Lesson Plan Template

NAME: Lindsey VanFossen

GRADE/CONTENT TOPIC: 12th grade, U.S. Government, Political Spectrum (96 mins)

PURPOSE: To explore the wide range of political ideologies covered by the political spectrum
and begin to understand that political ideology is not an exact science and rather one that must
account for a host of different influences.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will identify and define the characteristics and stances of the major political
ideologies.
2. Students will apply their knowledge of political ideologies to determine where they fall
on the spectrum.
3. Students will recognize how political ideologies influence the medias presentation of
political information.
OCSS STANDARDS & NCSS STRANDS:
OCSS
2. Political parties, interest groups, and the media provide opportunities for civic involvement
through various means.
NCSS
Individual Development and Identity: Assist learners to describe how family, religion, gender,
ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, and other group and cultural influences contribute to
the development of a sense of self.

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES/EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: PowerPoint, projector,

internet access, duct tape, ELMO, computer paper
HANDOUTS/READINGS: Ideological Survey, Article Identifying Political Ideas (14 sets),
Ideological Statements WS, Finding Political Bias Assignment

PROCEDURES/STEPS TO THE LESSON:

1. Prior to class, load PowerPoint, write 5 categories on the board, divide class horizontally

with duct between the two halves (5 desk groups), and hang liberal/conservative signs.
Greet students at the door and allow time for them to settle in (5 mins).
2. Create five columns on the board, labeling them as follows from left to right: "strong
liberal," "weak liberal," "moderate," "weak conservative," and "strong conservative." Ask
students to characterize themselves as one of the five without explaining the meaning of
the terms. Tally their responses under each column (6 mins).

3. Distribute the student handout Ideological Survey. Ask students individually to respond
to each of the statements on the survey by placing a "T" for true if they agree with the
statement or "F" for false if they disagree with the statement, in the column labeled "T/F."
Students should write nothing yet in the column labeled "L/C (5 mins).
4. After the students have completed the survey, go through the survey with them and reveal
which statements are conservative and which are liberal using the list below. Have
students score themselves (L/C and total liberal and conservative responses). Elaborate
on why the highlighted statements are what they are. If a student responds to a
conservative statement with "T" then she/he should place a "C" in the last column. If
responding to the same statement with an "F" the student would place and "L" in the
column. The following are the ideologies of the statements on the ideological survey-use ELMO for this (10 mins).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

C
C
C
C
C

6. L
7. L
8. C
9. C
10. L

11. L
12. C
13. L
14. C
15. L

16. C
17. C
18. C
19. L
20. C

21. L
22. L
23. L
24. L
25. C

5. After the students have coded their responses, ask them to characterize themselves again
as "strong liberal," "weak liberal," "moderate," "weak conservative," or "strong
conservative," but this time do it according to the following scheme: (2 mins)
21-25
16-20
21-25
16-20
10-15

Liberal responses
Liberal responses
Conservative responses
Conservative responses
of either responses

=
=
=
=
=

Strong Liberal
Weak Liberal
Strong Conservative
Weak Conservative
Moderate

6. Chart the students' responses on the board underneath the earlier tally. If there is a
change, ask students to theorize about what may have caused the change (3 mins).
Explain to the students that any ideological survey is imperfect in that it is not
sophisticated enough to cover the entire gamut of a political belief system, and
that they should continue to examine and hone their political beliefs.

Based on this survey, what sort of factors help one determine someones political
ideology? (ethnicity, class, gender, religion, etc.).
7. Political Spectrum Activity: (15 mins)
With their determined political ideologies in mind, students will order themselves on the
political spectrum (duct tape) according to what they believe in relation to current hot
topic issues. The duct tape is a visual representation of the political spectrum on the
issues, with one end of the line being strongly in favor of an issue, and the other end
being strongly against an issue. Students are required to talk to each other (communicate
their views to others and listen to others views) to discover where on the spectrum their
view on a particular issue fits.
Issues:
1. Abortion (Complete pro-choice Complete pro-life)
2. Gun Control (Nobody should be allowed to carry a gun Everybody should be
allowed to carry a gun)
3. Taxes (We are not being taxed enough We are being taxed too much)
4. Death Penalty (No death penalty in any case death penalty in many cases)
5. Welfare (easy way out governments responsibility to provide for its citizens)
We will return to the classroom and discuss what we saw in our visual representation of
the political spectrum. The hope is that many students will have switched their places in
line depending on the issue. Thus, political ideology and beliefs can be a complicated
thing! Did you hold true to your determined political ideology? If not, what does that
mean?
8. PowerPoint: Explain to students that both Liberals and Conservatives believe in
Lockes idea of natural rights particularly regarding private ownership of property. The
difference between liberals and conservatives comes in the way in which they envision
government fulfilling this role. Conservatives tend to believe that there should be less
governmental regulation in economic matters while liberals believe there should be less
governmental control in issues of social and political matters. Most citizens have beliefs
from both sides of the spectrum. (15 mins)
9. Divide the students into 5 groups. Assign each group one of the following identities from
the ideological spectrum: Radical, Liberal, Moderate, Conservative, and
Reactionary. Have the students discuss the characteristics of individuals within this
identity and create a sketch of what that person look like (can use word bubbles,
symbols,etc). CAUTION AGAINST STEREOTYPING. Students should share their
work with the class and describe the characteristics of each ideology (via ELMO). They
can refer to the article on political ideas for more information on the ideologies (20 mins).

10. Students will then complete ideological statements worksheet. Go over answers (10
mins).
11. Assign homework (5 mins).

CLOSURE: Video: Why is it important to be able to identify political ideologies? (5 mins)

Fox News Immediately Cuts to Break When Ron Paul Exposes Media Bias
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlfW-0621hE

ASSESSMENT/EVIDENCE OF LEARNING:
Objective 1: PowerPoint and Ideological Statements WS. Students will identify statements
according to whether they fall under the liberal or conservative category.
Objective 2: Survey and activity. Students will first self-assess their political ideology and then
throughout the class reflect on and apply how their actual stances on issues determines their true
political ideology.
Objective 3: Closure and homework. Students will recognize how authors political ideologies
come across in the media and why it is important to be able to recognize the influence of political
ideologies.
HOMEWORK: Finding Political Bias Assignment.
Directions: Find 1 newspaper editorial that demonstrates a clear leaning toward the left or right
of the political spectrum. Editorials are newspaper columns where people express their opinions
on a particular subject. Their purpose is to inform readers about a particular view or
interpretation of a topic, often to persuade people to support the authors belief over all others.
Thus, editorials are intentionally biased, they are not just regular news stories that tell the facts
(who, what, when, where, why, and how).
The editorial and should be recently published (within the last two-three months).
Bring in the newspaper article (actual clipping or an online article printed offstaple them to
this sheet) along with a summary of why you feel it expresses a bias toward a particular view
(use the back of this sheet for your response).
You should find one conservative editorial OR one liberal editorial. You do not need to do both.
You should label your article according to the political viewpoint expressed.
Then, you should summarize the main ideas of your article and provide evidence for why you
chose to label the editorial as conservative or liberal. Refer back to todays PowerPoint to help

support your response.

NOTES/REFLECTIONS:

IDEOLOGICAL SURVEY RESULTS

1.
2.
3.
6.
7.

C
C
C
C
C

21-25
16-20
21-25
16-20
10-15

6. L
7. L
8. C
9. C
10. L

11. L
12. C
13. L
14. C
15. L

Liberal responses
Liberal responses
Conservative responses
Conservative responses
of either responses

16. C
17. L
18. C
19. L
20. C

=
=
=
=
=

21. L
22. L
23. L
24. L
25. C

Strong Liberal
Weak Liberal
Strong Conservative
Weak Conservative
Moderate

Ideological Statements (KEY)

Directions: Copy the following statements onto sentence strips. Have students identify whether a
statement would fall under a liberal or conservative point of view.

Government should not censor speech, press, media or the internet.

Liberal

Repeal laws prohibiting adult possession and use of drugs.

Liberal

Let people control their own retirement; privatize Social Security.

Conservative

Replace government welfare with private charity.

Conservative

Government regulation of business is necessary to protect the public interest

Liberal

Government regulation of business usually does more harm than good.

Conservative

Too much power is concentrated in the hands of a few large companies.

Liberal

Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs.

Conservative

The government should help those in need even if it has to raise taxes.

Liberal

Government programs like welfare discourage people from working.

Conservative

Back:
R

Name_____________________________________Date_____________________Block______

Ideological Statements
Directions: Identify whether the statement falls under a liberal or conservative point of view.

1. Government should not censor speech, press, media or the internet.

Liberal/Conservative

2. Repeal laws prohibiting adult possession and use of drugs.

Liberal/Conservative

3. Let people control their own retirement; privatize Social Security.

Liberal/Conservative

4. Replace government welfare with private charity.

Liberal/Conservative

5. Government regulation of business is necessary to protect the public interest Liberal/Conservative

6. Government regulation of business usually does more harm than good.

Liberal/Conservative

7. Too much power is concentrated in the hands of a few large companies.

Liberal/Conservative

8. Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs.

Liberal/Conservative

9. The government should help those in need even if it has to raise taxes.

Liberal/Conservative

10. Government programs like welfare discourage people from working.

Liberal/Conservative

Directions: Read each of the statements and mark each box with either an L or R according
to whether they express a conservative view (RIGHT) or a liberal one (LEFT).

Public schools should begin each day

with a prayer.

Businesses operate most efficiently

when they determine how much their
workers earn. Government should
not set a minimum wage.

Law-abiding citizens should have no

limit on the number of guns they may
own.

Individual people should rely on their

own hard work to achieve financial
stability.

Religion and public schools should be

kept separate.

The minimum wage is a great

example of how the government can
protect workers from being taken
advantage of by businesses.

Gun control laws are an important

way to protect public safety.

Sometimes the poor need financial

help from the government.

The government should be able to

censor books and movies with
offensive language.

Government regulations on business

help protect our environment.

Ideological Survey

Question
1. The Federal Government places too many restrictions on modern corporations.
2. Union workers receive wages and benefits so high that they damage their
companys ability to compete.
3. High government taxes hurt the economy.
4. Only people who cannot work should be eligible for welfare programs.
5. Illegal immigration lowers wages and increases crime.
6. New government programs should be created to further assist poor people in the
United States.
7. The wealthy should be taxed at a higher percentage than the lower and middle
classes.
8. One of the best ways to help the poor is to set policies that help businesses earn a
profit and create new jobs.
9. Government programs discourage able bodied people from helping themselves.
10. The government should not restrict abortion and other reproductive choices.
11. The government has a special responsibility to assist minorities.
12. Faith-based organizations should be used to improve poverty and crime in local
communities.
13. Public funding should not be used to support religious institutions including
schools.
14. Government should not financially support art projects that are morally
objectionable.
15. The First Amendment should protect pornography from government censorship.
16. Free trade between the U.S. and other nations is generally beneficial.
17. Americas high crime rate is directly traceable to a cycle of poverty, poor health
care, poor education, and discrimination.
18. A less regulated capitalist system increases innovation and creates long-term
economic success.
19. Gay marriage should be legal.

T/F L/C

20. Economic success should take precedent over environmental policies.

21. The federal government should not get involved in setting academic standards for
local public school districts.
22. Americans should have a right to affordable health care.
23. The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment.
24. Limiting the sale and possession of firearms does not violate the second
amendment right to bear arms.
25. The giving of a prayer before public school sporting events, activities and other
programs should be allowed.
TOTAL Conservative Responses:
TOTAL Liberal Responses: