Paper Preparation Solo Candidate Evaluation We are paper boxing. Head the paper. Title your paper. Here are some box titles to keep you busy: 1: What Do I Think? 2: Research the Candidates 3: Leadership and Qualifications 4: What Others Think 5: Grade the Candidates Design name: Slice Color Variant: Green Yellow

Candidate Evaluation (SS.7.C.2.9) - by the end of this lesson, you should be able to: analyze and evaluate the qualifications of candidates for public office based on their experience, platforms, debates, and political advertisements

Candidate Evaluation in 5 easy steps Responsible voters usually go through five steps before they are ready to vote. Once you understand the steps, you are ready to go out there and have your opinion heard on election day!

Box 1: What Do I Think? It’s hard to evaluate where a candidate stands on an issue, or topic, if you don’t know where you stand. Comparing your opinions of the candidates is a great way too get started.

Box 1: What Do I Think? Write three issues you care about. If you can’t think of any issues, use these options: Education The Environment The Economy Crime Healthcare Taxes Children’s Issues Animal Rights - any other issue you can think of -

Box 1: What Do I Think? Write three qualities you look for in a candidate. If you can’t think of any character traits, use these options: Good Communicator Brave Intelligent Creative Experienced Leader Cooperative Honest Trustworthy - any other traits you can think of -

Box 2: Research the Candidates Create a ‘library’ of information on each candidate. This information can be found in many different places. There are three main sources of information on the candidates you should consider.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Candidates – Each candidate has a team that works on her or his campaign. Their job is to inform the public about the candidate and work to get the candidate elected.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Candidates On the positive side: you can get information directly from the candidate.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Candidates On the negative side: the material is only going to focus on what is good about the candidate and bad about the opposition.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Candidates Examples: (write the one you’d be most likely to use) Campaign websites Campaign mailings Town Hall meetings Campaign ads on the TV/radio

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Media – Most of the information people get about an upcoming election is on some form of media (TV, internet, radio, newspapers, magazines).

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Media On the positive side: there are lots of sources available for you to choose from.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Media On the negative side: watch out for bias in reporting and you have to know the difference between facts and opinions.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Media Examples: (write the one you’d be most likely to use) News Reports Recorded candidate interviews Candidate speeches Candidate debates

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Public Record – If a candidate has been in public office before, there are records of how they voted. This information is gathered on nonpartisan websites for voters to check out. Nonpartisan means that the website doesn’t take sides; they don’t support any political party over another.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Public Record On the positive side: these sources tend to be the least biased and really useful for making comparisons.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Public Record On the negative side: some candidates may not have a voting record. Comparison websites may not cover every election.

Box 2: Research the Candidates The Public Record Examples: (write the one you’d be most likely to use) Nonpartisan voter websites Candidates’ voting records Civic organizations

Box 3: Leadership and Qualifications How can you tell someone will be a good leader or if they are qualified for the job? There are two subjects to question: a candidate’s background and a candidate’s campaign.

Box 3: Leadership and Qualifications Background Questions: What kind of jobs have they held? Do they have a good reputation in your area? What kind of education do they have? Do they have any skeletons in their closets, or secrets they want to keep hidden?

Box 3: Leadership and Qualifications Campaign Questions: Do they speak to a variety of groups? Are they willing to participate in a debate? Do they answer hard questions, or dodge them? How do they act in press conferences?

Box 4: What Others Think Hearing the opinions of others can help you clarify your own views on the candidates. Asking people you know about what they think and why they think it is helpful, but here are three other ways to learn about others’ opinions that you may not have thought of.

Box 4: What Others Think Opinion polls show who is leading in the race at any one time and can influence voters. Where do these numbers come from? Look out for how and where the polls were taken. Good polls cover a large number of people and are done by neutral organizations.

Box 4: What Others Think Endorsements are a way for interest groups and organizations to give an official ‘thumbs up’ to a candidate. These can clue you in to the issues and groups that the candidate supports. Look at what these groups stand for and why they endorse the candidate.

Box 4: What Others Think Campaign donations: Follow the money! How do the candidates pay for all those advertisements, mailings and travel? Most of the time contributors donate money to the campaign through fundraisers. The sources of money can influence how a candidate acts in office.

Box 5: Grade the Candidates After you have done all the research it is time to pull the information together. Here are some big questions you can use to help you make sense of it all. Write down one of the questions on the next screen that would help you make your decision.

Box 5: Grade the Candidates Which candidate showed the most knowledge on the issues? Which candidate’s view on the issues do you agree with the most? Who ran the fairest campaign? Who will best represent me and serve my community? Which candidate has the leadership qualities you seek in a candidate?

Box 6: Candidate Comparison Next we will hear radio announcements from two different candidates, listen to their personal schedules, review their voting records, and examine their endorsements and contributors.

Box 6: Candidate Comparison

Box 6: Candidate Comparison

Box 6: Candidate Comparison

Box 6: Candidate Comparison

Box 6: Candidate Comparison

Box 6: Candidate Comparison

Box 6: Candidate Comparison

Box 6: Candidate Comparison

Box 6: Candidate Comparison Based on what you’ve heard, write who you would vote for. Write why you chose that candidate. Based on our discussions on political parties, write what party you think that candidate might belong to.

Box 7 - 8: Qualifications, Promises, Who Cares? Finally, I will read you two speeches. For each speech, you will need to write down one thing that fits into each of these categories: qualifications, promises, who cares?

Box 7 - 8: Qualifications, Promises, Who Cares? qualifications: what is something that makes the speaker qualified to be President? promises: what is one promise the candidate made during the speech? who cares?: what is something in the speech that the speaker shouldn’t have even bothered to bring up? Welcome, everyone! I am here today to talk to you about why I think I would make the best president ever. I studied government in college, and really understand all of the jobs that the president is required to do. I have served in the Senate for the last six years and all of my fellow senators love me. They even threw me a surprise birthday party last year! If elected, I promise to do the following: outlaw all yucky foods that kids hate, require teachers to assign video games for homework, and decrease taxes. I also plan on claiming the moon for the United States so no other country can go there. Before I was elected to be a senator, I worked as a teacher and learned to be creative, patient, and to be a good listener. I love cheese and pickles, and I have two cats. Please vote for me on election day!

Box 7 - 8: Qualifications, Promises, Who Cares? qualifications: what is something that makes the speaker qualified to be President? promises: what is one promise the candidate made during the speech? who cares?: what is something in the speech that the speaker shouldn’t have even bothered to bring up? My fellow Americans, I speak to you today about why you should elect me as your next president. To start things off, I want you to know that I love puppies! They are the best kind of pets and everyone should have one. I promise to give every child in the United States a puppy of their very own! As the president, I would use my experience as a city mayor to lead the country. Being a mayor required me to be a good speaker, honest and good at listening to the needs of the public. I know how to run a city– so how much harder could it be to run a country? I graduated top of my class and went to one of the best colleges in the country. I have three kids and they love me a whole lot. My favorite vegetable is broccoli and I do not like carrots at all! I really hope that you vote for me so I can be the next President!

W A R Candidate Evaluation Writing Prompt Paper Preparation Procedure Get out a new sheet of paper. Head your paper. Title your paper Write three letters big below the title Candidate Evaluation W A R Write a well-crafted informative response. (10 minute timer) Well-crafted means that your sentences fit together instead of jumping around. Argumentative means you write about your opinion and support it with facts. Response means you answer the prompt; don’t just write what you feel like writing.

You have ten minutes. Sit quietly when you are finished. Write a well-crafted informative response. Well-crafted: sentences, not fragments; paragraph, not a list Argumentative: give your opinion; prove it with facts Response: don’t just write what you feel like writing Prompt: Pretend you are a candidate to become class representative. Introduce yourself and what you are campaigning for. Tell one qualification for the job that you have. Make one promise about what you will change in the classroom.

Time’s Up! Pass your Writing Prompt paper all the way right and all the way forward. Image from yowayowacamerawoman blog at http://yowayowacamera.com/1img/banana_img/img_236f9fddce9f68e6bfb28e1a87f8049e3d7a9450.jpg