Political Commercials: Leading or Misleading Voters

Political ads are designed to play on viewers' emotions. The focus of this resource is on ads that feature children, either to establish the candidate as family friendly, or to create fear for children in the minds of viewers. Groups...

Young historians discover how thousands of Iranian citizens risked their lives in 2009 to protest what they believed to be fraudulent election results. The resource includes a fantastic warmup, PowerPoint presentation, video, reading...

High schoolers read a case study of one campaign to discover how political campaigns addresses the needs of the voters. In groups, they answer questions related to the case and discuss how the commercials affect society as a whole. They...

Even before they are driving, your scholars have heard the ups and downs of gas prices. Assess the political turmoil behind rising prices using this analysis handout, which features a political cartoon from 2006. Background information...

Truth is often left on the cutting room floor when political ads are produced. After viewing the 2012 backfire ad, "Fundamentals" that takes John McCain's comments on the US economy out of context, class groups edit the audio and video...

It's all about the spin! In an introduction to propaganda techniques and soundbite politics, scholars first learn about common propaganda techniques before seeing them in action in the context of the 2016 election cycle. Activities...

Students explore the "death tax" and analyze statistical information about how the government taxes dead people. They research sources to determine the validity of a anti-tax group campaign and John McCain's claims about taxes. ...

As part of a unit designed to help learners develop the skills they need to become informed citizens, class members analyze campaign ads to identify the techniques used to influence voters.

The emergent adults in your US Government class can become informed, self-aware voters. This activity enables them to form an opinion about particular political issues then identify themselves on the political spectrum. Informed and...

Students read about the history of negative political advertisements in U.S. elections. In this politics lesson, students view several ads for opposing candidates and analyze and discuss the content. Students write scripts for candidates...