Quizzes
Campaign Slogans Quiz How well do YOU know who had what campaign slogan??
Elections and Voting Quiz This quiz covers a lot of the presidential "firsts" and facts...a great way to learn more while having a little fun!
Select Smart 2008 For 26 questions, you get to pick the answer that is closest to your viewpoint and then rate it's importance to you-the selector then matches up your answers to the candidates and rates how closely they line up!
Glass Booth Quiz -another chance for you to see how a candidate's views line up with your own when it comes to the big issues!
Activities: Be Heard!
Or, start your own blog in your own space at blogger.com. Start keeping a virtual diary of how you feel about the issues and the candidates. As you continue to learn more from the resources on this pathfinder or in the current news, write down your thoughts in your blog! By the time the 2008 election comes around, chances are that your viewpoints will have changed. Consider writing a school paper on your experience that focuses on the change in your perspective. You can include ideas like how the media has affected your viewpoint, how changes in political campaigns made you feel, or even how your own personal experiences shape the way you feel about the issues.
Create a video! Grab a friend and pretend that you are interviewing a presidential candidate. What questions would you ask him/her? What do you think would be considered "off limits"? If you only had 3 minutes, how would you question this candidate in order to get the information that the public needs/wants?? Consider uploading your finished video to ThinkMTV!!
Interview your Parents! I know you're thinking WHY?! Here's the thing, people of different ages and different backgrounds tend to have different perspectives and care about certain issues more than others. Take one of the quizzes at the top and write down some of the questions...these would be a great starting point for your interview! If your parents are older, they may care more about Health Issues or Social Security. An older brother or sister may be passionate about Iraq or the Death Penalty. It's natural for people to have biases based on their own experiences, so see how many people you can talk to. Don't pressure them to tell you how they feel about the issue, but have them rate how important the issue is to them. I guarentee it will be interesting and will provide you with some great material for a school paper down the road!
Write an inaugural address. Pretend for just one moment that you have just won the 2008 Presidential Election and you will be facing the entire nation as PRESIDENT for the very first time. What would you want to say to them? What would be the first thing you would do, once in office? When you are done writing your own address, look over the inaugural addresses from the past (there's a link in online resources!). Do you notice any changes in the way the presidents addressed the nation? Look at the dates that they took office, what was going on then that may have had an impact on how they spoke to the American people?
Write it ALL down. For just a day or two, write down EVERY time you see or hear something about the 2008 election, candidates, or issues. I mean EVERY time! This includes seeing it on someone's Facebook wall or a little blog entry on MySpace. In one day's time, how many different viewpoints and ideas did you get? Now, think back about 100 years (yes, I know you weren't alive then) and consider how the American people got their information back then. How did they hear about the candidates? Or, did they? How have the political parties changed since then? In your opinion, do we have improved access to information now, or do we get even more incorrect information? What about you...is it easier for you to be heard now, or would it have been easier back then? Consider writing a paper on the different ways our election process and voting behavior has changed because of improvements in technology and modernization. It could be pretty cool to explore!
Additional Resources
-
Learn more about using primary sources and evaluating resources
-
Learn more about the writing process and get tips for getting started from the "Owl" at Purdue University!
-
Here is MLA Citation Style Guide from the "Owl". Find out how to cite periodicals or electronic resources and learn your way around a footnote!
-
Here is the APA Citation Style Guide from the "Owl". Same thing, but different format!
-
The Bedford's Citation Style guide shows you how to document all of the online information you find, whether it's an email, a blog, or a www!
-
Need more writing help? Check out the Internet Public Library's Teenspace, A+ Research for step by step assistance picking a topic, starting research, and figuring out what to do with the information!