Teacher Resource

Voting Age

1. Discuss the BTN story as a class. What points were raised in the discussion?

2. Currently, how old do you have to be to vote?3. In what year were women given the right to vote?4. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people weren’t allowed to have

their say until ___________.5. Why do some people think the voting age should be lowered to 16?6. What are the arguments against lowering the voting age?7. Why are they holding a mock election at Scotch College?8. The votes will be included in the official election result. True or false?9. Do you think the voting age should be lowered to 16? Explain your

answer.10. What questions do you have after watching the BTN story?

Class DiscussionDiscuss the BTN Voting Age story as a class. Record what students know about voting on a mind map. What questions do they have about voting and elections? Use the following questions to help guide

What is voting? Who can vote? How old do you have to be to vote in

Australia? Do you think being able to vote is important? Why or why not?

GlossaryCreate your own classroom glossary about voting. Start by brainstorming words as a class using a mind map to record your responses. Add to your list of words by downloading the BTN Voting Age story transcript and highlighting all the words that relate to voting. Find definitions for each word. Consider using pictures and diagrams to illustrate meanings.

Vote Election Ballot Box Candidate

Political party Campaign Electoral roll Poll

©ABC 2018

Episode 613th March 2018 November 2016

Students will explore and understand voting in elections in Australia. Students will plan presentations using their skills of verbal persuasion to convince the class the voting age should be lowered to 16.

HASS / Civics and citizenship – Year 5The key features of the electoral process in Australia.

Civics and Citizenship – Year 7Reflect on their role as a citizen in Australia’s democracy.

English / Literacy – Year 5Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience.

English / Literacy – Year 6Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience.

English / Literacy – Year 7Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subject matter and particular language, visual, and audio features to convey information and ideas.

Get your class involved in BTN’s Ask A Reporter! This week’s topic is Voting Age Experiment.

Class voteHave you ever voted? Students will think of different situations where they have been able to have their vote. For example, in the classroom with hands-up voting, at home in family decisions or at clubs voting for new members.

Does your school hold elections? Get Voting is everything you need to run a free and fair election for your class or school. Visit the Australian Electoral Commission to download resources.

Students will investigate the issue of changing the voting age in Australia and develop either a persuasive text or hold a mini debate.

Persuasive text Students will explore the issue and develop a persuasive text for or against the following statement: `The voting age in Australia should be lowered to 16. Students can use the information recorded on the mind map and their own research to help develop their argument. Encourage students to use a range of sources. Provide students with the following structure to follow when completing this activity.

Structure

Introductiono What is the point you are trying to argue?

Construct an introductory paragraph which states the issue or topic.

o Introduce the arguments that will be developed in the body of the text.

Bodyo Construct arguments that support your

point of view.o Each paragraph starts with a topic sentence

which introduces each point.o The rest of the paragraph gives more

reasons.o Arguments can be ordered from strongest

to weakest.

Conclusiono Restate your position on the argument.o Construct a concluding paragraph that

provides a summary of your arguments and a call to action.

Tips

o Who is your audience? For example, are you directing your argument at kids, teachers or politicians?

o Explore how language choices can have a big impact on persuading your audience.

o Which language devices give the report credibility and authority?

o Which are designed to create an emotional response in the listener?

o Provide facts and evidence to support your argument.

o Write in the present tense.o Check your spelling and punctuation.

Use this Read Write Think persuasion map to plan your exposition text.

©ABC 2018

Source: Australian Electoral Commission

Mini Debate Working in pairs, students will prepare a 1-2 minute speech for a mini

debate on the topic of lowering the voting age. One person will speak for the affirmative and the other will speak for the negative.

Before students begin to construct their argument, ask them to record what they already know about the topic and what they would like to find out. Students then research the topic to gain a greater understanding of the issue.

Ask students to list their arguments in point form on paper (without their partner seeing them). When they have done this, ask them to choose the five best points that will form the basis for their debate.

Students will write in point form, their debate on cards that fit into the palm of their hand. Their debate needs to have an introduction (introducing the topic), middle (three main points) and a conclusion (restating their position). Students practise their speech and then present the mini debate to other students.

Reflection

o How difficult was it to think of points to support one side of the argument?

o Do you think you would have done a better job supporting the other side of the argument?

o Was I able to convince others of my opinion?o Did my opinion change?o What did you learn from this activity?

Opinion PollStudents will conduct their own opinion poll on the issue of lowering the voting age. Working in groups, students will need to decide who their sample group will be and how many people will be polled. What method they will use to conduct the poll? (Face to face interviews or written responses).

Ask students to graph the opinion poll results and display in the classroom. Students can reflect on how reliable they think the results were. What would they do differently next time?

Students may want to film their interviews and then create a movie to present to other students.

©ABC 2018

Guide for giving feedback

o Was the information clear and accurate?o Were the arguments logical?o Were the counter arguments accurate and

relevant?o Comments about the presentation style

(tone of voice, body language, enthusiastic, convincing).

Compare the poll results from the people you surveyed to the results from the BTN online poll http://www.abc.net.au/btn/polls.htm

BTN – Voting Agehttp://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4345701.htm

AEC – Democracy Ruleshttp://education.aec.gov.au/democracy-rules/

BTN – Youth Votehttp://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3809181.htm

AEC – Practise Votinghttp://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/How_to_vote/practice/

BTN – History of Votinghttp://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4464749.htm

©ABC 2018