Elections

As the November elections approach, here are some Web sites to help you get your students interested and involved.

Elementary | Middle and High School | Election History

Elementary

Ben's Guide to Government presents The Election Process, a basic guide to the election of federal officials including the president, vice president, senators and representatives. This guide for grades 3-5 is provided by the U.S. Government Printing Office.

The PBS Kids Democracy Project presents information for elementary students in three interactive sections: "How Does Government Affect Me?" "Step Inside the Voting Booth," and "Be President for a Day."

Scholastic News' Election 2008 special report provides a kids' eye view of the presidential election, including kid reporters blogging about the election. The site includes election games like Create a Campaign Poster and You're the Candidate.

Time for Kids Election Connection includes campaign news, meet the candidates, and election games.

Kids Voting USA® is a national nonprofit organization that teaches students about citizenship, civic responsibility, democracy, and the importance of political participation. Students can cast a Kids Voting ballot on election day, voting on the same candidates and issues as the adults. The site includes information for teachers, as well as activities for grade K-12 classes who have registered with the site.

The National Student/Parent Mock Election is a nationwide effort to get students interested in and involved in our democratic process. American students will vote for President, Senators, Congresspersons and Governor (in states that are having a gubernatorial election). Curriculum materials for primary, middle and high school students and a BrainPop movie about elections are provided on the Web site.

ZOOMout the Vote features Elections 101, a short discussion of the voting process and why voting matters. This site from PBS, targeted to six- to twelve-year-olds, was designed for the 2004 elections but the voting process information is still valid.

Reading Rockets provides Hail to the Chief, a list of picture books appropriate for 3-9 year olds on the theme of elections.

Middle and High School

eLECTIONS is an online game in which students role-play as candidates running for President. Players manage their campaign during the primaries and the general campaign, raising money and choosing campaign events that fit their message. eLECTIONS was created by Cable in the Classroom with CNN Student News, C-SPAN and History.

Access, Analyze, Act: A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement from PBS is designed to help educators discover the power of social media for teaching media and information literacy, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and technology skills while developing students’ understanding of the political, social and economic issues facing our country at election time.

A collection of Interactive Tools for Election 2008 from Public Media stations will keep you informed and engaged in the election process.

American Public Media provides audio programs exploring 2008 Election Issues on iTunes University. The segments are from two public radio series, Marketplace and Word for Word, and range from 7 minutes to an hour. Open iTunes, go to the iTunes Store and choose iTunes U.

Ready to Vote ‘08 is designed to help students learn more about the voting process and encourage them to vote. The site, from South Carolina Educational Television, includes a quiz and video reports from the Ready to Vote “PodSquad”.

Elections: The American Way, from the Library of Congress, provides an interactive guide to elections that covers the candidates, voters. party system, election process, and issues.

U.S. Elections: Guide to the 2008 Election is a State Department site designed to inform people from other countries about the U.S. elections. Sections about the electoral college, the candidates and the issues are provided, along with a Frequently Asked Questions section and a glossary that will be useful for obtaining basic information.

See the elections from another point of view: the BBC provides a Quick Guide to US Elections and US Election PollTracker that tracks poll numbers for the two major candidates and shows the events that may have influenced them.

Project Vote-Smart provides information about candidates and elected officials in five categories: biographies, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances, and interest group ratings. Users can enter their zip code to see a list of their local elected officials and candidates, then click on a name for their voting records, speeches and public statements, and more.

The Voting and Elections site from the U.S. Governments FirstGov portal includes basic facts about voting and elections, statistics such as voter turnout in recent elections, and links to many relevant government sites such as the Federal Elections Board.

Wisconsin Public Television and Public Radio present WisconsinVote, an elections site that provides information on candidates running for state and federal office.

The Elections Division of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board includes state elections information, such as downloadable registration forms, lists of candidates, and notes on campaign finance reform. A historical table shows the percentage of the voting-age population that voted in elections from 1948-2000.

Election 2008 provides lesson plans for grades 6-12 from the New York Times Learning Network written in consultation with Bank Street College of Education. There are links to additional resources from the New York Times such as an election history quiz and interactive timelines of the major candidates lives.

Ben's Guide to Government presents The Election Process, a basic guide to the election of federal officials including the president, vice president, senators, and representatives. This guide for grades 9-12 from the U.S. Government Printing Office also includes a section on voter registration. A similar guide for grades 6-8 is available.

ElectionGuide from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems tracks elections that are going on all over the world.

Vote411.org, from the League of Women Voters, provides candidate statements about a range of issues and other issues related to the elections.

The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections is an official report from the Congressional Research Service. This printable document includes a brief history of the electoral college system. It explains the allocation of electoral votes and the full electoral process, from the nomination of electors through the declaration by Congress.

NewsHour Extra, from PBS features information and lesson plans.

Campaign 2008 from C-Span features video clips of candidate ads and debates.

Rock the Vote aims to encourage young people to take advantage of their right to vote. The Web site includes information on voter registration and election issues.

The National Student/Parent Mock Election is a nationwide effort to get students interested in and involved in our democratic process. American students will vote for President, Senators, Congresspersons and Governor (in states that are having a gubernatorial election). Curriculum materials for primary, middle and high school students are provided on the Web site.

Polls: What do the Numbers Tell Us? from the Annenberg Channel's Statistics in Daily Life series explains the methods and mathematics used in political polling.

Elections 2008 is a comprehensive list of web sites for the serious student of the elections from the University of Michigan Library.

Election History

Presidents: The Secret History from PBS American Experience presents historical facts about presidents and elections for elementary students.

Vote: The Machinery of Democracy looks at the history of voting methods in the United States. This engaging exhibit from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History explores how ballots and voting systems have evolved over the years as a response to political, social, and technological change.

The New York Times Looks Back: Presidential Elections 1896-1996 features historic articles, editorials, trivia quizzes, and facts about U.S. presidents.

The Presidential Elections, 1860-1912 looks at historical political cartoons from Harper's Weekly and other publications. For each election, the site provides historical context, including a timeline of events, information on key issues, and brief biographies of the candidates. The site is from HarpWeek, an online index of Harper's Weekly from 1867-1916.

The National Museum of the Moving Picture presents The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2004. This site features video clips of more than 250 television commercials from every election year beginning in 1952, when the first campaign ads aired.

EASE History Campaign Ads uses presidential campaign ads as entry points to learn about campaign issues, historical events, historical context, presidential leadership attributes, persuasive techniques, and campaign strategy.

The Great Debate and Beyond: The History of Televised Presidential Debates, from the Museum of Broadcast Communications, includes a complete transcript and analysis of the first televised presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy, as well as many video clips from 1960-1996 debates.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Electoral College site assembles a variety of information and statistics on presidential elections, past and present: Records include Electoral College Box Scores from 1789 through 2000 and a procedural guide to the Electoral College.

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