Growing Voters and Election 2004
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Collaboration Grade 5
Collect, Scrapbook and Present Issues on the Election

Overview

In this unit, students have the opportunity to select among several election topics the one(s) they are personally more interested in pursing, whether it be about the candidates, the process, the parties, the issues or the office itself. Students will collect newspaper and magazine articles and web site information to compile into a scrapbook (electronic or on paper) on the topic that interests them.

Students will each take one of the following essential questions and create Power Point slides expressing their responses. Students will work with a partner; partners will work together helping each other edit the slides. Slides will be compiled into a show to present to their own grade and grade 2.

Essential Questions

- Who are the candidates running in this election?

- What is the job of a president once he/she gets elected? What is the job of the vice president?

- What does it mean to be a presidential candidate?

- What do the candidates stand for and what are their visions for the future?

- What kinds of activities they to take part in?

- What is a political party?

- What are some of the different political parties in the United States?

- Why are there different political parties in the United States?

- What is the history behind the formation of each party that the students will be studying?

- What are the ideas and issues that each party promotes?

- What issues in the upcoming election affect their community in particular?

- What issues in the upcoming election affect students in particular?

- Why are there only 2 major parties in the United States?

- Who can vote in America?

- Where do members of your household vote and what is needed to vote?

- Why might American citizens choose not to vote in elections?

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