Monday, September 3, 2012

Election Resources


Students from around the nation are returning to school at the same time that America's two big political parties are holding their conventions. As a result there is no better time to share a few web resources that can assist teachers who want to help students understand presidential elections in our country.
The most difficult aspect of presidential elections is probably the electoral college system we use in this country. An excellent resource that addresses this issue is this You Tube video from C.G.P. Grey titled How the Electoral College Works.
Another aspect of campaigns is political advertising. Helping students to understand how propaganda is used in the political process is another challenge. A great resource to address this is the Living Room Candidate. This site features political ads from 1952 up to 2008 which can be search by year, political issue, and type of ad. This site is also a good resource to show how American culture has changed over the past 60 years. One final resource is the You Tube Politics channel. It is the go to resource for videos from the current presidential election. This site could be used in conjunction with the Living Room Candidate to discuss political propaganda and how it is used.

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