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THE
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES - LESSON ACTIVITY
By
Leah Clapman, NewsHour Extra Subjects:
Law, Government, Civics Time:
Two class periods Materials:
(provided in printer-friendly PDF format) Correlation
to National Standards Background:
Many
Americans have not made up their minds about whom to vote for and the upcoming
presidential and vice presidential debates will help them decide. Explain to your
students that often viewers react to a candidate's performance-- how they look
and act instead of what they say. This activity is designed to help them focus
on what the candidates say and then look at how the media covers the debate and
the consequent effect on public opinion. (A longer lesson plan that includes the
history of debates is available: Holding
an in-class debate) Procedure:
BEFORE
THE DEBATE
1. Pass out the ballot based on the National Forensic League's public
forum debates, and explain that this will help them focus on the substance of
the debate instead of just the style.
2. Encourage them to take notes-- writing
down each question and how the candidates answer it. These notes will be useful
when the students are asked to defend the scores they give to the debaters. Remind
them that the entire debate will be on the NewsHour's Vote 2004 Web site at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/index.html
the day after the debate, so they can listen to the audio version in RealAudio
format of the debate if they want to replay key exchanges.
3. Suggest that
the students refrain from watching "analysts" or "experts"
on TV-- or read any post-debate analysis until after they have filled out their
own ballot. AFTER
THE DEBATE
1. The day after the debate, go over the ballots in class. Are the
ratings consistent or not? Students can discuss their ratings and use the RealAudio
or a transcript on the Web to defend their arguments.
2. If you want, the
class can write a critique of the debate and e-mail suggestions to the candidate's
Web sites. (Also to NewsHour Extra for
possible publication on the Web site.) Media
Coverage of the Debates
1. Ask students to pick a newspaper article or
television show and fill out the following worksheet: How
the Media Covers the Debates Students
are asked to look for the criteria they used when rating the debaters' performances
(analysis, evidence, reasoning, cross-fire, rebuttal, delivery) and then analyze
what the media portrays as the most important part of the debate.
2. Students
can then present their article and discuss the media coverage of the debates.
(Examples of questions to foster discussion: Do you think the coverage is fair
and accurate? Is it slanted one way or the other? Why might that be? How might
you have done it differently?) Extended
Lesson Plan
For an extended lesson plan that asks students to watch one
of the 2004 presidential debates then have an in-class debate of their own, see
Holding
an in-class Post Presidential Debate.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/socialstudies/Vote2004/debates.html
National
Standards: - National
Council for the Social Studies Standards, X: Civic Ideals and Practices: g. practice
forms of civic discussion and participation consistent with the ideals of citizens
in a democratic republic.
- Civitas
Standards (National Standards for Civics and Government): "Political communication:
television, radio, the press, and political persuasion," page 118.
To
find out more about opportunities to contribute to this site, contact Leah Clapman
at extra@newshour.org. | 
