What do you know about your elected officials?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW
ABOUT ELECTED OFFICIALS?

What do you know about the President, Governor, and Mayor?

Roles of Elected Officials:
The President, The Governor and The Mayor
Social Studies, Second Grade

As future voters and productive citizens, children should know the roles/duties of elected officials. The roles of our nation's President, our state's Governor and our city's Mayor are vital to understanding our government. Civic Understanding does not usually top the list of most curriculum; however, students should be exposed to the government and what takes place in our great country. Not only will knowledge of our government create a more educated population, but the students will feel like active participants in our society.

Georgia Performance Standard: SS2CG2: The student will identify the roles of the following elected officials:
                           a.     President (Leader of Our Nation)
                           b.     Governor (Leader of Our State)
                           c.     Mayor (Leader of a City)

After completing the activities on this page, students should be able to identify the roles/duties/qualifications of elected officials, namely the President of the United States of America, the Governor, and the Mayor.

Table of Contents:
Instructional Websites
Activity One
Activity Two
Activity Three
Software Reviews

Stars

Instructional Websites:

Law For Kids

What are the qualifications for becoming the President of the United States of America? This website lists the Constitutionally defined qualifications for the President as well as information on many other topics.

White House History

What does the President do? Where does he work all day? A kid-friendly web page, the White House Historical Association Classroom site explains exactly what a President does, along with other governmental/historical information.

Emory Law School

What does it take to become a Governor? Like most states, Georgia's Constitution clearly defines the requirements for becoming the Governor. Can you find some of the requirements? Emory Law school highlights part of the Georgia Constitution in which you should find the qualifications of the Governor.

National Governors Association

What does the Governor do? Can you find the common job duties of the Governor of your state? State requirements vary; however, this website gives a general overview of what a State Governor is responsible for.

Student Voices of Philadelphia

Much like a Governor's duties vary from state to state, a Mayor's duties and responsibilities vary from city to city. Take a look at the Student Voices of Philadelphia web page and try to find some of the duties of the Mayor.

Georgia Voter Registration

With all this information about elected officials, one thing is imperative to their election: Voting! What are the requirements to become a registered voter? Use this site to gather information about voting.

The following activities will be used to assess the primary learning outcome for the GPS SS2CG2. Although separate activities, each of the activities listed below will yield a single chapter, which will then be added to the classroom "Elected Officials" book consisting of three chapters (Activities 1-3). This finished book will include useful information on roles of elected officials including the President of the United States of America, Governor of a state, and the Mayor of a city. Once the students understand the roles, duties and responsibilities of all three elected officials, then the class will participate in a mock election, which will include qualifying for office and campaigning before the mock election takes place. Collectively, these activities will help to ensure that students make informed decisions in the future.

Activity One:

Could You Become the Next President?
To complete this activity, students will navigate two web pages to find the qualifications, roles/duties and job detail of the President of the United States of America. Once data is gathered, the students will compile a book that is both typed and illustrated using Microsoft Office Software (i.e. Microsoft Word and Paint). The finished product will contain factual information about the President's many roles and responsibilities. This will become the first chapter of the classroom "Elected Officials" book.

Primary Learning Outcome: The student will identify the roles of the President (Leader of Our Nation) by compiling a list of the duties/responsibilities and qualifications to become President.

Materials and Resources: Internet access to LAW FOR KIDS and WHITE HOUSE HISTORY along with computer access to Microsoft Word and Paint. Students will also need computer paper, scissors and glue.

Procedures: The classroom teacher will discuss the President of the United States of America and will give a brief overview of the qualifications and responsibilities of holding such office. Then students will be assigned to computers with Internet access to complete Activity One. Students will access LAW FOR KIDS and WHITE HOUSE HISTORY to search for information regarding the roles, qualifications and responsibilities of a President.

Product: Then students will type such items on a Microsoft Word document in list form. Once students have successfully entered data, they will print the list and switch to the Paint program to illustrate their pages. Students will then print the Paint picture and cut and paste the Paint picture onto the list page to be entered into the classroom "Elected Officials" book. The students' combined research will complete Chapter One of the classroom "Elected Officials" book.

Activity Two:

Could You Become the Next State Governor?
To complete this activity, students will navigate two web pages to find the qualifications, roles/duties and job detail of the Governor of a State. Once data is gathered, the students will compile a book that is both typed and illustrated using Microsoft Office Software (i.e. Microsoft Word and Paint). The finished product will contain factual information about a State Governor's many roles and responsibilities. This will become the second chapter of the classroom "Elected Officials" book.

Primary Learning Outcome: The student will identify the roles of a Governor (Leader of Our State) by compiling a list of the duties/responsibilities and qualifications to become a Governor.

Materials and Resources: Internet access to EMORY LAW SCHOOL and the NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION along with computer access to Microsoft Word and Paint. Students will also need computer paper, scissors and glue.

Procedures: The classroom teacher will discuss the Governor of his/her state and will give a brief overview of the qualifications and responsibilities of holding such office. Then students will be assigned to computers with Internet access to complete Activity One. Students will access EMORY LAW SCHOOL and the NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION to search for information regarding the roles, qualifications and responsibilities of a State Governor.

Product: Then students will type such items on a Microsoft Word document in list form. Once students have successfully entered data, they will print the list and switch to the Paint program to illustrate their pages. Students will then print the Paint picture and cut and paste the Paint picture onto the list page to be entered into the classroom "Elected Officials" book. The students' combined research will complete Chapter Two of the classroom "Elected Officials" book.

Activity Three:

Could You Become Your City's Next Mayor?
To complete this activity, students will navigate a web page to find the qualifications, roles/duties and job detail of a Mayor of a City. Once data is gathered, the students will compile a book that is both typed and illustrated using Microsoft Office Software (i.e. Microsoft Word and Paint). The finished product will contain factual information about a City Mayor's many roles and responsibilities. This will become the third chapter of the classroom "Elected Officials" book.

Primary Learning Outcome: The student will identify the roles of a Mayor (Leader of a City) by compiling a list of the duties/responsibilities and qualifications to become a Mayor of a City.

Materials and Resources: Internet access to STUDENT VOICES OF PHILADELPHIA along with computer access to Microsoft Word and Paint. Students will also need computer paper, scissors and glue.

Procedures: The classroom teacher will discuss the City's current Mayor and will give a brief overview of the qualifications and responsibilities of holding such office. Then students will be assigned to computers with Internet access to complete Activity One. Students will access STUDENT VOICES OF PHILADELPHIA to search for information regarding the roles, qualifications and responsibilities of a Mayor.

Product: Then students will type such items on a Microsoft Word document in list form. Once students have successfully entered data, they will print the list and switch to the Paint program to illustrate their pages. Students will then print the Paint picture and cut and paste the Paint picture onto the list page to be entered into the classroom "Elected Officials" book. The students' combined research will complete Chapter Three of the classroom "Elected Officials" book.

Additional Activities:

Want to hold a mock election in your classroom? Click here for more information.

How much do you know about the voter eligibility requirements of your state? Click here to learn more about the State of Georgia voter requirements.

Software Reviews:

MICROSOFT WORD
Word

Published By: Microsoft
Possible Classroom Uses: Microsoft Word has many uses that would be helpful in the classroom and comes with many computer packages. Microsoft Word would be used to help the students organize their data for the classroom "Elected Officials" book.
Software Evaluation: Microsoft Word is a great program for putting the classroom book together. In higher grades, scissors and glue could be replaced with the drawing and editing features of this program, which would make an even more attractive book. The only problem that I can foresee with Microsoft Word software would simply be that some of the students may not know how to use bullets for the lists.

MICROSOFT PAINT

Published By: Microsoft
Possible Classroom Uses: Microsoft Paint software is a kid-friendly program that has many uses in a classroom. For the illustration of our classroom book, students can draw and paint in bright, vivid colors and can erase any mistakes with great ease. Students in higher grades may also understand how to use the text box portion of this program, which could eliminate the need for cutting and pasting later on.
Software Evaluation: Although easy for most to use, students with physical disabilities may have a hard time controlling the mouse. Other students whose coordination skills have not matured yet may also have some difficulty using the mouse to illustrate their books.

BRITANNICA 2006 STUDENT LIBRARY
Encyclopedia

Published By: Encyclopedia Britannica
Possible Classroom Uses: This software includes a vast amount of information for many subjects that would be extremely useful in the classroom. For the classroom book project, students could easily find information about Presidential election qualifications, Governor qualifications and Mayoral candidate information.
Software Evaluation: This seems to be kid-friendly and easy to use. The main problem with this software would be the student's searching ability. If the student doesn't know what to search for, he/she may not be able to find the best information.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS: TOWN GOVERNMENT
Town

Published By: Scholastic
Possible Classroom Uses: This software would be a wonderful addition to discussions on local government. For the classroom book, this would be a great resource for Chapter Three: The Mayor.
Software Evaluation: This software is easy to use and covers a broad range of topics from local government to individual civic duties. The amount of reading involved in this software would be detrimental for a student who is a "non-reader" or who struggles with reading.

PRESIDENTS 3000
3000

Published By: Ken Winograd
Possible Classroom Uses: This is the computerized version of the classic game "Hangman" with a twist. The goal of this game is to correctly answer questions about the current and former Presidents before the man is hung. This would be a great center to use when teaching students Social Studies/Government. With its game-like qualities, students are sure to enjoy learning.
Software Evaluation: This program requires that students have prior knowledge of the presidents. For those who do not, this game would be harder to play, but would serve as a learning tool to improve knowledge of the presidents. This software has multiple levels of questions, so students with greater knowledge could be given the harder questions and vice versa.

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