Web site Helps Kids Understand Obama-McCain Election
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By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 09/10/2008
With the McCain-Obama presidential election right around the corner, teachers and school librarians will be interested in “Presidential Elections: In History & Today,” a free Web site that features historical background on the elections, as well as classroom activities and research projects that will help put campaign 2008 into context for students.
Designed to support election study across the curriculum, the site offers teachers one-click access to more than 25 project ideas, each with a set of related references, primary sources, and more. Kids will get answers to questions such as “How does the electoral college work?,” “Does media bias influence what voters do at the polls?,” and “What influence have special-interest groups had on past presidential elections?”
Launched earlier this month by ABC-CLIO, the Website also provides information about how and why voting rights have expanded since the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and how one significant event can change a candidate’s future (for example, the 1960 Kennedy- Nixon debate). Kids will also become familiar with the 2008 candidates through the site’s in-depth biographies of Senator Barack Obama, his running mate Senator Joe Biden, and Senator John McCain and his vice presidential nominee, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.
“With our collection of history resources, school library media specialists and teachers can transform schools into ‘Campaign Central,’” says Becky Snyder, president of ABC-CLIO.
To keep track of the constantly changing events in campaign 2008, media specialists and teachers also can sign up to receive emails with news and other updates to support classroom discussions and assignments.
“Presidential Elections: In History & Today” will be available for free through Election Day on November 4.
