Note: For a complete list of all our Election 2012 resources, visit our ?Election 2012: Teaching Ideas and Resources? page.
Overview | Politics isn?t just about speeches and money. It?s also about people in hometowns across America who will soon decide which presidential candidate has earned their trust for the next four years.
In this lesson we suggest many ways students can look for the people and places in their own lives that might offer insight into the Nov. 6 election. We begin with a narrative about one Ohio town that represents a cross-section of America to explore the real-life issues that motivate voting decisions.
Then, we suggest a number of other things students can do, including:
Materials | Computer with Internet connection, speakers and projector to display video and audio; computers for individual students or groups to read stories from The New York Times online, or copies of stories as needed.
Warm-Up | Tell students:
Today we?re going to take a closer look at the national election on Nov. 6. How much are people talking about the election in your home or around the neighborhood? And, what sorts of issues are coming up in those conversations?
Write brainstorming ideas on the board.
To begin, we?re going to read a story and watch some video about a small town in Ohio. While you?re listening, I want you to keep one question in mind: what does this have to do with the election?
Related | Dan Barry, a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, spent 10 months chronicling the lives of customers and workers at a diner in Elyria, Ohio, seeking a window into small-town America during the 2012 election. Its owner, Donna Dove, has kept her business running even as sales have plummeted, because she believes the community needs places like Donna?s Diner.
It is where the recession and other issues of the day are lived as much as discussed. Where expectations for a certain lifestyle have been lowered and hopes for salvation through education and technology have been raised. Where the presidential nominees Barack Obama and Mitt Romney each hope that his plan for a way back will resonate with the Donna Doves, who try to get by in places like Elyria ? where the American dream they talk about can sometimes seem like a tease.
Background Vocabulary: Read the first two pages of ?At the Corner of Hope and Worry? with your class and watch the first video (about seven minutes). Then answer the questions below. You may wish to introduce students to the following words or concepts before reading: 401(k), curio, swing state, nonagenarian, entrepreneurial, bellwether.
Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:
- What does this place, Donna?s Diner, have to do with the national election in the United States?
- Why do you think the reporter spent so much time, around 12 visits, coming back and talking to these people?
- Why do you think the reporter didn?t just march into the diner and ask everyone who they were planning to vote for?
- What are the issues that seem to be on the minds of these people in Elyria, Ohio?
- Do these people or their conversations remind you of anyone you?ve met, or people in your own lives?
Note: Teachers may also wish to share with students this story in Elyria?s local newspaper, The Chronicle-Telegram, in which Dan Barry of The Times talks about his work on the Donna?s Diner series.
Going Further: Teaching About the Election
The Bellwether Cafe
Read more from the series on Donna?s Diner and the accompanying videos. Ask students to choose a character from the stories and write a short profile, gathering details about their lives, dreams and concerns. Then ask students to identify their own bellwether establishment in their neighborhood or town ? a cafe, hardware store, public library or other place where people gather to discuss the issue of the day. Students could visit individually or as a class, and write about how that place or one of its regular visitors helps to define the area.
Looking for Unicorns
Are undecided voters really as rare as those mythical, one-horned beasts, as some commentators believe? Or are there still good reasons for people to sit on the fence between the Republican and Democratic Party candidates? Track news coverage and commentary on undecided voters in The New York Times, including this story on female swing voters. Students can also listen to this NPR story and watch a ?Saturday Night Live? skit on the topic.
Then ask students to develop a list of undecided voters in their family, neighborhood or town. They should record general details such as gender, age and race, as well as the key issues that might determine each person?s vote and whether they?re leaning toward one candidate or the other. (Note: teachers may wish to advise students to make up a fictional name or number for each of the voters on their list in order to ensure privacy.)
Students should keep track of their lists and report back to class on Election Day with results on whether their undecided voters went to the polls and how they voted. Then collate the lists for the whole class and send a summary of both early and election-day results back to the comments section for this post, including your school and geographic location.
Targeting Voters
Which groups of voters offer the key to victory in the final days of campaigning, and how should candidates conduct themselves in seeking those votes? Read these Room for Debate stories on swing-state voters. Students can also survey the latest coverage on the election, such as this story on the race in Ohio. Then ask students to write their own letters to a candidate, offering advice on the best strategy for capturing those last-minute undecided votes or changing minds.
Liberal and Conservative Brains:
What do these political labels mean, and how exactly do people acquire the beliefs that put them into one camp or the other? Ask students to do some personal brainstorming on whether they?re liberal or conservative, which issues matter most for them and how they acquired those beliefs. They can draw a personal ?influence tree? charting their own political beliefs and the people or experiences that inspired them. Students can then critique this analysis on why some parts of the country have tended to vote ?red? or ?blue? in past elections. Does it ring true, or would students offer different explanations for the origin of their own belief systems?
An Avalanche of Ads
The 2012 election is expected to be the most expensive in history, thanks in part to the United States Supreme Court?s ruling in the case Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. How will these changes affect typical voters? Ask students to read about campaign advertising, workplace issues, privacy concerns and other campaign finance stories. Students can keep a personal journal on political advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts in your area during the week before the election, keeping track of who?s paying and whether each effort seems to be fair and useful in educating or influencing voters.
Flukes of the System
Read this story about how the 2012 election might be thrown into a chaos of recounts, lawsuits and disputes over the Electoral College. Is there a better way, or does the use of electors still help to balance the interests of smaller states and groups against the will of the majority? Research the issues surrounding election reform, the Electoral College, voter fraud and related topics. You may also want to watch Mo Rocca?s Op-Doc piece ?Electoral College 101?. Then ask student groups to propose modifications to America?s voting system for the 21st century.
Paths to Victory
What has to happen on Nov. 6 to make Barack Obama a one-term president? What are his chances of retaining office, and what will it take for Mitt Romney to capture the White House? Ask students to start following daily tracking polls by Nate Silver, a polling analyst who blogs for The Times, as well as other polling coverage by The Times and Real Clear Politics.
Then look at this interactive graphic that shows how the election might turn out under different voting scenarios. As a culminating activity, ask students to make predictions on which candidates will capture key swing states and win the overall general election. Follow the returns on Election Day, and then announce winners of the class contest once the national vote is tallied. (Note: this activity can also be used to follow local or Congressional races.)
Voting After Sandy
In ?Storm Brings Obstacles One Week Before Vote,? Michael Cooper lists some of the complications this historic hurricane has brought to the democratic process ? including the fact that more than 8.2 million households were without power by midday on Oct. 30, with more than a fifth of them in swing states.
What has to happen legally to change the date of a presidential election? Should the United States consider it this year? How ready will states hit by the storm be for voting next Tuesday? Follow The Caucus and the New York Region interactive ?Tracking the Storm? for updates, then make a case for what you think should be done and why.
And for more about politics and Sandy, see our full list of suggestions in Teaching Hurricane Sandy: Ideas and Resources
Common Core ELA Standards, 6-12
Reading
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Writing
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization and analysis of content.
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research.
Speaking and Listening
1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others? ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
McREL Standards
Civics
11. Understands the role of diversity in American life and the importance of shared values, political beliefs and civic beliefs in an increasingly diverse American society.
14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life.
20. Understands the roles of political parties, campaigns, elections and associations and groups in American politics.
28. Understands how participation in civic and political life can help citizens attain individual and public goals.
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