Come visit our new RESOURCE PAGE for ELECTIONS 2016
We are a month-long into the new school year and things are going great! For our first unit study of the new year, we are diving deeply into learning about Elections. We briefly started this unit earlier this year, but got sidetracked by some other projects! I hadn’t done a great job of gathering resources anyway, so it has worked out for the best to wait. You can read a blog post where I show how we set up our notebook though. We will still be using it!
I thought I would share some of the resources I have found to enrich this study. Some of these resources are free (which I love) and some are not (but totally worth it). I hope you find the list useful! This is a great month to begin learning more about the Elections process!
Elections Resources
American Government from Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett
Constitution Celebration from Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett
Election 2012: Teaching Ideas and Resources from the New York Times
Lapbooking and Notebooking
NotebookingPages.com (notebooking pages for Presidents and other “patriotic-themed” notebooking pages)
Online Resources
Book Basket
Woodrow, the White House Mouse by Peter W. Barnes
House Mouse, Senate Mouse by Peter Barnes
Marshall, the Court House Mouse by Peter Barnes
Presidential Elections and Other Cool Facts by Syl Sobel
Vote (DK Publishing)
The Ideals Guide to Presidential Homes and Libraries by Peggy Schaefer
The Importance of the Electoral College by George Grant
So You Want to be President by Judith St. George
If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution by Elizabeth Levy
George Washington: Man of Prayer and Courage by Norma Cournow Camp
If You Grew Up with George Washington by Ruth Belov Gross
Abigail Adams: First Lady of Faith and Courage by Evelyn Witter
If You Grew Up with Abraham Lincoln by Ann McGovern
Free for Kindle
The Child’s Book of American Biography by Mary Stoyell Stimpson
Heroes Every Child Should Know by Hamilton Wright Mabie
The Story of Our Country Every Child Can Read by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
With Lee in Virginia by G.A. Henty
Apps
Presidents vs. Aliens — iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch
American Civil War Gazette — Kindle Fire
Manual for the USA, 1st Edition — iPhone/iPod Touch
Manual for the USA, 2nd Edition — iPad
U.S. Citizenship Test — Kindle Fire
American History Books — Kindle Fire
Stack the States — iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch
Field Trips
Tour your state capitol. This is a great opportunity to learn more about how government works and about the history of your state.
Take a civic field trip. Tours of your local campaign headquarters can usually be arranged with a simple phone call.
If you live in a state that one of our Presidents was also from, visit his birthplace, homestead, library, burial site, or other historical landmark dedicated to him.
Plan a vacation around a trip to Washington, DC!