Presidential Election Analysis

The line between teaching history and current events is often blurred with in the field of Social Studies, but every four years comes the Presidential Election. This is a current event that cannot be ignored given the amount of media attention and personal debates that occur from the national election. Given these facts it seems virtually impossible to ignore the on going election within school classrooms. After reading Students learn about candidates, issues, civics it is clear that many different approaches are used to inform students about the presidential election, if the election is even discussed with in the classroom. The methods used for teaching the presidential election varies across grade levels, some lessons are multidisciplinary, …show more content…
Rather, they are reading kid friendly articles from companies, such as Scholastic, to teach students how the election works. These teachers feel that the candidates and the personal stories appearing in the media are not appropriate for students to be exposed to. This shows me that some teachers feel that shielding the younger students and keeping them ignorant to the characteristics of their future leader is beneficial. While I understand that some of the news stories that are being covered are too serious for primary school students, they should still be aware of the type of person that could be their next president. I also find it interesting that the article and teachers never mention the Electoral College, an integral part of the presidential election. I did not learn about the Electoral College until I was in eighth grade. Although younger students might not understand the concept of electing people to vote for the president, it is still an important piece of out government to mention within a …show more content…
Due to the fact that students have to create interview questions and put themselves in the shoes of Julia Alvarez, they will be challenged to take on different perspectives. This lesson into multidisciplinary, but most importantly teaches students about the struggles people go through everyday in the U.S. The only thing I would modify about this lesson is tying it more to the presidential election. I would present students with statements from the candidates about their stance on immigration policies. I would want students to see the influence the president has on immigration and make students way the pros and cons of each of the candidates proposed policies. This lesson is clearly intended for older elementary grades, but it teaches important values of acceptance and understanding that students should extend to