Election 2012: Political Ideology (From Youth Leadership Initiative)

Younger students (even adults sometimes!) have a difficult time understanding the political ideology spectrum.  Liberal vs. conservative?  Left vs. right?  Huh?  Anyway, the best way I have found to teach this concept is to have students physically stand on a continuum.  The ideology survey I use comes from a Youth Leadership Initiative lesson plan entitled "Political Ideology Survey".  This lesson is a good start for getting students a basic understanding of ideology.  "Expanding the Ideological Spectrum" is another YLI lesson plan to go a bit deeper.  It include libertarian and totalitarian ideology.  Without further ado...

Step 1

Create signs that say weak liberal, strong liberal, moderate, weak conservative, and strong conservative.  Hang these on a long wall from left to right.  This works best in the hall!

Step 2

Instruct students to stand along the spectrum wherever they think they belong.  They should base this on prior knowledge.

Step 3 

Have students take the ideology survey from YLI.  Your job after they finish the survey is to provide the key as to whether each statement is a conservative or liberal statement.  For example...if a student says "Yes" to conservative statement, he/she has a conservative view on that issue.  If they say "No" to a conservative statement, they have a liberal view of the issue.  Students will add up all of the conservative and liberal statements to determine their ideology.  Use the following Key.

Step 4

Have students stand on the spectrum again based on their survey results.  Have a discussion!  Are there any surprises, changes, questions, etc.  Begin making the connection between liberal vs. conservative and Democrat vs. Republican (2-party system).

P.S. - Don't forget to register on the YLI website to obtain access to a ton of great resources!

Election 2012- "Selecting a President Part 1: Primaries and Caucuses" from the Youth Leadership Initiative

If you are a civics/government teacher and have not stumbled upon the Youth Leadership Initiative, go to their site now and register!  YLI has an extensive collection of engaging lesson plans, runs an annual eCongress, and runs mock elections.

In this post I will highlight a lesson entitled "Selecting a President Part 1: Primaries and Caucuses".  What I love about this lesson (one part of many) is that it breaks down primary vs. caucus into simple terms for students: deciding which kind of pizza the teacher will buy for the class.  It may seem over simplistic, but any lesson that can tie a civics concept to a real-life (for 8th graders!) example deserves special kudos.  Full notes and graphic organizers are included that cover all of the details of primaries and causcuses for various learning levels.  One of my favorite elements of most YLI lessons is that they include a handful of political cartoons, with analysis questions, with most lessons.  Here is a short blurb on the lesson right from YLI.

"The road to the White House in recent election cycles has become more time consuming and more expensive than ever before. In the first of two lesson plans highlighting the presidential selection process, students will explore the importance of presidential primaries and party caucuses, and debate the pros and cons of each. This lesson may be used as a stand alone plan or in conjunction with Selecting a President Part 2: The Nominating Convention and the General Election."


I have used both part 1 and 2 of this lesson in my classroom, and it has engaged students.  I always include as a follow-up, a Youtube video called "Primary Elections Explained".  This does a nice job of summarizeing this very import an part of the political process.

Election 2012- Know your Constitutional Foundations!

Our federal republic seems simple on paper, but in practice we all know it simply isn't so.  The Montpelier Center for the Constitution offers several resources to help you not only brush up on your knowledge of the Constitution, but learning-depth from leading Constitutional scholars.  An online course offers users in-depth and easy to follow/understand analysis of the Constitution.  The online course is currently not available for students, but over resources including extensive primary source documents, and an interactive version of James Madison's Notes on the Convention can certainly be used in the classroom.  ConText offers users a looking glass into Madison's notes with running commentary of leading scholars and experts on the Constitution.  The application is searchable by keyword, and even links to current events and philosophical background of main ideas in the notes.  Hit up the Center for the Constitution to learn more about the role of the presidency.  It just might provide you with deeper insight into the 2012 election!

Election 2012 - 270towin.com

Presidential election season is upon us, and it is sure to be a historic election.  Especially when it comes to campaign finance!  More on that later.  The next series of posts will be dedicated to 2012 election resources.  I kick it of with www.270towin.com.

There are several features about this tool that my students really enjoy.  Take a look for yourself!

1. Electoral college maps going all the way back to 1789
2. Up-to-date 2012 General Election polls for every state
3. Election Simulations
4. An in-depth blog with bi-partisan resources

The Technology: The electoral maps on the site are Flash based, but IOS devise users do not fret!  There is a 270ToWin app that has access to all of the sites features.  It has beautiful interactive maps and excellent reviews!  Be sure to check it out!