Election 2008 Pathfinder
Resources Available Through
Crossroads North Library Media Center
http://crossroadsnorthlibrary.pbwiki.com
Reference Books:
REF 324.97 Running for president : the candidates and their images.
Nonfiction Sampling:
PROF 324.9 A "mice" way to learn about voting, campaigns and elections with Woodrow for President : teaching about voting, campaigns, elections, and
civic participation with Woodrow for President
973.09 To the best of my ability : the American presidents
324. 6 The Electoral College
324.973 MAE The Voice of the People
324.97 BER Elections : locating the author's main idea
324.973 ARC Winners and Losers
Video/DVD:
Electing a President DVD and Teacher's Resource Guide; Knowledge Unlimited 25 minutes.
Magazines:
Cobblestone: A Closer Look at The Electoral College; Office of the Presidency
Kids Discover: The Presidency
Scholastic Scope
NYTimes Upfront
Databases:
Hail to the Chief: Presidential Elections
The Almost Painless Guide to the Election Process
The Presidential Election Process and Third Party Politics
Spotlight Election 08
Checks and Balances: The Three Branches of the American Government ,
Websites:
Elections...The American Way from the Library of Congress/American Memory Collection
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/election/home.html
Scholastic News: Election 08
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/election2008.htm
PBS Kids: The Democracy Project
http://pbskids.org/democracy/vote
Suggestions From School Library Journal
Author: Eric Langhorst
Following are a few related Web resources that will help you make the most of this election in your classroom.
Budget Hero
americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/engage08/budgethero
One of the most challenging aspects of the president’s job: managing the federal budget. He or she must decide how to allocate $3.3 trillion dollars fairly—and keep everyone content. This simulation, from American Public Media and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, lets students take the federal budget for a test-drive. A colorful, animated interface provides players with the data to help them make those tough decisions, such as how much to allocate toward national defense—and what about health care? A cool bar graph mimicking an urban skyline displays your progress. With the click of a button, you can see how your budget will impact the future, 10 years down the road. An attractive and fun site, Budget Hero would be ideal for a high school government or economics class.
CNN Student News
News about the candidates leading up to the election changes fast. Students need concise information presented in a format that also explains the basic elements of the process. CNN Student News, a 10-minute news program, fills the bill with content created specifically for kids and updated every day throughout the academic year. Students are among those invited to participate in iReport, CNN’s citizen journalism initiative. Consider contributing a student or class-created video about the election to Student News’s iReport feature, “Talking Democracy.” The free video can be viewed on the Web page or you can subscribe via the CNN Student News podcast.
Daryl Cagle’s Professional Cartoonists Index
Editorial cartoons are a great way to spark a discussion of current events in the classroom. Daryl Cagle’s Professional Cartoonists Index is an excellent resource for doing just that and one that I’ve used for many years. The comprehensive set of editorial cartoons, updated daily, is easily searchable by topic and includes a special educator section with lesson plans and tips on how to analyze a political cartoon in class. With permission of the site, teachers are free to use these cartoons for classroom instruction. For me, editorial cartoons have been my most successful strategy in teaching the concept of inference to my students.
eLECTIONS
My students love this free 3-D multimedia online game in which they make tough decisions in their run for the White House. In this engaging simulation, created by Cable in the Classroom in partnership with CNN Student News, C-SPAN, and the History Channel, students can play alone against the computer or run against an opponent. An animated George Washington stands by to guide players through the process. Players study the issues, then create their platform, taking turns in analyzing polling data, fund-raising, and planning their campaign, with high quality videos from CNN, C-SPAN and the cable station partners providing further insight. With eLECTIONS, you have the option of saving the game for later play. Users can also receive a printout at the completion of the game to analyze their decisions. In the past, my students have gone home to play a round against their parents!
Living Room Candidate
It wouldn’t be a modern presidential race without an avalanche of political ads on television. This site, created by the Museum of the Moving Image, features a collection of TV campaign ads from 1952 to 2004. Clips are searchable by year, type of commercial, and political issue. My students particularly love the animated “I Like Ike” spots. You can view the entire commercial directly on the Web page or read the written transcript. Background is provided on each ad, along with links to other spots related by subject, year, or candidate. A special section devoted to the “Desktop Candidate” describes the emerging role of the Internet starting with the 2004 election. Be sure to check out the “For Teachers” link to access the prepared lesson plans. Using this site, I have my students watch a variety of ads before they create their own TV spot for Abraham Lincoln in his 1860 bid for the White House. Living Room Candidate is ideal for teaching propaganda techniques anytime throughout the year.
Select A Candidate
americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/engage08/selectacandidate
Typically, my junior high students enter the classroom supporting a candidate or political party based on viewpoints they hear at home. This Web site from American Public Media asks users to answer some basic questions on key issues using actual quotes from the candidates without connecting the quote to the candidate. A subsequent report matches your answers with the candidate that best fits your views. The results often shock students and, if nothing else, lead to some intriguing discussion.
270 to Win
The electoral college is one of the most fascinating, and yet confusing, aspects of any presidential election. Many students assume the candidate with the most popular votes becomes president, but as we saw with the 2000 election, this is not always the case. The focal point here is an interactive map predicting the current election’s outcome based on polling data. Students can then modify the map by changing the winner of any state and see the impact on running totals at the bottom of the map. Students could also create an electoral college map from scratch based on their own selections. In one exercise, I ask my students to determine the least number of states it would take to win the presidency. Electoral college results are available in map format dating all the way back to 1789. Other features of 270 to Win include a quiz on the electoral college and a blog to keep you updated on the most recent information about the upcoming vote. The interactive map also makes this a great tool for teachers using interactive whiteboards.
These are just a few of the great resources available online to help you leverage the excitement this fall. What better way to demonstrate the relevance of your subject content than connecting it to the biggest event of the year.