The First Presidential Debate

Greetings,

We just received 50 new books donated by idebate.org called The Idea Guide to the 2012 U.S. Presidential Debates. AHS/SILSA Media Center contacted IDEA, an organization in NYC that published a debate guide for high school students. “The essays in this book analyze the role that the presidential debates play in the election and identify issues that President Obama and Gov. Romney could discuss, providing introductory context and explaining both candidates’ positions.” (Idea, 2012).

Right now about half are being used in an AP history class and 22 were used in a science class to read and discuss carbon footprint.Duffer frames her questions about carbon footprint and the EPA in the presidential debates using Common Core Standards. As her students practice SSR with an article in the debate guide; they prepare to discuss author’s bias.

The NY Times Learning Network is a great resource for teachers. Check out this article on “teaching with the Presidential debates.” http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/teaching-with-the-presidential-debates/

Watching the first debate between JFK and Nixon puts the debates into context and points our attention towards analyzing the effects of media today. 

The dates for the debates are below: 

October 3:  First Presidential Debate,   University of Denver, Denver CO
October 11: Vice Presidential Debate,  Centre College, Danville, KY
October 16:  Second Presidential Debate,  Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
October 22: Third Presidential Debate,  Lynn University, Boca Raton, FLA

Don't miss out on the opportunity to tackle the debates in your own way!