March Madness: Classroom Resources for the Illinois Primaries and Super Tuesday

by Mary Ellen Daneels, Civics Instructional Specialist

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
Do you have your brackets ready for March Madness? No, we are not referencing the college basketball playoffs, rather the flurry of political contests next month that provide a unique learning opportunity for #CivicsInTheMiddle classrooms, as nearly two-thirds of the delegates to the national conventions will be selected by month’s end.

The nation will be closely watching the results of Super Tuesday on March 3rd as the race for White House heats up. Closer to home, the March 17th Illinois primaries will provide an opportunity for #CivicsInTheMiddle classrooms to explore candidates for congress, the Illinois General Assembly, the state judiciary as well as important local races.

This past week, Dr. Shawn Healy, Director of the Democracy Program at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, hosted our second #Election2020 after school webinar that reviewed the presidential contest results to date and previewed what to look for on Super Tuesday. Dr. Healy also provided an overview of the races to watch in Illinois. If you missed the 45-minute webinar, you can access a recording.

Each webinar concludes with classroom resources you can use to engage students during this election year. Here are some of the resources shared in the last webinar:
  • The 2/17 #SSCHAT shared resources around Teaching the 2020 Primaries.
  • The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) created a 2020 Election Center to track youth voter registration rates, their views on the candidates, and their involvement in the political process.
  • The Teaching for Democracy Alliance has resources to equip teachers and administrators to engage students in elections and voting is a productive and safe way.
  • Mikva Challenge curated five lessons to help students take Elections to Action.
  • iCivics has a number of online games and lesson plans to help students navigate the Road to the White House.
  • Looking for some online quizzes to match your students with candidates? Try iSideWith or ProCon.org
  • Ballotpedia has resources for students to see who is on the ballot in their region
  • FiveThirtyEight is tracking polls in contested congressional races
  • The League of Women Voters of Illinois has an overview of the election calendar for Illinois and links to non partisan voter guides.
  • Project Vote Smart’s Vote Easy platform compares candidates in both presidential and congressional races by their positions on key issues.
What resources are you using to engage your student in #Election2020? Please comment below. Together, we can prepare ALL students for college, career and civic life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let's Talk About the "Required" Constitution Test

Image
by Mary Ellen Daneels, Lead Teacher Mentor As I have traveled around the state of Illinois to support implementation of the high school civics requirement and pending middle school civics legislation , one of the biggest concerns I have heard is, “How will we have time to prepare students for the required Constitution test? I will never have time to cover all 200 questions on the test if I have to make time for student-centered inquiry, discussions, simulations, and service learning!” The Illinois State Board of Education states: American patriotism and the principles of representative government, as enunciated in the American Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and the proper use and display of the American flag, shall be taught in all public schools and other educational institutions supported or maintained in whole or in part by public funds. No student shall receive a certificate
Read more

Resources to Respond to Tragedy and Violence

Image
by Mary Ellen Daneels, Civics Instructional Specialist All educators are civics teachers. Teachers send messages to students about power, justice, and representation by the content we select, the way we engage student voice, the norms we employ, and the stories included in our classroom. We have a responsibility to prioritize our students’ lived experiences, putting Maslow before Bloom , to inform the essential questions we address in our curriculum. When violence or tragedy occurs, classrooms provide a safe venue for students to process, ask questions and be given context to understand current events as they happen. While current events unfold, it is not the time to debate policy. Educators will not have all of the answers to the questions students pose. Teachers can create a classroom space where we can be present, listen, and create a safe environment for our students to do the same. Start with Reflection Your students may be wrestling with a range of emotions. We cannot assum
Read more

Strengthening School Climate through Inclusion

by Sue Khalaieff, Democracy Schools Network Manager Loyola University Chicago’s School of Education has been partnering with several Democracy Schools across the Chicago metropolitan area for the past two years to develop and implement strategies to strengthen school climate through inclusion. This cohort of schools worked closely with Loyola University to identify an intervention that each school wanted to explore and develop and implement an action plan and support each other to move forward. In our final session of the Civics Across the Curriculum series on April 22nd, 2021, participating schools shared their perspectives and learnings from the experience. View a recording of the session. To begin the session, Jon Schmidt , Clinical Assistant Faculty, Loyola University, provided some contextual framing for the cohort’s work by sharing components of multicultural education from James Banks : Inclusive curriculum Equity pedagogy Empowering school culture Knowledge constru
Read more