Red States & Blue States: Election 2016

Hello colleagues, We have been discussing teaching the presidential election in our community, and several members have recommended online resources. Thank you!

I've started a discussion in the College and Career Standards Community about my lesson on the electoral college with my beginning ESL class. The lesson includes having students work in a small group to do some online research and then presenting to their classmates. They will also evaluate themselves using a teacher-designed rubric. Those who are interested can find the discussion here.

It would be great to hear how others are drawing upon the election for instruction this year.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL CoP

 

Comments

Hello colleagues, I taught my lesson on the electoral college this week in my beginning ESL class. We drew from The National Archives and Records Administration government website which includes maps of previous elections as well as a feature that allows individuals to predict the outcome of this election in each of the 50 states plus Washington DC. There are several similar websites, but this one is pretty cool.

Students now have a pretty good understanding of how our US presidential election system works. While listening to the results of the election on November 8, they will be able to understand how states are determined to be red or blue and what the significance of 270 electoral votes is.

Comments welcome!

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL CoP

Thanks for sharing this website, Susan! I have opportunity to substitute for a College and Career English teacher this coming week and I will be using this website. I think it works for all levels, not just beginners. Our C & C English class is our highest level. I am also incorporating an article from www.Readworks.org,"Seven Most Contentious U.S. Presidential Elections." I think it quite valuable for our students to see that, historically, the democratic process has not been without its problems. I also want to share another resource: "Television Commercial Analysis Chart" from The Learning Network at www.learning.blogs.nytimes.com. I am going to ask the students to document two political commercials for discussion at a subsequent class. I hope this is helpful!

Hi Gee, Thanks so much for your comments and for sharing these additional resources. The site I recommended is not designed for language learners. It's meant for the general public. Once I explained what red and blue meant, it was easy -- even for beginners -- to understand the election maps. Understanding the electoral college was a bit more challenging, but I believe the students now understand that each state has the same number of electors as it has members of Congress.

The activities you described will not only help students to build their knowledge about the US presidential election, they will engage students in critical thinking, exactly what we want to do as we seek to enhance the rigor of our instruction. Analyzing political ads should be quite interesting! When you get a moment, please tell us how you plan to structure this activity, and let us know how it goes.

Would love to hear how other teachers are working with the election this year.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL CoP

Hello Susan and the rest of our LINCS Community,

I think it is important to note that the particular class I am referring to has recently viewed some satirical skits about this election's debates. I think a natural progression will be to ask students to do the political ad analysis. We have access to a computer lab at the class site. I will furnish students with search criteria for several political ads on Youtube. I will ask students to view at least two ads and complete the worksheet which asks such questions as: "Describe the images or text.", "What do you hear?", " What do you think the commercial producers want you to feel or think", "Do you think the ad is effective? Why?" - many text dependent questions.The class will then come together to discuss what they saw and give opinions. I will be adding the fine details in the coming days..I will be sure to let you know how it works!