From Learning Law and Democracy

Engage students in a Structured Academic Controversy in this lesson that focuses on developing deliberation skills using a proposed Minnesota Law that would require all Minnesota voters to have photo identification. This lesson from the Deliberating in a Democracy Minnesota (DIDMN) project teaches deliberation skills that ensure that conflicting views can be heard, understood, and valued, and students will develop the ability to find solutions to important issues. Lesson includes a student reading on the pros and cons of voter photo identification requirement which is used by small groups as they increase their understanding of the issue. This is democracy in action!

Objectives

• Students will learn the process of deliberation
• Students will increase understanding of the tensions concerning fair and fair elections that surround voter photo identification requirements
• Students will practice skills for democracy

Time to Complete

One class period

Materials needed

• Deliberating in a Democracy Voter ID ^[1]
• Deliberating-in-a-Democracy-VoterID.instructions-powerpoint1 ^[2]
• Deliberating in a Democracy Steps ^[3]
• Deliberating in a Democracy Steps Video ^[4]
• Making Civics Real SAC on Racial Profiling with MN teacher JoEllen Ambrose ^[5]

Procedure

See Deliberating in a Democracy Steps and Steps Video