Election 2000 Presidential Platform Web Quest

Teaching Problem Solving (TIPS)

By R. da Silva

 

 

Rationale: 

This project was designed with the intent of getting you familiar with the mechanics of a Document Based Question (DBQ) Essay.  The completion of this three-part project will provide you with the confidence to achieve the perfect score in the upcoming Regents DBQ essay.

 

 

Introduction: 

We, as a class, will research the political platform of the four major candidates for the 2000 elections.  Al Gore, G.W. Bush, Ralph Nader, and Pat Buchanan have different and sometimes similar views on various issues.  Voters need to be aware of the candidates’ political perspective and actions that they will take if elected president.

 

 

Standards: 

  1. You will use various levels of thinking skills while writing, creating, answering, and assessing the document based questions.  These skills are necessary for the upcoming Global History Regents.
  2. Standard 5.1 The study of civics, citizenship, and government involves learning about political systems; the purpose of governments and civic life; and the different assumptions held by people across time and space regarding power, authority , governance, and law. 

 

 

Task: 

Your task is to create, complete, and assess a Document Based Question examination of the 2000 political platforms.  Thus, this project consists of three parts.

 

 

Part I

A.        Select at least two political issues from this list:

Education

Abortion

National defense

Social Security

Medicare

National Health Care

 

B.        Select at least two candidates from the following list:

Al Gore- Democratic Party

G.W. Bush- Republican Party

Ralph Nader- Green Party

Pat Buchanan-

 

C.        Create four documents based on the political issues and the candidates that you have selected:

 

·        Two (2) of these documents must be written documents.  They could be excerpts from candidates’speeches (primary source): or an accurate summary written by you of a candidate’s platform (secondary source).

 

·        The other two (2) documents must be based on a visual analysis of the candidates’ platform.  Examples of visuals are cartoons, graphs, or charts.

 

D.        Create a short answer question for each document that you have created.  Your questions must be based on the document not on outside information.

 

E.         Answer the short answer questions that you have created on a separate piece of lined paper.

 

F.         Lastly, write an essay question based on the documents that you have created.  This question should reflect critical thinking skills such as analysis, or evaluation. E.g. Positives and negatives, advantages and disadvantages, comparing and contrasting.  Attention, keep in mind that the documents you will create must be used as evidence in order to answer the essay question.

 

After you have completed part one, submit your work for possible corrections.  (Due 11/08/00- our first day back after the election).  If there are any corrections to be made, I will offer you suggestions.  After I return your project back to you, you will have three days to make the necessary corrections.

 

 

Part II

After step one is complete and corrected, I will assign your DBQ essay to another student.  I will keep your answer sheet. You will have three days to complete your classmates’ DBQ project- the scaffolding and the essay question.  The written work must be completed on a separate piece of lined paper not on the DBQ itself. 

 

 

Part III

After you have answered both parts of the DBQ, return your work and the original DBQ to me.  In turn, I will return it to the original creator.  The original creator will now assess the answered questions and essay.  As the original creator, you will need to use a scaffolding rubric.  This rubric is based on the your answers to your own questions.  You will also need the rubric that I gave you for the scoring procedure of an essay (from 0 to 5 points).

 

Scaffolding rubric- Correct answers are worth 2 points; partially correct answers are worth 1 point; and unanswered or wrong answers are worth 0 points.

 

Examples of Election 2000 Candidates’ issues.

 

 

Internet Resources:  The following are web sites that will help you in your quest:

Http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips/conlaw.html

http://www.algoreforpresident.com

http://www.gwbushforpresident.com

http://www.ralphnaderforpresident.com

http://www.patbuchanan.com

You can also use a search engine.  Use https://www.google.com and type the candidate and the issue that you are focusing on your project.

 

 

Process: 

This is an individual project.

  1. Each student is responsible for the three parts of the project.
  2. You will use the computer lab in order to access the candidates’information on the web. 
  3. If you quote a speech by a candidate, make sure you use quotation marks and write the name of the speaker at the end of the quote.
  4. I encourage you to bookmark and share any web sites that you consider helpful for this project with your classmates and me.

 

 

Evaluation: 

This three part project is worth 200 points.

 

1.      Creation-80 points

2.      Answering 80 points

3.      Assessing 40 points

 

However, most importantly, after you have completed this task you will know the mechanics of a DBQ extremely well.  This is a required skill in order to ace the Regents.

Good luck and have Fun!

(Any questions?  See me period 5, 7, or 8 in 610 or Tuesdays and Thursdays after 9th period in 764.)