Candidate Position Research Lesson Plan

The lesson plan below is intended to work with elections covered by ProCon, but may be adapted to work with other elections.

Objective(s):

Students will research the position of a presidential candidate on a selected or assigned topic.

Students will:

• enhance primary research skills
• develop quotation and citation skills

Resources/Materials:

• ProCon.org election coverage
• instructions for preferred citation style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)

Preparation:

• Teachers may want to select appropriate research topics for students before class.
• This activity may be completed individually or in small groups.
• This activity may be completed as homework.
• Teachers should determine whether individuals/groups will:
  • Research one candidate’s position on one topic
  • Research multiple candidates’ positions on one topic
  • Research one candidate’s positions on multiple topics
  • Research multiple candidates’ positions on multiple topics

Activity:

1. Review an election with students (specifically a single topic such as the death penalty) to familiarize students with primary research on a candidate.
2. Review what a primary source is, specifically noting that students should look for a direct quote from the candidate or the candidate’s campaign.
3. Have students select a topic not covered by ProCon.org, or assign a topic.
   [Alternately, topics covered by ProCon.org may be assigned with the objective being to find a different quote by the candidate than the one published on ProCon.org.]
4. Have students format the issue as a pro/con question. For example, the death penalty would transform into “Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?”
5. Students should research the positions of one or more candidates on the selected/assigned question(s). Students should look for quotes that directly address the question rather than talk around the question.
6. The research should result in a quote answering the question that is properly formatted (quotation marks, use of ellipses and brackets, etc) and cited by the student.
7. Students should turn in the resulting quote(s) with citation(s) in written format.
   a. If students are working on several candidates on one topic, they might be asked to format the assignment like a ProCon.org question.
   b. If students are working on multiple positions for one candidate, they might be asked to format the assignment like a ProCon.org candidate position page.
   

Evaluation:

• Primary source use
• Proper quote format (quotation marks, use of ellipses and brackets, etc.)
• Proper citation format