“Try to
be informed—not just opinionated.”
Northern Sun bumper sticker
Northern Sun bumper sticker
It’s that time again: a presidential election year. As we did in 2008 and 2012, my colleagues and
I will include a four-week presidential elections unit in our fall 2016 sixth
grade history class curriculum. I have
updated my previous election-year blog to provide background and links to
involve students in active learning about the 2016 election.
Sixth Grade Policy Wonks
This is a timely and dynamic presidential elections unit to
fire up sixth grade future voters and is easily adaptable to various grades. First, teachers introduce students to the
history of presidential campaigns in the United States, focusing on the role of
political parties and the media in recent years. Next, students interview three adult family
members to elicit major issues of concern in the presidential election of 2016. Analyzing our survey results to determine
major issues for voters, students in each sixth grade history class work in four
cooperative groups researching party positions on major issues such as the
economy and jobs, taxes and government spending, health care and education,
national security and foreign policy, immigration, the environment, and
more. They will watch and analyze
televised debates as well as research using party websites, library reference
websites, and other media. The focus is on issues and
platforms rather than personalities and individual candidates.
In 2016, this is a particularly interesting
approach, as much of this election year media focus has called attention to the
personalities of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as much as—perhaps more
than—their proposed policies. Little
attention at all is directed to the candidates or policies of the Libertarian
and Green parties, also running presidential candidates. Our presidential unit is meant to broaden the
viewpoints of our students—and families, encouraging debate about issues rather
than personalities.
Sixth Grade Campaign Managers
After the research phase, we form new working groups in each
class, and students move from being non-partisan researchers to campaign
managers for one of four parties: Democrat, Republican, Green, and Libertarian. Running a “political campaign,” students work
in cooperative groups to create a candidate stump speech, party platform
brochure, visual campaign advertisement, and campaign video. Each item presents a positive view of the
group’s party platform and candidate for president, without denigrating other
parties.
Setting up campaign tables in Middle School hallways,
political party campaign groups present their campaign media to Middle School
“voters” as the Middle School holds a realistic mock election run by the entire
Middle School history department on Election Day in November. By focusing on issues, research, and
identification of media’s role in the election process, teachers and students
alike become more active and informed citizens.
Family
Involvement is Key
Families are involved from the beginning of this project,
providing supplemental understandings and personal insights for their
children. In my book, Think, Care, Act: Teaching for a Peaceful
Future, I describe the elections issue research process in detail, and I
emphasize that family involvement is key to the success of the project. Students see their teachers, classmates, and
adults at home engaged in the civic process.
Essential
Questions:
Throughout the process we focus on the following essential questions:
Throughout the process we focus on the following essential questions:
1.
What
does civil discourse look like and sound like?
How can we disagree respectfully?
Why are respect and civil discourse important in society?
2.
How
can citizens become informed and involved in the election process? Why should they?
3.
What
are the important issues of this election?
How can we find out?
4.
What
is the role of news and Internet sources?
What is the role of campaign advertising?
a.
Where do citizens become informed
about an election?
b.
How do citizens determine the bias,
or point of view, of a news/research source?
c.
What is propaganda?
d.
Does unbiased reporting exist?
Several resources are helpful in the course of this project,
including party platforms from party web pages.
Teachers identify websites with content at readable grade levels to
introduce the issues, but students also eagerly venture out of their comfort
zones to understand the complexities.
They bring articles and web links to the attention of their peers and
teachers daily.
As we make the transition from being nonpartisan researchers
to role-playing the campaign staffs of one of four political parties, we analyze
videos of historical campaigns as well as a set of campaign-ad spoofs to
discuss the power of graphics, jingles, slogans, and video-production
techniques to influence public opinion.
In our classes, we have the
opportunity to help students develop the ability to think critically and engage
in respectful civil discourse about presidential election issues. Rather than focusing on political
personalities and partisanship, we can stimulate intelligent and thoughtful
participation in the political process.
In the short term, we can research party positions and the media’s role
in electoral processes. In the long
term, we can pique students’ interest in becoming informed citizens who vote
responsibly and participate in their communities. Seize the time to engage your
students in the political process, whether you have days or weeks to devote to
this crucial process.
-Susan Gelber Cannon, September 2016
RESOURCES Helpful links:
· Download Sue Cannon's student research packet: PART 1: Election Research Packet-4 party
· Download Sue Cannon's student group campaign directions: PART 2: Campaign Project Directions &Rubric
Online Resources
for researching the 2016 Presidential Elections, the issues, the media, and the
candidates:
3. PennTopTen: UPenn Social Policy School’s top ten issueslike homelessness, mass incarceration, gun policy, poverty, etc.
6. PBS Learning Media ElectionCentral: Browsetopics on left for ideas for research and election process information.
9. League of Women Voters: provides an informative guide to the elections
process, including useful tips on analyzing media, watching debates, campaign
finance, and more. Downloadable PDFfile
10.FactCheck.org (aproject of the Annenberg Public Policy Center) offers the facts behindcandidates’ speeches and campaign spin: Select 2016 elections from menu at top of page.
11.SIRS (library-linked subscription resources): Access Social Issues Resource
Series (SIRS) via the EA Library REFERENCE page. Look for Elections 2016.
14.Candidate websites: Remind students NOT to give personal information to any of these websites. They may search the sites without giving any
of your information. We use sites from Democrat, Republican, Green, and Libertarian parties.
15.Compare media content: Peruse
headlines from a variety of news
sources online such as those listed below.
Compare lead story selection, headline word choices, and story
content. How would the media in another
country present this news? Compare Fox
News with MSNBC for example, or Time for Kids with Indy Kids. Ask yourself
questions about each site’s objectivity and perspective.
20.Play the Constitution Center’s
Game: Seize the Vote!Answer questions about voting rights to gain voting rights for your players.
21. Letters to the Next President: Issues from students across the country are posted and indexed by topic, including gender wage gap, police brutality, student debt, economy, and so much more. Good format for studying issues and writing.
22. Join the Debates.org: moderated debate format that may be useful to classroom teachers.
23. Commission on Presidential Debates: debate format and schedules for 2016 presidential and vice presidential debates
21. Letters to the Next President: Issues from students across the country are posted and indexed by topic, including gender wage gap, police brutality, student debt, economy, and so much more. Good format for studying issues and writing.
22. Join the Debates.org: moderated debate format that may be useful to classroom teachers.
23. Commission on Presidential Debates: debate format and schedules for 2016 presidential and vice presidential debates