Democracy Inquiry Project Lesson Plan

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Brianna Leibel, Katie Malish

Unit 4: Democracy


Span of Lesson: 6 days

Grade Level: 3rd Grade

Purpose:

  • Establish how our nation became a democracy and who played a key factor in forming this democracy (historical figures)

  • Apply what democracy means to our society today and in our classroom

  • Explore creative methods in presenting knowledge to a group of students

  • This project fulfills the standard 3.2.2 that states: identify and know the significance of fundamental democratic principles and ideals.  

  • Review the meaning of democracy and the key historical figures that played a role in establishing our democracy


  1. Driving question:

  • What is your driving question?

Which historical figure contributed the most to our nation becoming a democracy?

  • Background information of this driving question:

The grade level that this lesson is for is third grade. It covers the standard 3.2.2 that states: identify and know the significance of fundamental democratic principles and ideals. This lesson should take approximates three class periods. In this lesson we will have the children create presentations about historical figures that played a key role in the development of our democracy.The teacher will briefly explain democracy, give an example of one historical figure who enhanced democracy, and then outline the historical figures each child may choose for their presentation. The children will then use some form of creative and artistic method to create a presentation for this figure. These may be posters, songs, videos, or even short skits. The presentation must be 2-3 minutes long. After this we will have a short socratic seminar in which the children will discuss the historical figures and which had the greatest impact on democracy. This will be followed up with a jeopardy game reviewing each figure and the key concepts and definition of democracy. To conclude this lesson, the children will take a quiz on the democratic principles and historical figures to test their knowledge.


  • Why do you think this is a good driving question?

This a good driving question for the students to explore because it effectively allows them to meets the standard while exploring an in depth question that does not have a clear one answer solution. They will be required to research the topic in great detail to form their own opinions about each historical figure. This allows them to think critically while being engaged in a project that has multiple ways to achieve a solution. It is an authentic connection to historical figures while also relating to present day democracy and democracy in the classroom, making this a relevant problem for the students to study. There is one or more plausible solutions because deciding which historical figure contributed most to  democracy is an objective opinion and can be supported by textual evidence for many figures. They will need to evaluate and analyze their research to support their claim of which historical figure contributed the most to our nation’s democracy. Then they will have to present and defend their opinion to the class on which historical figure contributed the most to democracy since some students may not share their opinion.


  1. Grabber

  • What is your grabber?

3 Videos:

  • Why do you think this grabber is a good grabber and how do they match with your driving question?

This grabber is effective because it sufficiently provides background information of the topic and how it connects to the student’s perspective of democracy. It provides information for the standard 3.2.2 by giving information on the definition of democracy, historical figures, and how democracy has been seen in our society. This grabber capitalizes on high emotion situations by presenting graphic and emotional first-hand experiences of the people affected by democracy and fighting for the right to democracy. It allows the students to see the importance of democracy in our society and appreciate those who fought for it. The Liberty Kids video even goes into the perspective of people who fought in the Revolutionary War which is an emotional experience for all people involved. This activity establishes relevance in our society because it relates democracy in the past to democracy today, and how that democracy can be used in the future or even now in the classroom through voting. The Nickelodeon Video explains to the students about their right to vote in future elections and how it can relate to the principles of democracy. These three videos will be shown to the class and discussed in class with the teachers so that the students can form their own views about democracy and how it affects their own lives. It also introduces key topics that they will use in their presentation and research.

  1. Culminated activities: List all your activities here.

1). Activities Number 1

  • What is your activities number 1?

The teacher will explain how George Washington contributed to democracy developing in our nation using examples from the video. He/she will use a powerpoint as a visual aid with information on George Washington. The teacher will then explain the question to the class and the procedures for completing this project. The teacher will preview the different historical figures that the children will research by using a powerpoint with information on each character.


Presentation Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nhahKMS-_YC3uQ2SagUMe6eWdPaOZzj_XuNroto-YJI/edit?usp=sharing


  • Why do you think this is a good activities for PBL?

Students can relate to George Washington because many were taught when they were younger that he was the first President of the United States. This activity will help introduce to the students how to present their own views to the class. It will provide to them an example of historical figures working to better the country through democracy. By presenting the different historical figures that the students will research, they will be given the opportunity to pick which figure contributed most to democracy, therefore giving them the ability to present and defend their opinion. This requires student collaboration because the students are paired in groups to solve this problem. Since this is just an introduction before the students begin collaborating together, they will not be graded on this activity.


2). Activities Number 2

  • What is your activities number 2?

Presentations Procedure:

The children will have three class periods to work in groups of four to five that will be assigned by the teacher to create their presentation. The presentations will then be shared with the class one by one. Each student will have 2-3 minutes to share how their historical figure contributed to the democracy of our nation using visual aids or music of their choice. The historical figures that they will have to choose from are: Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Susan B. Anthony, John Locke, and Abraham Lincoln.

After the children have been assigned to groups and a historical figure, each group will work together to research their historical figure and its significance in helping create America’s democracy. The students will be given two days to research their historical figure and create their presentation for the class.

After two days, the children will assemble in their groups and each take turns presenting to the class. After each presentation, students will be given the chance to ask each group questions about their historical figure.

After all of the presentations have concluded, the seminar will begin. Details on how the seminar will be run are listed below.

For their presentations, the students will receive a participation grade that is determined by their meeting the following criteria: the presentation lasts at least two minutes, the students have shown evidence of research, the presentation is creative, and all group members participate.


Rubric Link:

https://iu.box.com/s/k08e2vzeqqc2nbk0hegso6fyy6l8sdfh


  • Why do you think this is a good activities for PBL?

This is an authentic activity for the students to promote in-depth study because they can defend their reasoning that their historical figure is the most influential to democracy through their research and presentation. The students will collaborate with one another to put together a poster, play, song, powerpoint, or drawing to support their reasoning and convince the class of their opinion. The students will be judged on their creativity, the historical accuracy of their presentation, their understanding of democracy, and that their presentation is at least two to three minutes long.  


3). Activities Number 3

  • What is your activities number 3?

Debriefing: Seminar

We will have a socratic seminar after the presentations in which we will answer the essential question: which historical figure contributed the most to the formation of our democracy? They will use knowledge from their own research as well as the presentations to explain their opinion in this discussion that the teacher will facilitate. The class may not come to a consensus, but that does not pose a huge problem to their learning experience. The most important thing is that the children understand how each historical figure contributed to the democracy in some way.

Other questions that the class can discuss include: How is democracy incorporated in our present day society? How is democracy used in the classroom? What does democracy mean to you as an individual? What are the most important democratic principles to you?


  • Why do you think this is a good activities for PBL?

This activity is authentic because it allows the students to relate what they saw in the presentations to the democracy in their classroom and everyday life. They have the opportunity in the seminar to discuss the contributions each figure made to democracy and decide as a class which figure contributed the most to the nation’s democracy. This requires collaboration because the students will be replying to one another and bouncing ideas off of one another in this seminar. Students will be graded on participation, and will receive full credit if they speak twice during the seminar.


4). Activities Number 4

  • What is your activities number 4?

The culminating activity will start with a Jeopardy game that will be created by the teacher prior to the lesson. The game will contain questions about the historical figures and the key principles of democracy. It will also review the definition of democracy and how each historical figure contributed to this principle. The link to the Jeopardy game is:  jeopardy.rocks/democracyandhistoricalfigures.  

  • Why do you think this is a good activities for PBL?

This is authentic because it allows the students to apply the knowledge they gained from the presentations and the seminar to a game that will help them review for the quiz. This activity allows the students to collaborate together in a team to answer the most questions correctly in order to win the game. I will judge what they have learned from this activity through their team scores from the game. However, since this is merely review for the quiz, they will not be graded on this part of the lesson.


5). Activities Number 5

  • What is your activities number 5?

Finally, the end of the unit will be comprised of a short quiz testing the students knowledge of the principles of democracy and the key figures who influenced democracy in our society. The link to the quiz is: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SG_Jmozt14wQY03DS_SgHHwNWcI8EJaCBBdef4OJyCY/edit?usp=sharing

  • Why do you think this is a good activities for PBL?

This activity is used to assess the students on the knowledge that they have acquired through their research, presentations, discussions, and their review game. It is meant as a closure for the unit and can be used to provide feedback for their teacher in how much knowledge his or her students acquired. Then, the teacher can review the results and decide if the project as a whole was successful in teaching his or her students about democracy and its application to life today. This is not a collaboration activity since students will take the quiz on their own.  










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