This ToolBook was produced just in time for the 2008 presidential campaign, but because it was such an historic (and recent) race, it will still be exciting to study. Written by political junkies for political junkies. (And by the time you're finished, your students will be just that.) It compares and contrasts the Republican party's candidates, the Democrat party's candidates, and the biggest issues—especially immigration and health care.
Compare and contrast the Republicans and their strengths and weaknesses: Giuliani, McClain, Romney, and even Fred Thompson. Compare and contrast the Democrats and their strengths and weaknesses: Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. Research and debate the hottest issues of the race, focusing on immigration and universal health care.
The Topics: The political parties; the candidates; the issues; campaign finance; campaign advertising; the presidential primaries; public opinion polls; voting behavior; electronic voting machines; and the Electoral College.
Make those lessons memorable!
- What do Republicans and Democrats REALLY believe?
- Political cartoons and late-night humor by Jay Leno, David Letterman, and John Stewart
- The Top Ten Reasons why the War in Iraq was the No. 1 campaign issue.
- "The Forgotten Middle Class"—and what Lou Dobbs forgot to mention
- Barack Obama and Michael Moore on the health care system
- The Top Ten Reasons why immigration is good
- The Top Ten Reasons why immigration is bad
- Whatever happened to Jack Abramoff? (Lobbyists were a big issue.)
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| 1. The Political Parties | |
| #1 Graphic Organizer | The two-party system |
| #2 Graphic Organizer | The two parties today |
| #3 Lecture | Trends |
| #4 Group Analysis | The Republican Party |
| #5 Group Analysis | The Democratic Party |
| #6 Quotations | Government must protect the public interest |
| #7 Quotations | Government is the problem |
| #8 Internet | Government regulation of business |
| #9 Internet | Government spending on social programs |
| #10 Group Analysis | Top Ten Reasons why you should vote Republican |
| #11 Group Analysis | Top Ten Reasons why you should vote Democratic |
| #12 Group Analysis | Government regulation of business |
| #13 Group Analysis | Government spending on social programs |
| #14 Debate | “Resolved, we should all vote Republican.” |
| #15 Game | The ABCs of the Republican Party |
| #16 Game | The ABCs of the Democratic Party |
| #17 Game | Can you talk like a politician? |
| 2. The Presidential Candidates | |
| #18 Lecture | The presidential candidates, 2008 |
| #19 Chart | The political spectrum |
| #20 Game | The political spectrum |
| #21 Game | The political spectrum |
| #22 Internet | research Rudy Giuliani |
| #23 Internet | research John McCain |
| #24 Internet | research Mitt Romney |
| #25 Internet | research Fred Thompson |
| #26 Internet | research Hillary Clinton |
| #27 Internet | research Barack Obama |
| #28 Internet | research John Edwards |
| #29 Internet | research Michael Bloomberg |
| #30 Game | Name that candidate! |
| #31 Game | The Great Race |
| #32 Quotations | By the presidential candidates |
| #33 Political Cartoons | About the Republican presidential candidates |
| #34 Political Cartoons | About the Democratic presidential candidates |
| #35 Political jokes/td> | About the presidential candidates |
| 3. The Issues | |
| #36 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: Iraq will be the No. 1 campaign issue |
| #37 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: Iraq will not be the No. 1 issue |
| #38 Lecture | The end is near . . . |
| #39 Lecture | The forgotten middle class - may be the No. 1 issue |
| #40 Internet | The middle class is in trouble - why? |
| #41 Political Cartoons | The forgotten middle class |
| #42 Internet | What issues does the candidate care about? |
| #43 Internet | Where do the candidates stand on middle class issues? |
| #44 Internet | Does the candidate understand the middle class? |
| #45 Group Analysis | Universal health care |
| #46 Speech/td> | Barack Obama: Universal health care |
| #47 Film/td> | Michael Moore’s “Sicko” |
| #48 Lecture | Do Americans want government-run health care? |
| #49 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: why universal health care is good |
| #50 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: why universal health care is bad |
| #51 Internet | research Universal health care |
| #52 Group Analysis | Medicare |
| #53 Group Analysis | Universal health care |
| #54 Debate | “Resolved, universal health care is a good idea.” |
| #55 Timeline | Immigration |
| #56 Group Analysis | Illegal immigration |
| #57 Political Cartoons | Immigration |
| #58 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: immigration is good. |
| #59 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: immigration is bad. |
| #60 Internet | research Immigration |
| #61 Chart | Public opinion polls: immigration |
| #62 Group Analysis | Illegal immigration |
| #63 Debate | “Resolved, illegal immigrants should be given amnesty.” |
| #64 Game | The ABCs of the 2008 campaign issues |
| #65 Game | Can you talk like a presidential candidate? |
| 4. Campaign finance | |
| The Enron Scandal (2001) | |
| #66 Document | The Enron scandal |
| #67 Lecture | Enron: the case for campaign finance reform |
| #68 Political Cartoons | The Enron scandal |
| #69 Political jokes colspan=2> The Enron scandal | |
| #70 Document | The Department of Justice |
| #71 Chart | Who was harmed by Enron? |
| Campaign Finance Reform (2002) | |
| #72 Lecture | Campaign finance reform |
| #73 Internet | McCain-Feingold |
| #74 Political Cartoons | McCain-Feingold |
| #75 Debate | Campaign finance reform |
| #76 Group Analysis | McCain-Feingold |
| #77 Group Analysis | Public financing of elections |
| #78 Quotations | Campaign finance |
| #79 Debate | “Resolved, we need public financing of elections.” |
| #80 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: why political corruption will |
| #81 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: why political corruption will not |
| #82 Chart | Campaign contributions, 2008 |
| #83 Chart | s & Graphs Campaign contributions, 2008 |
| #84 Game | The ABCs of Campaign Finance |
| #85 Game | Can you talk like a campaign fund-raiser?(define terms) |
| Test | Campaign finance: 74 questions |
| 5. Campaign advertising | |
| #86 Lecture | The role of TV in election campaigns |
| #87 Document | “Being an Ad Cop” |
| #88 Group Analysis | Using Bloom’s taxonomy, analyze: Campaign ads |
| #89 Internet | Campaign ads, 2004 |
| #90 Internet | Swiftboat! |
| #91 Lecture | Techniques in campaign advertising |
| #92 Game | Campaign ads, 2004 |
| #93 Game | Campaign talk, 2008 |
| #94 Group Analysis | Campaign ads |
| #95 Group Analysis | Truth in advertising |
| #96 Debate | Truth in advertising |
| #97 Game | The ABCs of campaign advertising (recall terms) |
| #98 Game | Can you talk like an ad-man? (define terms) |
| Test | Campaign advertising: 80 questions |
| 6. The Primary | |
| #99 Graphic Organizer | The Presidential Election |
| #100 Lecture | The Primary |
| #101 Group Analysis | The presidential primary |
| #102 Film | “The War Room” |
| #103 Group Analysis | One national primary |
| #104 Group Analysis | Proportional representation |
| #105 Debate | “Resolved, we should have one national primary.” |
| #106 Game | The ABCs of the direct primary (recall terms) |
| #107 Game | Can you talk like a nominee? (define terms) |
| Test | The Primary: 67 questions |
| 7. Public opinion polls | |
| #108 Lecture | Public Opinion Polls |
| #109 Group Analysis | Public opinion |
| #110 Group Analysis | Public opinion polls |
| #111 Internet | Are public opinion polls really accurate? |
| #112 Political Cartoons | : Public opinion polls |
| #113 Group Analysis | Public opinion polls |
| #114 Group Analysis | The way questions are asked |
| #115 Debate | “Resolved, print the actual questions asked.” |
| #116 Game | The ABCs of public opinion polls (recall terms) |
| #117 Game | Can you talk like a pollster? (define terms) |
| Test | Public opinion polls: 37 questions |
| 8. Voting & Voting Behavior | |
| #118 Lecture | The history of voting |
| #119 Game | The right to vote |
| #120 Lecture | Requirements to vote |
| #121 Chart | Top Ten Reasons: why people don’t vote |
| #122 Chart | Who votes? |
| #123 Internet | Voter turnout |
| #124 Film “No Umbrella” | |
| #125 Group Analysis | Rock the Vote |
| #126 Group Analysis | Purging the poll books |
| #127 Debate | “Resolved, we need Election Day registration.” |
| #128 Game | The ABCs of voting (recall terms) |
| #129 Game | Can you talk like a voter? (define terms) |
| Test | Voting: 79 questions |
| 9. Electronic Voting Machines | |
| #130 Group Analysis | Exit polls |
| #131 Debate | Exit polls: right or wrong? |
| #132 Political Cartoons | : Electronic voting machines |
| #133 Film | “Hacking Democracy” |
| #134 Internet | Electronic voting machines are not reliable. |
| #135 Document | Election officials work on making changes |
| #136 Lecture | Count Every Vote |
| #137 Debate | “Resolved, we need a paper trail.” |
| 10. The Electoral College | |
| #138 Lecture | The Electoral College |
| #139 Group Analysis | The Electoral College |
| #140 Document | How the Electoral College works |
| #141 Maps & Chart | s: The Electoral College |
| #142 Political Cartoons | : The Electoral College |
| #143 Group Analysis | Top Ten Reasons: why the Electoral College is good |
| #144 Group Analysis | Top Ten Reasons: why the Electoral College is bad |
| #145 Debate | The Electoral College: pro and con |
| #146 Group Analysis | Indirect elections |
| #147 Group Analysis | The Electoral College |
| #148 Debate | “Resolved, we should keep the Electoral College.” |
| #149 Game | The ABCs of the Electoral College (recall terms) |
| #150 Game | Can you talk like an elector? (define terms) |
| Test | The Electoral College: 107 questions |
About Performance Education ToolBooks
Each ToolBook has 4 basic components:
- Lectures and Stories―provide the basic facts behind the subject being covered and help establish a framework for further learning
- Interactive Exercises―develop higher levels of skill through graphic organizers, maps, charts, timelines, important documents and links to other materials
- Games―Unique action Games, brain games and board Games are fun, exciting, encourage fast-paced learning, and provide practice in all 6 levels of Bloom
- The Tests―practice and preparation for the end-of-grade state tests, with hundreds of practice test questions.
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