During this lesson, students will begin to understand the differences between the two major political parties that exist in the United States of America. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the roles of each presidential candidate and his/her political views.

Pertinent newspaper articles,

Computer with Internet access, presentation software, "Hail To The Chief" video and self-study quiz from APT Plus

Have each student bring in at least two current event articles from a periodical/newspaper resource. Discuss the articles before the lesson. Preview the video and print the quiz from APT Plus. (The teacher will need a log in ID and password. Talk to the school's media specialist if you do not have one.)

1.)Begin the lesson by asking students the name of our current President. Then have students share what they feel the role of the President is in our country. As a group view the website below to learn more about the President.
(The Presidents of the United States of America from George Washington to George W. Bush)
This site lists all of the Presidents of the United States. It also has links that teach about the role of the President.

2.)Have students view the slideshow presentation (see attached) teaching about Democrats or Republicans. Have students discuss what they learned about the different political parties after the presentation.

3.)Have students listen to interviews of the presidential candidates. Discuss the interviews with students. Have each student share what they felt was most important about the interviews.
(Election interviews)
The website includes interviews of the presidential candidates and their political views.

4.)Use Internet resources to allow students to view at least three political campaign commercials for each presidential candidate.
(Campaign speeches)
This website includes campaign speeches done in commercial format.

5.)Ask students to choose whether they want to support democrat or republican views. Allow each student to share his/her reasons for choosing a particular political party. After each student has shared his/her thoughts, allow students to confirm or change their political parties. Take a vote to see which political party has the majority in the class. Explain the importance of having the majority of supporters in politics.

6.)Have students view the video "Hail To The Chief" from APT Plus and take the self-study quiz that correlates with the video.
(APT Plus)
This is Alabama Public Television's premier site for video clips and other educational materials. Log in and type in the title of the video in the search box.

7.)After students have completed the self-study quiz, have students write a letter explaining the role of the President. In the same letter, have them write about their political party and facts about it.

Each student will write a letter to the teacher describing the role of the President. They will also write about the political party of their choice and facts they know about the party. The teacher will grade letters for accurate facts.

Students who have a general overview of the candidates' political views and have researched them may collaborate on the issues and begin debating the issues.