Election-year activities

Teaching Pre K-8, Feb 1996 by Manning, Maryann, Manning, Gary

What are your first memories about presidential elections? Our first clear recollections reach back to Harry S Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Since then, we've been fascinated by presidents and presidential elections. As teachers, we've seen that children, too, delight in studying presidents and engaging in activities related to elections.

Young children's involvement with the political system begins with a strong positive attachment to the country, and the President is prominent in the child's mind when thinking of government. As children grow older, of course, their understanding becomes more sophisticated.

With this in mind, you'll probably want to make modifications to the reading and writing activities we suggest to fit your particular teaching and learning situation. Let's explore a few ideas.

Children's books. During reading workshop or social studies class, students might read self-selected books. If they write about presidents or the political system during writing workshop, we encourage them to refer to texts that help them write their research reports.

During a reading workshop not long ago, we conferred with Jamie, a fifth grader, on a book from the Encyclopedia of Presidents Series (Children's Press, 1986). He was reading about Theodore Roosevelt. Jamie had asthma and his interest in this President intensified when he read that Roosevelt also had asthma as a child.

In another class, we were listening to a group of children discuss the book, Our Elections by Richard Steins (Millbrook Press, 1994), which includes a section on women voting. Sarah, a child in the group, exclaimed with fury when she discovered that women weren't allowed to vote in our national elections until 1920. It was her first realization of discrimination against women. It seemed Sarah's discovery would lead her to further related reading.

Theme immersion. In a theme immersion, children study a topic that interests them. A theme might focus on several presidents, or on just one.

For example, just recently we observed a class engaged in a theme on President Woodrow Wilson. Research groups studied and reported on several aspects related to his presidency, including the 18th and 19th Amendments, the opening of the Panama Canal, World War I, the establishment of eight-hour workdays by the railroads and the first continental air mail flight from San Francisco to New York.

Writing to learn. Writing about presidents and the elections fosters thinking abilities. Students can engage in activities such as writing research reports, which could be done as a part of a theme immersion, or as an independent activity during writing workshop.

Another good writing activity, is to have students do journal entries from another person's viewpoint. Last week, we read the simulated entries of a seventh grader writing from the perspective of Jimmy Carter. He had read a lot about President Carter and was currently reading Carter's book of poems, Always Reckoning (Times Books-Random House, 1995). The student's entries reflected his in-depth knowledge of this President.

You might also ask students to interview people about their perceptions of the candidates. Interviews are a very worthwhile learning experience for children and offer an authentic, purposeful opportunity for writing. To prepare children for meaningful interviews, you, of course, will demonstrate the interviewing process and guide children as they learn the techniques and develop meaningful questions. After the interviews, children work with one another to report the results.

Mock elections. Experience tells us that children tend to vote along the party lines of their parents. Nevertheless, kids enjoy mock elections and can benefit greatly from them. For young children, the elections need to be simple.

One of our middle-grade teacher friends uses the following guidelines to help her students vote in their mock elections:

1. Gather information about candidates through interviews with knowledgeable people, including your parents. Read newspapers, magazines and other printed texts. Listen to news reports.

2. Discuss ideas with your peers; try to find biases in your sources and clarify for yourselves the information you gather.

3. Participate in activities such as debates and panel discussions. It's important that you're well prepared for these activities.

4. Develop a profile of the candidates, including family, interests, hobbies, educational background, work experience, party affiliation, vision for the U.S., etc.

5. Develop procedures for voting, such as using a secret ballot and counting the votes.

Noble office. In November 1800, i: John Adams wrote of the White a House, "I pray to heaven to bestow s the best of blessings on this house b and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." (If Adams were writing this today, we hope he would say "people" instead of "men.")

The message is indeed a good one. As we think about past presidents, indeed, many would be considered amateurs, but many have been true v statesmen. Most important, regardless of the presidents themselves, the office of the presidency exemplifies n dignity and exerts a strong influence on our country and the world.