Kyle Yamnitz

Campaign ’96 Social Studies Various Activities


:

Grade Levels: Second through Fifth

Length: One or two class sessions.

Description: For a change, allow students to choose from the
following variety of activities. Assessment will vary, but will
essentially consist of judging the quality of the works students
produce.

Math:

Materials: numerous magazines and newspapers, graph paper, and
pens or pencils.

Have students work together to tally the number of times they
see a picture of each presidential candidate in newspapers and
magazines. After the results are in, have them create graphs
showing who was featured most in the print media.

Art:

Materials:

Imagination

and any materials students could
make a puppet out of (popsicle

sticks, yarn, paper bags w/ pictures of candidates, cloth, etc.).

Make puppets of the different candidates. Students would need
to watch the candidates and draw a sketch of what they see prior
to constructing the puppet.

Writing I:

Materials: television to view candidates’ speeches, paper, and
pen or pencil.

After watching your candidate make a speech, write a letter to
him telling him what you agree and disagree with.

Writing II:

Materials:

Imagination

, paper, and pencil or pen.

Imagine that you are running for the president. Write about
the day you are elected or pick another day in your life as president.

Game:

Materials: Index cards, scissors.

Candidate Concentration: Have the students collect pictures
of the candidates and make sets of two candidate cards (using
index cards). There should be at least 11 sets of candidate cards.
Mix the cards and place face down. Students take turns trying
to find a matching candidate pair. The student with the most
candidate pairs wins. OR: To get the pair, a student must name
the candidate pair.

Adaptations: For higher grades, eliminate the art project and
candidate concentration,

since they are more geared toward younger students. For lower
grades (second

and first), you may need to eliminate the math activity and the
writing I activity.

Reference:

"Campaign ’96 Centers."

C-SPAN Network

. http://www.c-span.org/classroo/centers.htm
(14, Sept. 1996).