Government · Week 15 · Participation, Media, and Comparative Government
Parties, Polls, and Persuasion
Examining how campaigns from every party use polls and advertising to stir emotion and practicing how to notice when a message is pulling on one's feelings.
- Students will
- Students analyze the role of polls and ads in campaigns, including how a poll can mislead, and evaluate the credibility of a persuasive message.
- SEL skill
- Name the emotion a message stirs and ask a question before reacting
- What it looks like
- Students practice recognizing the emotions a message tries to stir and naming them.
- Content focus
- Parties, polls, and persuasion
- Format
- Partner exchange
Self-awareness
Self-awareness means recognizing your own emotions, thoughts, values, and strengths and noticing how they shape what you do. More self-awareness activities
What you get
A teacher guide with what to say, step by step, plus student pages and a supports page for students with diverse learning needs, including those with IEPs. Print or Project it, or assign it in Google Forms and Google Docs for Google Classroom. Your first 10 activities are free.
Standards
- 12.6.3: CA History Social Science Content Standard, Grade 12: Principles of American Democracy (standard 12.6, item 3)
- CA HSS Analysis Skill: HREP2 Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. (Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View)
- C3 Framework (national): D3.2.9-12 Evaluate the credibility of a source by examining how experts value it.
- Literacy in history: RH.11-12.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors on the same or related topics.
Fits these textbook chapters
- Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You, Chapter 8: Parties, Interest Groups, and Public Policy
- Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You, Chapter 9: Public Opinion and the Media
- Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You, Chapter 10: Political Campaigns and Elections
- United States Government and Civics, Chapter 10: Choosing the President
- United States Government and Civics, Chapter 17: Political Parties
- United States Government and Civics, Chapter 19: Public Opinion and Interest Groups
- United States Government and Civics, Chapter 20: Mass Media in the Digital Age
- Magruder's American Government, Chapter 5: Political Parties
- Magruder's American Government, Chapter 7: The Electoral Process
- Magruder's American Government, Chapter 8: Mass Media and Public Opinion
- Magruder's American Government, Chapter 9: Interest Groups
Textbook names are used only to help you find activities that fit what you teach. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with these publishers.
More self-awareness activities for Government
- Who Is a Citizen Here? Self-awarenessStudents map the communities they already belong to and name the civic identity they bring into Principles of American Democracy.
- Power in the Executive Self-awarenessExamining how President Kennedy and his advisers weighed options during the Cuban Missile Crisis and noticing how fear and pressure shape students' own choices.
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RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.