lines from these poems you have created to create a classroom poem about Democracy. Share sentences and build a document together. Poll and Process: Can you define what is lost and gained in working together? Which exercise did you find most productive with the best end product? See if your principal will approve your reading of the poem during morning announcements!
• Passing Notes exercise –– Each student writes a sentence or two for the classroom constitution then passes it to another student in class. Interpret a line written by another student. Ask them if you got it right? Can you represent someone well? How precise are you being? Do you need to flesh out your writing by using good description and examples? Do you need to work on listening?
•  Post the classroom constitution or democracy poem with its writers and signers (note dissenters if you would like). See how you do adhering to your own classroom rules for a week and talk about the process at that time. Make changes, amendments, if you would like. As the year goes on, revisit the document and see how it has held up. Make video of roundtable discussions.

Rationale:

Students need to be able to experience/practice democracy in order to understand how it works.

Resources:

• From Teach US History.org: information about how impressed Alexis de Tocqueville was with town meetings when he  traveled to the United States in 1831 and wrote his book: Democracy in America
• At PoemHunter.com, filter for “"Democracy”" and 109 poems titled, “"Democracy,”" or having to do directly with Democracy will pop up. Some of the authors are Langston Hughes, Leonard Cohen, Rimbaud, Narendra Kuppan, and John Greenleaf Whittier.
• For information about shadow poem, see: The Practice of Poetry, Writing Exercises from Poets who Teach, edited by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell, 1992.