Citizenship
Teacher
Writings

Citizenship Teacher Writings HOME

Civic Participation & Citizenship Collection

NELRC

Congratulations! You passed! Now what?
Erin-Kate Murphy, YMCA of Greater Boston

Lesson Objectives
• To get students to start thinking about life after the INS interview
• To prepare students to exercise the rights of citizenship
• To review aspects of voting including
       An historical perspective
       Examining who votes today and why
       Registering to vote
       Understanding the ballot
       Learning about candidates and ballot measures

Part I: Voting

A History of Voting
I introduced the lesson by asking one of the 100 questions: "What amendments guarantee voting rights?" Most students knew the numbers but not much of the history behind them. We began with The Sourcebook's "History of Voting" and made a voting rights timeline on the board. The timeline visually and dramatically demonstrated the long gap between the 15th Amendment of 1870 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Many students were surprised that so many people were denied the right to vote until the 1960s. One student exclaimed, " I thought this was a democracy!"

I asked the students how each of these groups must have felt being denied the right to vote and the response was a resounding "Not equal!" I asked if they also feel unequal for this reason and got mixed responses. Some said they feel fine about waiting for citizenship to have the right to vote. Others said they should have the right as permanent residents. One said she doesn't know enough yet, so she shouldn't be allowed to vote. We then discussed why each of these groups, in history and today, were and are denied the right to vote. Many questions were raised about what makes a responsible voter (gender, education, income, race, birthplace, etc). We examined the concept of "knowing enough to vote" and what that means. Do most citizens know enough? How does one go about learning enough? Although we came up with no definitive answers, we continued to examine these questions throughout the lesson.

Who Votes and Why?
Then we looked at The Sourcebook's "Who Votes," a collection of graphs of voter turnout based on race, education, and income. We compared our timeline of voting rights to the graphs. Students were somewhat surprised that voting turnout continues to correspond to income, race, and education even today. One said she had heard poor people say they don't vote because it doesn't affect them either way. Many said that people they know, immigrants and native-born, are citizens but don't know how to vote.

Registering to Vote
We then reviewed how to register to vote. I gave them sample voter registration forms (from the Citizenship Navigator) to fill out. We reviewed different ways to register and where to get the forms. The next question was where to vote. We used the New Bostonians Guide to locate the phone number of the Elections Committee, which provides all this information. We role-played phone conversations requesting voter registration forms and information about where to vote. I also showed them the local government website, http://www.cityofboston.gov/. You can enter your address to identify your representatives, district, ward, precinct, request voter forms, etc.

Learning About Candidates, Ballot Measures, and Ballots
We looked at sample voter registration cards and a sample ballot. At first, students felt overwhelmed. They felt comfortable voting on the federal level, but what about the local level? What about ballot measures? How can you collect enough information and understand it well enough to make informed decisions? We looked at sample ballot measures and candidate profiles provided by the Easy Reader Voter Guide. We discussed other ways to gather information (news, neighbors, teachers, govt. offices, etc). By the end of class, most students said they felt they would feel comfortable voting on the issues and candidates we read about. But many said they didn't think they could have done it on their own.

Voting: Right or Responsibility?
Very last, I passed out the Inquiry Project's composite "A Citizen Should" and asked if any revision was necessary. I had looked earlier that day and was surprised not to see voting listed. I asked if it should be included. Some said because they used to have to vote in their native countries, they see voting as a right and not a responsibility. Others said citizens have a duty to vote. Some said a democracy means you can do what you want, vote or not, and others said it means you must vote.

Reflections:
I liked this lesson because it combined potentially heady content (students examining their own conceptions of what it means to be a responsible citizen) with practical knowledge. In planning this lesson, I realized how involved the actual process of voting can be. There are many systems to navigate, such as registration, precincts, ballots, and information about candidates and issues. For native speakers, these can be daunting, but for a non-nativ, first-time voter, they can be truly overwhelming. This was a lot to get through in 3 hours. Certainly more than one class should be dedicated to the ideological and practical aspects of exercising one of the most fundamental rights of citizenship.

Part II: "A good citizen" revisited

I pulled out our "a good citizen should" list from months back and asked if it should be amended. Here's the original and the revisions/additions
Defend country
Obey laws
Pay taxes
Vote democrat (vote)
Work (if possible)
Contribute to society
Do volunteer work
Believe in god (personal)
Knowledge of US history and government
English

I asked them which of these things they now do (1) and which they plan to do or would be willing to do once they become citizens (2).
(1) English, knowledge, obey laws
(2) Vote, contribute, defend

I asked what it means to contribute to society; most gave examples of volunteer work or participation in an organization. I asked if they contributed to their native countries and all said they did, mostly by working. I said I thought they contribute by bringing their rich culture, education, backgrounds, etc., but they disagreed. One said they couldn't share this with people here because of English. They compare what they used to do with what they now do and they feel limited. We are currently trying to network within the community to find volunteer opportunities.

Top

New England Literacy Resource Center
World Education
Boston, MA
(617) 482-9485