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Summary

Election 2000 and Beyond examines the steps in the U.S. Presidential election process and encourages students to explore how they can become personally involved. Working in seven cooperative groups, the students will first explore one of the seven steps of the process. Afterwards, each group will use Microsoft PowerPoint 97 to create a multimedia guide to their step. Finally, the PowerPoint programs will be presented to the entire class. In addition to the PowerPoint presentations, each student will be required to keep an electronic journal of the research, and each group will be responsible for creating five multiple choice questions about their step for the final evaluation.

Content Area and Grade Level

This lesson is designed to be implemented into a secondary-level U.S. government social studies class and is tailored specifically for the Fairfax County (Virginia) Program of Studies government curriculum. It addresses aspects of the following Virginia Standards of Learning:

12.3 The student will analyze the amendments to the United States Constitution in terms of the conflicts they addressed and the reasons for their adoption.

12.10 The student will explain and give current examples of how political parties, interest groups, the media, and individuals influence the policy agenda and decision making of government institutions.

12.11 The student will describe campaigns for national, state and local elective office, including

the nominating process;

campaign funding and spending;

the influence of media coverage, campaign advertising, and public opinion polls;

demographic causes and political effects of reapportionment and redistricting;

voter turnout and the constituencies of the major political parties; and

the Electoral College.

12.12 The students will explain the rights, responsibilities, and benefits of citizenship in the United States and Virginia.

12.13 The student will develop the skills needed for informed participation in public affairs by

analyzing public issues;

evaluating candidates for public office;

evaluating the performance of public officials; and

communicating with public officials.

http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Superintendent/SOLS/home.shtml

Overall, this activity will require that students engage in higher-order thinking such as analysis and synthesis. Students must also demonstrate effective communication, cooperative learning skills, and creativity.

Implementation Overview

Election 2000 and Beyond is designed to take approximately two to three weeks of class time.

In order to create groups of even ability level, the teacher is encouraged to use the rank/gender/race process to form the teams. For those unfamiliar with the process, begin by listing the class by rank. Alternate from each end of the list to select team members. Consider gender and race aspects to create uniform teams.

Students will assume roles for which they are primarily responsible, but they are expected to assist in each area of the research and production processes, as needed.

Although students are expected to have a working knowledge of PowerPoint 97, a quick reference guide is linked for a refresher. Students who need further instruction in the use of PowerPoint should be alerted to the tutorial link, available on the Resources page. Teachers who desire a review can click here: PowerPoint 97 Tutorial.

An optional PowerPoint animated introduction is available to begin the unit. Click here to download and play for the class: Election 2000 and Beyond Introduction.

Note: Although every effort was made to provide current and workable links in the Steps section, individual sites may change. If problems occur with any of the links, please e-mail us at once.

Prerequisite Skills

Student

Familiarity with basic internet research skills
Familiarity with basic word processing and computer skills
Ability to analyze primary and secondary source documents
Ability to synthesize multiple sources of information

Teacher

Familiarity with basic internet research skills
Familiarity with basic word processing and computer skills
Ability to simultaneously coordinate multiple student activities
Working knowledge and understanding of presentation hardware and software such as PowerPoint 97

Materials and Resources

Classroom Requirements

Class set of textbooks as back-up reference
Access to internet
Microsoft PowerPoint 97
Computer lab
Classroom projection device for PowerPoint presentations

Worksheets and Handouts

Note: For teachers who prefer to download and make copies of the worksheets and handouts ahead of time, the links are listed below.

Leadership Labyrinth Worksheet (rtf version)

Leadership Labyrinth Worksheet (html version)

Presentation Requirements (rtf version)

Presentation Requirements (html version)

Rubric (rtf version)

Rubric (html version)

Presidential Inaugural Address Video Activity/Guide (rtf version) (supplementary activity--see below)

Presidential Inaugural Address Video Activity/Guide (html version)

Supplementary Materials

Why Bother Voting. WETA: 1992.

Sixty-minute election special designed to motivate young people to register and vote. Highlights include a motivational comedy skit by a young Chris Rock.
For more information, see:
http://shop2.pbs.org/pbsvideo/group.asp?group_cd=WBOT000

Great American Speeches. Pieri & Spring Productions, 1995.

Four-hour collection of some the most famous political speeches of the 20^th century. Highlights include the 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt Inaugural Address, the 1961 John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address, and the 1981 Ronald Reagan Inaugural Address.

For more information, see:

http://careers.projo.com/horizons/elect96/1015op1.htm

http://scolar.vsc.edu:8005/VSCCAT/ACK-2427

http://www.thehistorynet.com/reviews/mm_speeches.htm

Presidential Inaugural Address Video Activity/Guide

Made to accompany the above videos, this guide leads students to determine why each speech is "great."

Full text copies of the Inaugural Addresses can be found at the following website:

http://www.bartleby.com/124/

Evaluation

Election 2000 and Beyond will be evaluated by a downloadable rubric that places value on the consistency of research and quality of the final product and its presentation by each student collaborative group. To ensure a fair distribution of the group grade, it is recommended that groups be given the responsibility for distributing the points earned by the group among all of its members by taking into account work ethic, attendance, and cooperation. For example, a presentation that earned a 96% would result in a group grade of four students being able to distribute 384 points among its members.

At the conclusion of the unit, the class also will be given an objective test on the entire election process. Each group will supply five questions for this test, all to be approved by the teacher.

Conclusion

Students who participate in Election 2000 and Beyond will benefit from both the factual content they discover as well as the collaborative learning experience in which they assume roles in order to produce a final product. Through the creation of this product, students engage in research, analysis and synthesis.

Although focusing on the 2000 Presidential election, it is the creators' hope that Election 2000 and Beyond will be used beyond that point--until 2004, when it can be updated to be used again..

Contact Us

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you.

Cheryl L. DeVincentis Patricia A. King

E-mail us.

Created April, 2000