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| Election Day Resources for Educators |
| posted by: Alix | October 03, 2012, 03:47 PM |
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We're just a month away from the 2012 presidential election! This is an essential period for teachers wishing to teach more about civics and the American political process. Fortunately there are a ton of resources out there. Here are ten of our favorites: 1. CNN has a nice, visual breakdown of how elections work with their Eight Steps to the White House page. 2. This video by PBS introduces the concept of elections. 3. Scholastic hosts a game that will help students learn about the roles of the president. 4. Adomatic allows students to create their own political ads. It's visually appealing and helps students learn both about political ads and the issues in the elections. It's a fairly easy program, but it does require youto upload a picture of the candidate 5. www.isidewith.com allows students to take a quiz and then find out which candidate best reflects their own views. Since the level of policy complexity is easily adjusted, it's great for a variety of ages. It's also one of the few sites that talks about third party candidates. 6. Channel One is a wonderful news program that is perfect for keeping middle & high school students up on the progress of the race. It airs every day for about 5 minutes and when implemented well, can greatly increase your students' knowledge of civics and world issues. I recommend watching it through the election with your older students to keep them up to date on election issues. Many middle and high schools already have a school wide subscription; however, if your school does not, you can always stream it online for free. Plus, Channel One has a great election resource page, which breaks down the issues and the elections. 7. NBCLearn has a great site aimed at introducing debates to students. It has a plethora of activities appropriate for all age levels. 8. The New York Times has produced an Election Unit. With many mini-units and lessons, teachers can pull from this resource as needed to ensure their students understand this very important season. 9. The National Mock Election website is a great place to get students really energized about the election. There is no way I could hope to describe its depth of resources. It's definitely worth a visit! 10. This fantastic interactive map by PBS is designed for middle and high school. It allows students to examine and play with data in order to make predictions for the results of the Electoral College. It will challenge students as they have to find relationships between the statistics and voting tendencies and apply that knowledge to the undecided states. It's something that can easily absorb a class and provoke a lot of discussion. The perfect activity! Do you have a go-to activity in mind for your class? Add it below.
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