Introduction

Imagine yourself of age to vote in an election year. As an American Voter you must decide for whom you will cast your vote. It’s a presidential election year. Something that only happens once every four years. Your vote counts and you are casting a vote for the most powerful political position in the country, perhaps the world: President of the United States of America. How will you make such an important decision? What’s at stake in this election year? What are the issues surrounding the election. Everywhere you go, school, the mall, the Internet, you hear the buzz, the sense of urgency. But what’s it all about and how do you make sense of it all in order to make an informed decision on voting day? Read on to find out!!!

Task

So you’re not sure where to start when deciding on whom would make the best president of the United States. You’re not alone. Many of your classmates and adults in your life grapple with the same decision in an election year. To solve this problem you will be doing some research on the candidates and the issues that define this presidential election. You will be collecting information that will help you decide who you think is the best person for the job. And you will ultimately make a decision based on the information you will gather on this WebQuest. In essence, you will be going through the same process that educated voters go through to make an informed decision on which candidate best represents your beliefs and values and would effectively lead the country for the next four years.

Process

High School Students Click Here for Your Assignment

Middle School Students Click Here for Your Assignment

Evaluation

The assignments will be graded according to the following rubrics

Election 2008: Grading Rubric for Middle School Assignment

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Notes in chart	Notes are recorded and organized in an extremely neat and orderly fashion.	Notes are recorded legibly and are somewhat organized.	Notes are recorded.	Notes are recorded only with peer/teacher assistance and reminders.
Internet Use	Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites.
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the issues of the election. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the issues of the election. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the issues of the election. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the issues of the election.
Paragraph Construction	All paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence.	Most paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence.	Paragraphs included related information but were typically not constructed well.	Paragraphing structure was not clear and sentences were not typically related within the paragraphs.
Opinion	Opinion is clear and is fully founded on the research completed using the sites selected.	Opinion is clear and mostly founded on the research completed using the sites selected.	Opinion is somewhat clear and founded on most of the research completed using the sites selected.	Opinion is not clear and there is no evidence that research was done using the sites selected for the assignment
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Election 2008: Grading Rubric for High School Assignment

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Notes in chart	Notes are recorded and organized in an extremely neat and orderly fashion.	Notes are recorded legibly and are somewhat organized.	Notes are recorded.	Notes are recorded only with peer/teacher assistance and reminders.
Internet Use	Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites.
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the issues of the election. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the issues of the election. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the issues of the election. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the issues of the election.
Essay Construction	Essay includes introductory paragraph, 3 body paragraphs and conclusion. Each body paragraph has a quote from the chart.	Essay includes introductory paragraph, 3 body paragraphs and conclusion. Essay is missing quotes	Essay is missing one of the required paragraphs and has no quotes from the chart	Essay is missing more than 2 of the required paragraphs and does answer the question.
Opinion	Opinion is clear and is fully founded on the research completed using the sites selected.	Opinion is clear and mostly founded on the research completed using the sites selected.	Opinion is somewhat clear and founded on most of the research completed using the sites selected.	Opinion is not clear and there is no evidence that research was done using the sites selected for the assignment
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Curriculum Standards

U.S. History I Learning Standards

USI.19 Explain the rights and the responsibilities of citizenship and describe how a democracy provides opportunities for citizens to participate in the political process through elections, political parties, and interest groups. (H, C)

USI.20 Explain the evolution and function of political parties, including their role in federal, state, and local elections. (H, C)

USI.21 Describe how decisions are made in a democracy, including the role of legislatures, courts, executives, and the public. (H, C)

Conclusion

Students will gain a better understanding of their personal stance on issues relating to the presidential election. Students will also learn where the candidates stand on the issues and how to research a candidates' platform and make an informed voting decision.

References

1-Where McCain, Obama stand on the issues. By Calvin Woodward Retrieved October 20, 2008, from Associated Press http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gF1ulxhgHBB7Fr0LKa4pA0zVeXCQD93U8S1G1

2-McCain Biography Retrieved October 20, 2008 from Washingtonpost.com http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008-presidential-candidates/john-mccain/

3-John MacCain Website Issues Retrieved October 23, 2008 from http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/issues/

4-Summary of John McCain's stand on the issues Retrieved October23,2008 from About.com

http://phoenix.about.com/od/politiciansfromarizona/a/johnmccain_4.htm

5-On the issues Retrieved October 27, 2008 from http://www.ontheissues.org/john_mccain.htm

6-John McCain on the issues Retrieved November 01, 2008 form About.com

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/e2000/blmccain.htm

7- Obama Biography Retrieved November 01 , 2008 from Washingtonpost.com

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008-presidential-candidates/barack-obama/

8-Barack Obama's Official Webpage

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

9- Barack Obama's stand on the issues Retrieved November 01 , 2008 from the National Platform.com's

http://www.nationalplatforms.com/candidates/barack_obama.html

10-Barack Obama on the issues Retrieved November 2,2008 from

http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm

11-Barack Obama Retrieved November 2,2008 from Washingtonpost.com

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008-presidential-candidates/issues/candidates/barack-obama/

12-Summary of Bob Barr's stance on the issues at Retrieved November 3, 2008 from

https://webhost.bridgew.edu/rgiovanello/thirdparty.htm

13-Summary of Cynthia McKinney's stance on the issues Retrieved November 3 2008 from

https://webhost.bridgew.edu/rgiovanello/thirdparty.htm

14-Summary of Ralph Nader's stance on the issues Retrieved November 3 2008 from

http://www.votenader.org/issues/

15-Electrol college Retrieved November 4 ,2008 from

http://www.270towin.com/

16-Past elections Retrieved October 25 , 2008 from

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/elections/tp/topelections.htm