Eleventh Grade
ACTIVITY 1 – Scoring the Debate
As a whole group, while watching the 2012 presidential debate or a previous debate, students will use the scoring card (see Appendix E) to determine which candidate did a better job. To score your debate scoring card, use the “How to grade the debate” form (see Appendix E).
Videos
ACTIVITY 2 – Reforming the Electoral College
The students will, as a whole class, debate the Electoral College; examining the merits and problems associated with the current system and each of the proposed reforms (see Appendix H).
The students will propose an amendment to the Constitution to reform the system and vote on it as a class.
Videos
- How Congress Breaks an Electoral College Tie (NBC Learn)
- The Popular Vote v. Electoral Vote: Explaining the Electoral College (NBC Learn)
- A Look at the 2008 Electoral College Map (NBC Learn)
- Why Did the Founding Fathers Create the Electoral College? (NBC Learn)
- Electoral College: How we elect our President in the United States (Khanacademy)
ACTIVITY 3 – Electoral College Campaign Strategy
- SS 912 C 2 14 Evaluate the processes and results of an election at the state or federal level.
The students will examine the results of the 2008 Electoral College vote (see Appendix I) and those of the previous three electoral votes. The students will role-play a campaign manager and attempt to categorize all the states into one of the three categories below:
1) Red states – those states that lean Republican
2) Blue states – those states that lean Democratic
3) Purple states – those states that are unpredictable and to be evenly split
As campaign manager, decide whether you work for the Democratic nominee or Republican nominee, add up the states you feel confident your candidates will win and then identify which states you feel are the swing states where your candidate should devote serious campaign resources.
Videos
- A Look at the 2008 Electoral College Map (NBC Learn)
- Why Did the Founding Fathers Create the Electoral College? (NBC Learn)
- A Look at the Divided Electoral College Map (NBC Learn)
- The Electoral College Map One Month Before Election Day 2008 (NBC Learn)
- The Electoral Map: One Week to Go (NBC Learn)
- Electorate Selects Obama for President (NBC Learn)
- President Obama, Romney Fight for Independent Voters in Swing States (NBC Learn)
ACTIVITY 4 – Are you registered?
- SS 912 C 2 5 Conduct a service project to further the public good. SS 912 C 2 8 Analyze the impact of citizen participation as a means of achieving political and social change.
The students will, go around their neighborhood/town and survey a minimum of 20 people on whether they are registered to vote or not and why. If the person is not registered to vote, the student will provide them with a voters registration form.
Once the student is finished with their surveying, they will write about their findings including the number of people who were already registered voters versus those who were not and the reasons why. The students will also write about what they gained from doing this activity and how it did or didn’t influence the upcoming election.