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PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Be Informed; Be Involved:
Part 1. THINKING AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Part 2. BUILDING KNOWLEDGE AND CONCEPTS
Part 3. COMMUNICATING WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED

Part 1. Thinking and Background Information:

1. IDENTIFY PROBLEMS to be Solved: A whole-class CrossTalk to identify problems to be solved.

"How does a person successfully campaign and be elected President of the United States?"and "How can a citizen become informed, educated, and involved in this election process?"

2. BACKGROUND:

3. CROSSTALK: At least one student-led whole-class discussion:. ----The Presidential Election Process

4. QUIZ: Each student must score 75% or higher on this Quiz in order to qualify to become an "Election Research EXPERT."

                    

Part 2. Building Knowledge and Concepts:

1. THE STUDENTS BECOME EXPERTS: Students are organized into one of the following expert groups: within each class, four expert groups are formed .... with each one specializing on one of the four election "TPOICS" below.

#1.BUSH THE CANDIDATE

  • The Republican Platform...
  • The message, the promises
  • The personality and strengths of Bush
  • The personality and strengths of Cheney
  • The issues and the positions taken by Bush

#2.THE BUSH CAMPAIGN

  • The Polls and current standings
  • The Electoral Map and Bush
  • The Bush SPIN on the election….a persuasive analysis of the campaign and the candidate
  • What to look for on Election Night

#3.KERRY THE CANDIDATE

  • The Democratic Platform...
  • The message, the promises
  • The personality and strengths of Kerry
  • The personality and strengths of Edwards
  • The issues and the positions taken by Kerry

#4.THE KERRY CAMPAIGN

  • The Polls and current standings
  • The Electoral Map and Bush
  • The Bush SPIN on the election….a persuasive analysis of the campaign and the candidate
  • What to look for on Election Night

2. THE STUDENTS REFLECT on the information they have found; they re-sequence the information and re-think it. Small group discussions, study groups, collaborative writing software (CSILE), and interactive quizzes provide opportunities to refine learning and build understanding. The students relate the details they find during their research to the concepts introduced (in Part 1) and thereby develop a deeper understanding of those concepts.

Presidential Election Unit–"BUILDING KNOWELDGE" ROTATIONS

INTERNET RESEARCH (S)
  • Use the specially created Presidential Election Web Site as an interface to internet-based information about the Presidential Election
  • Take notes... Build up a library of information concerning your group's chosen "Election Topic"
  • Start your research here: ELECTION RESEARCH PAGE.

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH - Hyperstudio (G)
  • Meet as a Group and read-skim each others notes (Personal Libraries)
  • Look over the specially created HyperStudio stack intended to help you to consolidate and summarize your notes and research
  • Revise the stack and create your group's INFO-MERCIAL on your group's chosen "Election Topic". Be positive. NO negative comments. Build UP your candidate; do not tear DOWN your opponen

MINI SEMINAR- (S)
  • Attend special mini-seminar (see calendar for choice of dates
  • Take part in discussion during the seminar
  • At conclusion of the seminar fill out special Seminar Report Form
  • Add Seminar Report Form to "Personal Library" and use "library" to help create your group’s HyperStudio Notes Summary and Infomercia

ELECTORAL COLLEGE GAME: (G)
  • Compete as a group…..win more Electoral votes than your competition…. Get elected
  • You need 35-40 minutes …. Think, be smart, make good group decisions

Join in the ELECTORAL COLLEGE GAME on line.

 

KIDS VOTING PROJECT (S)
  • Participate in and learn from a special Voter Registration Lesson as organized by the Student Council
  • Analyze in detail a simulated 2004 Ballot
  • Participate in the on-line balloting as organized by the UM-StLouis site.
          

3.THE TEACHER MANAGES all these opportunities for students to explore and to build knowledge and concepts.

ROTATIONS SCORECARD Name _____________________Hour_____Date ____________

ELECTORAL COLLEGE GAME:

Be sure you have completed the Electoral College Game on-line. Report the Electoral College Score on the "Grade Received" blank.

Date Finished with Work at this Station________ (G) Grade Received___________

VOCABULARY SKILLS + SLIDER QUIZ:

Be sure you have studied the Election Vocabulary booklet and Vocabulary Builder. Take the Slider Quiz.

Date Finished with Work at this Station________ (G) Grade Received___________

PRINT MEDIA # 1:

Remember to find at least 5 different sources of information (articles that you read). You are building a personal library of information to help you understand the Election Process. Complete at least 5 Note Taking Charts.

Date Finished with Work at this Station________ (S) Grade Received___________

INTERNET RESEARCH:

Remember to find at least 5 different sources of information (articles that you read). You are building a personal library of information to help you understand the Election Process. Complete at least 5 "Simple Text Notes." Date Finished with Work at this Station______(S) Grade Received_____

WHITE HOUSE RESEARCH AND QUIZ:

Hint: Make sure you take advantage of the brainpower of each member of your group as you study the White House and take the Interactive Quiz.

Date Finished with Work at this Station________ (G) Grade Received___________

KIDS VOTING PROJECT:

Intelligent participation earns you an easy grade here.

Date Finished with Work at this Station________ (S) Grade Received___________

MINI SEMINARS

Participate in each seminar. For each Seminar, Complete the Seminar Report Form.

Seminar # 1: The Rules Date you Plan to Attend_________ (S) Grade Received_________

Seminar # 2. The Party Platforms Date you Plan to Attend_________ (S) Grade Received___________

Seminar # 3. The Human Element Date you Plan to Attend_________ (S) Grade Received___________

Seminar # 4. The Unfolding Drama Date you Plan to Attend_________ (S) Grade Received___________

Seminar # 5. The Debates Date you Plan to Attend_________ (S) Grade Received___________

Date Finished with Work at this Station________

Part 3. Communicating What Has Been Learned:

1. THE EXPERTS REPORT THEIR FINDINGS AND SOLUTIONS:The students engage in informative cross-teaching activities in which they share, usually with graphic boards, their knowledge of details and understanding of concepts.

No activities at this time.

2. THE WORKSHOP: STUDENTS PREPARE TO TEACH: The students create multi-media presentations in which they demonstrate the quality of their knowledge of details and understanding of concepts.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UNIT –"COMMUNICATING WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED" WORKSHOP AND TEST ROTATIONS

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH - Hyperstudio (G)

  • Meet as a Group and read-skim each others notes (Personal Libraries)
  • Look over the specially created HyperStudio stack intended to help you to consolidate and summarize your notes
  • Develop and follow a plan to enable your group to complete the stack and thereby create an informative, organized summary of your research

(FINISH this if your group did not already finish it during Building Knowledge Rotations.)

INFOMERCIAL (HYPERSTUDIO-BASED)

  • Finish your HyperStudio-based Infomercial; remember this is a persuasive, high-impact information -commercial of all that your group has learned from the print media, internet, and seminar notes taken by each member of your group.
  • You are trying to convince other voters of the supreme importance of YOUR MESSAGE.

3. THE CONVENTION: The students, acting as informed experts, give formal presentations to their peers in other (expert) groups or other classrooms on the team. The students communicate to each other the concepts and understandings they have learned.

TEST SCORECARD Name ________________________

Hour _________________________

Date _________________________

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH

Finish your HyperStudio-based summary of research; remember, this is an intelligent "put-together" or composite of the print media, internet, and seminar notes taken by each member of your group.

Date Finished with Work at this Station________ (G) Grade Received___________

INFOMERCIAL (HYPERSTUDIO-BASED)

Finish your HyperStudio-based Infomercial; remember this is a persuasive, high-impact information -commercial of all that your group has learned from the print media, Internet, and seminar notes taken by each member of your group. You are trying to convince other voters of the supreme importance of YOUR MESSAGE.

Date Finished with Work at this Station________ (G) Grade Received__________

        

RESOURCES.......for note taking, printing, etc. INTERNET LINKS ...for research and further study

PRINT UNIT DOCUMENT ...entire Presidential Election Unit ( PDF format requires Acrobat Reader installed on your computer )

 READ UNIT DOCUMENT ...entire Presidential Election Unit    (html format ready to read on-line)
The SOCIAL STUDIES PLACE ELECTION UNIT ...front page of this Web Site