This post is first in a series that looks at different parts of the Library’s newly updated classroom resource on presidential elections.
How has the process for selecting candidates for president changed over time? What students may be familiar with today is not how it’s always been. In the newly updated resource, Presidential Elections and Voting in U.S. History, one section examines the nomination process in various eras. Teachers can use this resource with their students to explore different ways in which the process has changed through the years and to consider why these changes matter to understanding the nomination process today. Each section and accompanying sources can support teachers as they facilitate a meaningful discussion, guide a student’s exploration, or fuel further investigation.
- The Founding Era: What did framers of the Constitution say about who should have a say in elections?
- The Nineteenth Century: Why did political party conventions replace Congressional nominations?
- The Early and Mid-20th Century: What was the relationship between nominating conventions and primary elections?
- The Modern Era: How did a crisis at a nominating convention change how candidates were selected?
Teachers are invited to use one, some, or all of the sections with their students.
Ideas for the classroom:
- Organize a jigsaw activity in which small groups are each assigned a section of the presentation. Each small group might prepare a written or verbal report to the whole class about their findings and use the “Forming Conclusions” questions to structure their summary.
- Ask students to consider who today has the power to nominate a presidential candidate and to what extent that has changed over time. Teachers could select their own set of sources from the presentation, let students select sources, or use the following:
- Encourage students to look for patterns and consider what those patterns might reveal. Based on the sources they examined, what changes happened and why? What new questions do students have?
- Invite students to consider how differences in source format inform what they understand about a section’s question. For example, the section about the modern era asks, “How did a crisis at a nominating convention change how candidates were selected?” Direct students to examine two sources: the photograph of protestors outside the convention and the remarks on convention news coverage. How do the two sources work together to address the question? What, if any, contradictions do students see? What new questions arise? What value and limitations do students see for each source format?
These are just a few ideas to encourage different ways of engaging students with the presidential nomination process and how it has changed over time. We’d love to hear more recommendations for using this resource. Please share your ideas in the comments!
Was this post helpful? More ideas are on the way related to the Elections resource. Stay tuned!
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