Political Polls- a Great Place to Get Them Thinking

What do you think?

Polls are a great way to get kids engaged in discussions

     o   Yes

     o   No

Polls are everywhere in the news, particularly now in the election season.  Surveys are a great way to get students to state their point of view.  This can be the start of a good discussion in math, social studies and language arts.  There are lots of great places to find polls that students can take part in or just analyze.  Check out these resources:

1. The NYT’s Poll Watch gives you lots of recent polls and related articles.
2. Real clear politics provides lots of information from different polls that can be used to study.
3. Nonpartisan polling reports on trends in American public opinion based on the polls. 
4. Time for Kids has a polling place where kids can cast their vote for president and see the poll results thus far.
5. Student Engagement Activities on Polls can be found in Paul Gigliotti’s Blog on Edutopia.  These activities ask students to participate in a poll and then analyze and report on the results to gain an understanding of political polls.
6. You can find some sample Math lessons on election polls.

Do it yourself!

Simple technology tools can help you quickly take a poll from your students in a fun and engaging way and provide them with real instant data to work with.  There are a number of free and simple tools available:

1. Got a Google account?  You can make up a quick poll using Google forms.  There is a nice demo of how to do that here and all the information gets dumped into a spreadsheet.  You can send out the survey to your students or staff and work with the collected data.
2. Polleverywhere.com is a great tool that creates a poll that you can share with a Powerpoint slide or directly off the webpage.  Students can respond with cell phones or on the computer and instantly see their answers in graph form. 
3. Mentimeter.com is another quick way to set up a poll that your students can answer through their computers.  You can set the poll up so quickly, it can be done right in front of the students, collect the data and have them analyze it all in the same class period.
4. Looking for more? “Cool tools for schools” is a great wiki that has lots of links to other simple polling tools. 

Bottomline, polls are a great opportunity to get students involved in relevant and authentic work.  Polling is a great way to get students involved in the conversation.  Take a poll of student opinions before and after research of a classroom SCAN session.  Use polls to get kids involved in real math, reading graphs, writing persuasive essays and keeping up with current events. 

Have you used polls in the classroom?  Please share your experiences and ideas.

10 Great Resources on the Electoral College

As we get closer to the presidential election, the candidates are spending more and more time campaigning in “key states.”  It is frustrating to think that maybe your state “doesn’t count” or maybe even your vote doesn’t count.  Much of this is a result of the Electoral College system.  How can you help your students understand how it works and why we use it?  Here are some great resources, links and lessons that can help them think critically about the issues that surround the electoral college:
This short video:  Electoral College 101 (Op-Ed page of the New York Times -thanks for bringing it to my attention Megan Veschio!) has a great simulation done with 3rd graders demonstrating the popular vote vs the electoral vote using colored pencils vs. markers.  You can see the critical thinking going on in this classroom!

270 to Win is a cool site that shows what states are undecided and what it will take for either candidate to win based on daily polls. 

The New York Times Learning Network has tons of lessons and resources for this years elections including a crossword puzzle on the Electoral College.

Real Clear Politics features maps and polls and how they change and gives students real time data to look at.  Check here for an analysis on “How Likely is an Electoral/Popular Vote Split” in this election?

Check out this free BrainPOP video lesson on Presidential Elections with information and quizzes on the Electoral College.  

Scholastic also offers articles and teacher resources on the Electoral College.

Exploring Constitutional Conflicts offers a great resource on why the framers decided to go with the Electoral College and information to get kids thinking about whether it should be abolished or modified.

Games lessons and activities on the Electoral College can be found on the Congress for Kids site. 

PBS Kids explains why “Being Popular is Not Enough” with lots of other election resources. 

The National Archives also offers lots of resources for  teaching the electoral college.

Why not have your students hold their own debate as they discuss the Electoral College from four different points of view in the in the Free updated SCAN lesson “The Electoral College:  Does Your Vote Really Count?” found at TregoEd?

Check out more ideas on Elections and polling at http://bit.ly/WBuZlP

Election Issues and Critical Thinking Resources

Can there be any other time when critical thinking is more needed than election time?  When we talk about critical thinking in schools, we are talking about getting kids to analyze their thoughts, to see and consider other perspectives.  You really need to look no further than the headlines to find great authentic topics for students to discuss, write persuasively, and learn their facts about!

Want a great unbiased resource for those hot topics?  Procon.org is a great place to start!  Procon.org has got a long list of “controversial” topics perfect for getting kids involved in real life research, reading and discussions!  Here are some examples of how critical thinking ties into your curriculum and can help your students to understand the importance of their vote!:

Social Studies

Procon.org has got a great section devoted to the elections.  Start with this great quiz, 2012 Presidential Quiz:  Find your Match, which asks students their opinions on issues and matches them to the candidates (including the Independents).  What a great way for students to see the issues!  You do not have to answer all the questions and you can see what candidate most closely aligns to your way of thinking.  It also points out how important it is to understand the issues before you vote!  There is another section which lists all the issues and where each candidate stands, in their own words.  There is even a “procon” on voting machines!   

Although social studies is the obvious place to start, there is not one subject area that we teach that does not tie into election issues.   What a great way to get students (and maybe even voters) to understand the relevance of what you teach!

Science

Take a look at the “procons” of the environmental issues that separate the candidates including the environment, energy, geneticially modified foods, etc.  A great answer as to “why do we have to know this?”   Have them discover how the laws and policies of our government depend on good science and impact your life.   There are “procons” for climate change, vaccines for kids, alternative energy vs fossil fuels, the safety of cell phones,and more. 

Health

Health care in general is always in the headlines.  Besides health care policies, there are “procons” on the drinking age, DARE, medical marijuana, obesity, and vaccines.  There are even some on sports – drug use, college football playoffs and whether golf is a sport. 

Math

Take a look at all the numbers in these facts on climate change!   Seems like there are tons of relevant math questions you could come up with based on those facts.  And think about it, they would be talking about real numbers, not just apples, oranges, and trains! 

Language arts:

There are some great topics for reading and writing:  Why not start with topics in education? They could not be any more relevant!  Check out the "procon" on “Are standardized tests improving education?”  Other hot topics include:  video games and violence, social networking, and immigration. They have some great Language Arts lessons plans that hit on the national standards.

The lesson plans they provide hit on national standards in a number of areas.  They even suggest using online discussion boards.  The SCAN online discussion tool at www.tregoed.org will not only allow students to discuss the issues, but it will guide them to clarify them, assess what’s important and come up with an action plan.  There are facts on over 43 controversial issues.  Looks like a SCAN session waiting to happen to me!  Now that’s critical thinking at its best!   Help your students understand the issues and understand the relevance of what they are learning in school.   After all “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts."
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and US Senator (D-NY)
(1927-2003)