Current events activities  New, for September 2008:
Election 2008
(Previous activities will open in a new window:) September 2005:
Mexico helps U.S. October 2004:
Election 2004--Electoral College June 2004:
A Reagan Timeline February 2003:
The Columbia Spaceshuttle Tragedy September 11, 2001:
Tragedy of September 11th March 01:
Where your taxes go October 00:
Going to vote in the U.S. August 00:
Taking part in the Olympic torch relay March 00:
US Primary Elections February 00:
Census 2000 March 99:
Joe DiMaggio, Baseball legend August 98:
Hate group loses court case July 98:
Controversy cards June 98:
Strike in Philadelphia May 98
Countries in the news Feb 98:
Olympics Jan 98:
Financial crisis in Korea Dec 97:
Climate talks in Japan Nov 97:
Winter in Nebraska Oct 97:
Forest fires in Indonesia If you have any questions,
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Go to top of page. | Citizenship activity: Election 2008:
Counting Electoral College votes.  Here is an activity to help your students understand how the U.S. presidential election process works. Included here is a reading which summarizes the process, a chart to track electoral college votes, and a map showing electoral votes for each state.
If your students are interested in following the election on election night, they can use the chart below to keep score. Our chart arranges the states alphabetically. An alternative is to have the students create their own chart according to time zones. Give the students a copy of the map (below) and ask them to mark the times zones on it, using the phone book as reference. Then they can draw up a chart for each time zone, writing the names of the states in one column, the number of votes each state has, and two blank columns for the candidates. As the results are reported in by the news media, the students can log the votes on their chart. To practice the two-letter state abbreviations and state names, see our crossword puzzles in the September/October 2004 issue of Hands-on English (Vol. 14, No. 3). This exercise combines a geography lesson with a matching exercise. Find more election activities in our most recent issue, Vol. 18, No. 2--this includes a multi-level crossword puzzle, a multi-level dictation, and a reading activity, all about the U.S. elections! We hope your students enjoy this activity! Happy teaching!
Best wishes,
Anna p.s. Our readers are telling us that their students are very interested in learning about this election! If you have a lesson to share or some teaching suggestions, please contact me and I'll pass these along. Thank you! 
Reading: Electing a president, 2008. True or false: “On Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, there will be an election for president in the U.S.” You may be surprised to hear that this is false! In fact, there are really 51 elections on that day. There is an election in every state and in the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.). When the polls open in the morning, people can go to vote. When the polls close in the evening, the votes are counted. Each state counts their votes and decides who got the most votes for president in that state. After they choose a winner, that state gives all its Electoral College votes to the winning candidate. The first candidate to collect 270 Electoral votes wins.
For example, in Ohio if more people vote for McCain, McCain will get all of Ohio’s 20 Electoral College votes. But if more people vote for Obama, then Obama will win all of these 20 Electoral votes. Ohio is a ‘swing’ state. That means no one is sure who will win there--McCain or Obama? There are many swing states this year. No one is sure who will win the election.
On election night, you can find out who is winning the presidential election by counting the Electoral College votes from each state. Vocabulary: Electoral College, polls open, polls close, candidate, swing state, choose a winner, count the votes, election night. Discussion: How many Electoral College votes does your state have? Is your state a ‘swing’ state? Who do you think will win the most votes in your state, the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate?
(See the chart & map, below.) |
