Students explore political persuasive writing. In this government and persuasive writing instructional activity, students work in groups to write text and create graphics for a  brochure describing and promoting a predetermined...

Political candidates work hard at creating an image they believe will appeal to voters. High schoolers collect 10 photos and other images of a candidate and analyze them to determine what techniques create a positive or negative impression.

Teaching learners how to evaluate a research source is an important part of the research process. The fresh idea here is that groups first develop a list of reasons why resources should be evaluated, transform these reasons into...

Separating political rhetoric from propaganda is no small feat. Class members are challenged to examine two different sources about a candidate in an upcoming election and determine whether the primary purpose of the source is to inform...

Election years provide the opportunity to evaluate news media as well as the next prospective president. High schoolers read about the same event in several different news sources, varying in type, origin, and political leaning,...

In this presidential election worksheet, students research the 2008 presidential candidates and create a booklet of candidate profiles that clearly differentiate each one. They also assume the identity of one of the candidates and hold a...

Why is voting important? A social studies unit presents a non-partisan approach to the importance of voting, to voting laws and procedures, and to resources that voters need to become informed voters.

What does it take to win the White House? A video game allows young political operatives to try their hand at winning 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by deciding on key issues, where and how to spend campaign dollars, and the role of polling...

One picture but a thousand stories. As a part of a case study of how the death of Michael Brown was reported by professional news sources and on social media class members examine the reactions of various groups to a photograph taken by...

How do advertisements evoke specific thoughts and feelings? Class members find out through the exploration of the Internet, videos, television, magazines, radio, and posters. Learners investigate commercial advertisements, political...

As an introduction to a series of related resources that examine political advertising and commercials from 1952-2012, class members use the provided rubric to analyze and rate the effectiveness of the emotion, persuasion, factual...

The verbal techniques and emotional appeals contained in the language used in political ads plays a vital role in creating the impact of the ad. As class members continue their study of Presidential campaign commercials from 1952–2012,...

What are the elements of a good social media post? The 13th activity in the 16-part Social Media Toolbox incorporates all of the typical components found in a Facebook or Twitter post. Scholars work together to create great posts based...

Young people today have to be very careful with how they present themselves online. Show them the possible impact of their online activity and what employers might see when performing a basic search. The lesson provides a video clip...

Break an article down with a SOAPSTone chart. Class members determine the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. The chart includes a question for each of these elements, provides some clarifying text for each, and...

"Life is like a box of chocolates. . ." "Barack is a Mac, Hillary is a PC." Literal and figurative analogies are featured in a presentation that models how to use analogies to bolster arguments.

Just how true is the information contained in political ads? Determining the veracity of campaign ads from the 2008 presidential race is the focus of a activity that introduces class members to several fact-checking resources.

Campaign ads target both timely issues and general themes. Presidential campaign ads from 1952 and 1988 provide class members an opportunity to compare how the topics ads choose to address can dramatically influence election outcomes.

Students conduct political campaigns. For this campaign investigation lesson, students research political parties and political offices. Students choose an office to run for and create election videos that incorporate propaganda techniques.

Young scholars compare the functions of a robot to that of the human body. In this technology lesson plan, students identify the important components of the Cassini robot that would enable it to carry out space missions. They design and...

This lesson may be used to introduce young scholars to the system of primaries and caucuses by which candidates for U.S. president are nominated by their parties. After completing this lesson, students will understand the process by...

Learners discuss their impressions of peer drama, both online and as depicted on reality TV. Students compare and contrast two videos - one featuring a candid discussion between middle school learners about online drama and the other...