Many readers may recall that this author wrote an open letter to President Obama in 2010 where he took issue with the emphasis on math and science education resulting in the marginalization of social studies and citizenship. In this column, he has selected and written about websites that focus on the election process. The author hopes this will…

In the previous issue of "Social Education," this column looked at the upcoming elections from a more general point of view and recommended websites that examined presidential election history, voting laws, and the origins of the Electoral College and how it works. In this column, the author focuses specifically on this year's presidential battle…

Mid-term elections, particularly in a president's first term, can be as significant as presidential elections. They can determine whether or not a president and his party can fulfill promises and achieve goals that they set for the nation when elected. In this article, the author recommends websites that can help guide students in understanding…

In this article, the author reviews the "Presidential Timeline" and 12 existing presidential library websites that will help teachers and students to focus on the presidency. The author found that some were much more "teacher-student friendly" than others. All of them had sections for educators, students, or researchers, but many include lesson…

This article presents an open letter to President Barack Obama written by the author to express his concerns about the increasing emphasis on mathematics and science education along with the continued emphasis on reading/language arts while a fourth major curriculum area--social studies--is being marginalized by lack of funding and reduced…

The visual imagery of political cartoons offers teachers the opportunity to explore the presidential election with students from a unique and stimulating angle. In this article, the authors outline the value of using political cartoons in the classroom. Several websites that are useful for educators are also presented. (Contains 2 notes.)

The words "values" and "American Values" have been nearly ubiquitous in presidential election coverage on television and radio, in the print media, and on the Internet. But teachers know that it is a touchy topic to cover in the classroom. Trying to find the right approach to teach about values is difficult at any time; and, in a presidential…