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Election Project

Page history last edited by Ms. Edwards 15 years, 5 months ago

 

Who will be President?

 

How does a person become President? How do you make your choice?

 

Complete this project to become an expert on the Presidential Process and on Your Choice of Candidates!

 

Use the Table of Contents below to read about your role, goals, products, project reflections, activities with resources to complete, and rubric for requirements.

 

NOTE: Grade K-3 Resources:  Click Here.


Table of Contents for This Page

 


 



Role:

 

You are an informed citizen volunteer whom others will call upon for information.  You volunteer at your candidate's headquarters.  As a volunter, you must thoroughly research the election process and the issues supported by your candidate and his opponent.  You must create the information that voters need to make their choices.  These are the types of information needed:

  • Election Process
    • Guide to Presidency Booklet
    • Diagram of steps to become president
    • Commercial (slides) for public understanding
    • Essay Explanation
    • Poster for display
    • Speech to organizations
    • Recipe for creative display
    • Website (wiki) for future candidates
    • Diorama for schools
  • Issue Information for Informed Choice
    • T-charts of the pros/cons of your candidate (and opponent)
    • Venn Diagram of the pros/cons of your candidate (and opponent)
    • Collage/symbols of the pros/cons of your candidate (and opponent)
    • Essay Explanation of the pros/cons of your candidate (and opponent)
    • Table list of the pros/cons of your candidate (and opponent)
    • Speech of the pros/cons of your candidate (and opponent)
    • Campaign poster of the pros/cons of your candidate (and opponent)
    • Skit or 3-D presentation for schools of the pros/cons of your candidate (and opponent)
    • Prediction of results of your candidates actions next year (news article prediction)
  • Log of your daily learning and sources (as credit for your work)
    • Outline of main idea and sources
    • Scrapbook (paper or wiki) of Images explaining issues
    • Voice recordings for the blind
    • Daily diary of sources and information found
    • Poster of references and main ideas
    • Daily sketch or comic of sources and information
    • Did you know booklet
    • Illustrations and captions of daily learning
    • Daily jingles of learning

 

See the Product Section below for which choices fit your needs. What you prepare for presentation may determine whether or not your candidate wins.  Good Luck.

 

Goal:

 

Understand the path to choosing a president, including analyzing the issues in order to vote your own informed choice and provide information for others to make informed choices.

 

Can you explain the process of becoming the President of the United States?

Can you expain the candidates' platforms on the issues important to you?

Can you explain which candidate best fits your ideas?

 

Can you show your research and reflection evidence to support your explanations?



Due Dates and Requirements

 

Daily Work

Take notes daily. Reflect on what you learned daily. Your daily notes and reflections will be checked twice weekly.

Notes Requirements:

Name

Date

Class

 

Target Notes

CRT Notes

Venn Diagram  Explanation  Online Venn Diagram Maker  Venn Diagram  Sample  Blank

T-Chart   How to Make a T-Chart -Wiki   How to Make and Use  T-Chart

 

 

Reflection Requirments:

Name

Date

Class

What did I do?

What are your sources?

I learned that...

My thoughts on the candidates are...

 

Projects

Project work from notes and reflections begins 10/27.

For Printable Version, click here: Election Product Projects

For How To Links on each project, click here: Election Product Links

 

Choose from the "Informed Choice Chart;" Issues Projects Due Monday, November 3 or earlier for extra credit.

Choose from the "Choosing A President Chart;" Election Process Due Tuesday, November 4 or earlier for extra credit.

 

Voting

 

Weekly Reader Vote Friday, October 24

Mock Election Vote Wednesday, October 29

 



Activities for The Election Process

Research the steps that a person must take to become President. Take notes so you can create your product to share the process with others. Due 11/4.

 

1. Videos

 

Watch the Brain Bop videos

 

The Presidential Election Process

 

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernmentandlaw/presidentialelection/

 

You can play and pause the video.  You may want to take notes.  Many of your main answers can be found here.

 

Ask for these study pages: Presidential Election Questions, Presidential Election 5Ws&H, Presidential Election Vocabulary, Quiz

 

Primaries and Caucuses

The following information will help you understand primaries and caucuses, the "playoffs" to choose the presidential candidates for each political party.

 

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernmentandlaw/primariesandcaucuses/

 

Ask for these study pages: Primary Questions, Primary/Caucus Comparison, PC Vocabulary, Quiz

 

Political Parties

 

What are political parties?

 

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernmentandlaw/politicalparties/

 

Ask for these study pages: Party Lists, Party Questions, Party Vocabulary, Quiz

 

 

Why Vote?

 

Why do we vote? Why is it important?

 

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernmentandlaw/voting/

 

Ask for these study pages: Voting Questions, Voting Reasons, Voting Vocabulary, Quiz

 

 

What is a democracy?

 

What is the difference between democracy and a representative democracy?

 

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/worldhistory/democracy/

 

Ask for these study pages: Democracy Word Scramble, Democracy Two Kinds, Democracy Vocabulary, Quiz

 

 

2. Election Information for Informed Choice--- Read All About It

 

Issues of Informed Choice due 10/29.

 

Weekly Reader Research Pages

 

Search the Weekly Reader site (http://www.weeklyreader.com/election/)for information on:

What's There:

Which links you to:

 

Weekly Reader Link Buttons 

Election Home:

http://www.weeklyreader.com/election/      Includes the latest "Hot Topic"

Meet the Candidates: Meet the Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates with links to their home pages.
How It Works: Learn the following: The White House; Who Can Be President; How does the electoral college work; debate rule; voting information; voting matters; conventional wisdom
Election Fun: Two president quizes; voting rights quiz; election word search; election crossword
Ask Us Anything: Find answers to --- why have elections; why are swing states important; why only two terms; difference between Democrats and Republicans; other parties; counting votes; ask to send your question
Election Word Wheel: Glossary
Election Issues: Find out what each candidate thinks about the issues
Hot Topic Archives: All hot topics are listed
Subscriber-Only   I will show you these pages.
 
 

 

Activities on the Issues

Election Issues  A page with issue links only.

 

Research All About It

What issues are important to you?  Which issues are important to you and our country?

The Economy?  Energy?  The Environment? Health Care? Taxes? Iraq? Afghanistan? Security?

 

Read and take notes about what is important to you.  Which candidate supports what YOU do? Choose your candidate based on the issues important to you. Explain why.  Create your products to explain your ideas and your candidate's ideas so others will understand.  Will you convince them?

 

Weekly Reader Research Pages

 

Search the Weekly Reader site (http://www.weeklyreader.com/election/)for information on the issues.

 

Scholastic Issues Pages

Chart: http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/election2008/games/candidates_stand/issues.htm

Game: http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/election2008/games/candidates_stand/

 

McCain: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=395

Obama: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=398

 

Parents Guide to Election News:  http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=238

 

Parents Guide to News Online: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=5228

 

Scholastic News Online

 

Scholastic's Vote

 

MSNBC

 

Issues:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23294239/

Issues in Brief:   http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26424187/

 

 

 

The Candidates Issues Pages

 

President

John McCain, Republican:  http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/issues/

On the Issues Site: http://www.ontheissues.org/John_McCain.htm

Barack Obama, Democrat:  http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

On the Issues Site: http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm

 

House of Representatives

Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, Republican:  http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Cathy_McMorris-Rodgers.htm

Mark Mays, Democrat:  http://www.votemarkmays.com/vmm_issues.php?z=the-environment&q=A; this was the only issues site I could find for this candidate.

 

Governor

Dino Rossie, Republican:  Issues ; this was the only issues site I could find for this candidate.

Christine Gregoire, Democrat, Current Governor:  http://www.chrisgregoire.com/

 

CNN Politics On the Issues

 

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.environment.html

 

Choose the "Select Another Issue" menu on the right side of the information area to choose another issue.

 

C-Span Road to the President Podcasts

 

http://www.c-span.org/podcasts.aspx

 

The Budget

Play a Budget Hero

 

NPR Candidates and The Issues

Click here.

 

American Public Media

Widget of Voter Issues:  https://whatelse.pbwiki.com/Political-Ideals-and-You

 

 

The Why Files

Science Issues:   https://whatelse.pbwiki.com/Why-Files-Candidate-Issues



Rubric of Expectations

 

 



Assignments:

 

In Class:

Note-Taking on Issues

Notes on issues; Family Homework: Target or CRT  Share issues with family; write summary on note page. Add your own opinion/connections.

 

Essay

 

Election Assignment:

Use transitions to write to compare the issues of the two candidates. You may express your opinion and include the comparison of facts to prove your opinion.

 

Use one of the essay formats provided in class.

Format 1:

Introduction Statement;

 

First Paragraph: Explain one candidate's issues;

 

Second Paragraph: Explain the other candidate's issues;

 

Third Paragraph: Explain similarities of the two candidates;

 

Summary Statement

Format 2:

Introduction Statement;

 

First Paragraph: Explain one candidate's issues;

 

Second Paragraph: Explain similarities of the two candidates;

 

Third Paragraph: Explain the other candidate's issues;

 

Summary Statement

OR, Format 3 (if you are expressing an opinion on your choice of candidate):

Introductory Statement;

 

First Paragraph:  Explain similarities of the two candidates;

 

Second Paragraph: Explain the issues of the candidate you do not agree with;

 

Third Paragraph: Explain the issues of the candidate you choose for President

 

Summary Statement

 



 

More Resources

 

Your Ideas

 

Add comment at:

http://news.scholastic.com/scholastic_news_online/2008/09/general-electio.html

 

 

Game on the Issues:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/election2008/games/candidates_stand/

 

 

 

 

Prompt Discussion

 

Artistic Ideas

An open typewriter:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90880340

 

 

News

 

Click on Get the Scoop! at:    http://pbskids.org/newsflashfive/

 

Scholatic News

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3750314

 

Hydrogen Car Toys

Hydrogen Cars--BMW

New York Times on BMW Hydrogen

 

Alternative Energy

Alternative Energies

Alternative Energy Institute, Inc

American Petroleum Institute

British Petroleum

CIA World Factbook

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Energy and World Energy Statistics

U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

 

Climate       Global Warming 

 

Audio News: http://campaignaudio.prx.org/

which can be listened to on our pages at: Campaign Radio

 

Understand the Budget Widget

 

Our ideas and issues need facts to add to our understanding:  http://www.kqed.org/w/youdecide/

 

Look at the issues:  http://www.votebyissue.org/election2008/

 

Choose a Candidate based on the issues that concern you.

 

Map and News updates: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/primaries/states/

 

Science Issues

 

Miscellaneous Science and Geography:   Interactive Expedition Museum

 

War and Peace:     Afghanistan  Aftghanistan Iraq   Iraq

 

History

 

Political Party History

McCain Life Map

Obama Life Map

 

Maps

Election Map

US Senators Map

US House Map

Political Party HQ

Primary Results

campaign donors

 

McCain Life Map

Obama Life Map

 

twitter election map

 

Statistics

http://www.infoplease.com/

Lots of facts can be found here.

 

Issues

 

http://www.publicagenda.org/

Check out the issues here.

 

http://www.factcheck.org/

Check the facts

 

http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/toolbox/

For journalists, even beginners like us

 

Google News and Power Readers

http://news.google.com/?ned=us&topic=el

http://www.google.com/googlereader/powerreaders/index.html

Explore news sites read by McCain, Obama and political journalists.

See articles the campaigns and political pundits are sharing with Google Reader this election season. [1]

 

Research Links

 

The League of Women Voters

A nonpartisan political organization that provides information about campaign issues, voter registration support, and a citizen's guide to the electoral process. Its mission is to encourage informed and active participation in government and to increase understanding of major public policy issues.

 

OneVote 2008

Provides a teen-oriented guide to the election that includes profiles of the candidates, reports on campaign issues, and interactive features that allow students to express their opinions. OneVote 2008 is produced by ChannelOne.com , an award-winning youth news site.

 

VoteGopher

Founded by a nonpartisan team of college students, VoteGopher aims to empower and inform young voters by presenting material about 25 pertinent election issues. For each of the issues, students can view the candidates' main arguments, watch video summaries, read posted blogs, participate in forums, and cast their own ballot.

 

Rock the Vote

Aims to motivate young voters and teens through its content and visual style. Rock the Vote uses music and popular culture to engage young people to register to vote and also provides tools to learn about issues that affect their lives.

 

Extreme Election 2008

USA Today provides aggregations of its daily coverage of the presidential election campaign as well as interactive tools that allow students to build election scenarios and study past election outcomes.

 

Googlitics

Contains links and lessons to help students participate and learn about American political elections with online tools from Google. Featured on the site is a link to a Google elections video search that allows you and your students to easily find YouTube political videos.

 

The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

CIRCLE conducts research on the civic involvement of Americans ages 15 to 21. The site provides a context for the political youth activism that Letters to the Next President student-authors are engaging in—students can find data about youth voting and demographics and gain insight into how young Americans are affecting today's politics.

Resources for Teens About Issues in the News

These websites provide pertinent information about current issues, news, and culture, written with a teen audience in mind. These nonpartisan sites also provide aggregations of news and editorials from various content partners.

 

FactCheckED

FactCheckED aims to equip students with reliable sources and the skills they need to obtain trustworthy information on the Internet. Students will find links to credible informational sites under "Straight from the Source," "Lesson Plans" and "Tools of the Trade" to help guide their analysis of current events. The site provides a "Dictionary" to help decode political jargon.

 

NewsHour Extra

A comprehensive news source that provides national and international stories for young people. The site features videos as well as traditional text and graphics, and includes a section titled Student Voices—essays and editorials written by students.

 

OpinionSource

The "Today's Newsletters" feature at OpinionSource allows students to explore diverse—and international—perspectives on the latest political news. The site provides summaries and links to some of the day's top editorials from renowned news sources in the US, the UK, China, the Middle East, and India.

 

Pop+Politics

A nonprofit blog that provides a forum for discussion and debate among young people on current politics and culture. Based at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, Pop+Politics is one of 150 blogs officially credentialed to cover the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

 

Think

MTV's Street Team '08, comprising of select young journalists from around the nation, reports on local issues that are important to youth and the election. Students can navigate the site's peer-produced video clips, commentaries, and forums by topic.

 

WireTap

The Webby-winning national news and culture magazine whose targeted audience is young people. In addition to providing daily content to over 60,000 monthly visitors, WireTap's articles and youth commentary are syndicated weekly by its partners at The Nation, Rock the Vote, the Chicago Sun-Times, and various college newspapers.[2]



Extra Credit

Extra Credit When Your Project is Completed

 

Constitution

What do you know about our Constitution?   

Create a user account to save and remember your studies about the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States.

http://www.constitutionbee.org/user/

 

I will check with you on your new learning for credit.

 

Footnotes

  1. From Google's "Election Tools for Educators" http://www.google.com/educators/elections_tools.html#target
  2. From the National Writing Project: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2642

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