Tuesday, October 7, 2008

More on Election studies

I just received this via a yahoo group I am in and wanted to add it to the list I have going.

This is great! There is even an opportunity for homeschoolers to
compete with others to create their own election based video game.

VOTE

http://www.nationalmockelection.org/

CLICKSCHOOLING REVIEW

Recommended Website:
Google's Election Tools for Teachers


Age Range: 5-18

ClickSchooling Reviewer Michael Hardt wrote today's ClickSchooling
Review.
(Read Michael's bio below.)

Google did a real favor to teachers who want to help their students
learn
about the election process. They assembled a bunch of their free,
online
tools and customized them for the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Students can enjoy an array of activities that enhance their
knowledge of
government and the election process.

This site is easy to browse by clicking the links in the text on the
landing
page. For example:

* Click "National Student/Parent Mock Election" near the top of the
screen
and enroll your children to vote in a Mock Election on October 30th.
Results
will be tallied from schools participating nationwide. Enroll as
a "Private"
or "Other" school.

Then, in the menu box that starts with the heading "Explaining the
Political
Process"...

* Click "The Electoral College Map" to see which states voted "red" or
"blue" in previous elections and which are "swing states" this year.
Your
children can click on the states to make them red or blue and predict
how
the states will vote.

* Click "YouTube YouChoose" under "Teaching about Issues and
Candidates."
Watch the official YouTube videos released by the candidates.

* Click "In Quotes" under "Teaching about Issues and Candidates." See
side-by-side comparisons of candidates' quotations on various issues.

After you click on any menu item, the screen on the right side of the
menu
box will change to display the content. Notice that the heading
includes
helpful small print stating recommended age-groups such
as "recommended for
all ages" or "recommended for Middleschoolers and up."

There's a lot more here if you poke around: histories of the
candidates,
links to news stories about them, how to send letters to them - and
even how
often people type their names into Google!

This site isn't a single, coherent lesson. It's a smorgasbord of
different
resources. They won't all fit into your plans for Social Studies or
Current
Events, but I bet some will!

Michael Hardt
Diane Flynn Keith
for ClickSchooling
Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved
http://www.Homefires.com
This link is totally cool for anyone but I really like it since we Roadschool.
http://www.Carschooling.com
http://www.UniversalPreschool.com

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