Prejudice? Religious intolerance? Political sedition? Class distinction? Plight of women? Voltaire satire, anyone? A literary newspaper offers an opportunity for readers of Candide to make text-to-self and text-to-world connections as...

How can we decide between candidates on election day? After contemplating various issues and qualities, your learners will go through a step-by-step process of researching and evaluating sample candidates and determining their...

Here's an alternative to a traditional book report for your class to demonstrate that they understand and can articulate the main character's evolution and the social themes presented in Voltaire's satirical novel Candide. Your young...

Readers of Voltaire’s satire create a word square for vocabulary drawn from Candide. The first box contains the word, the second a picture or illustration of the word. The definition is written in the third box, and learners write a...

Explore the backgrounds, qualifications, and platforms of the presidential candidates for the 2000 election. Though the instructional activity is outdated, the activities within the informational text could be good practice for your...

 “Everything will end up okay if you believe hard enough.” “People create their own luck, good or bad.” Prior to reading Candide, class members respond to an anticipation guide that focuses on the issues of optimism, prejudice, and...

"Would a rational and well-regulated world include human suffering?" "If the plight of human suffering is the 'best of all possible worlds' do humans have freewill?" Class members develop their position on an issue raised by Candide,...

Candide is a dense text. To assist in analyzing Voltaire's satire, groups employ a cubing strategy based on Bloom's taxonomy. Complete directions for the strategy, a template for the cube, a worksheet, and a topic list are included. 

Upper graders play a game as a way to facilitate understanding of US Presidential Campaign issues and strategies. After being divided into small groups, a candidate will be chosen to run for office. Each group creates propaganda to get...

Students compare and contrast William Henry Harrison and Martin Van Buren as candidates for president. They explain why the Whigs wanted to find a candidate in the mold of former president Andrew Jackson and discuss whether Harrison fit...

Foster critical thinking skills by using the DR-TA Strategy with Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Class members read portions of the essay, stop and discuss what is happening, make predictions based on evidence from the text, and...

What is advertising? What role does it plan in an election? Middle and high schoolers discuss advertising and its purpose by sifting through different magazines and discussing the products they find. Then they relate advertisements to...

Students create an advertising campaign in which a candidate from Animal Farm will run for an upcoming election. In this follow-up activity to George Orwell's Animal Farm lesson, students explore propaganda, rhetoric, and satire as they...

Students list some changes in presidential election laws and/or procedures since 1796, and cite examples from presidential campaign materials from 1824.

Students are shown how to analyze the messages and the impact of the candidates' politicial adertisements in print, video, and audio formats. They are shown the techniques that candidates use to influence voter decisions and how to...

Students think critically about political candidates. In this election lesson, students research candidates and use information sources to explore their stands on issues.

Students discuss various issues of importance in the 1998 congressional and gubernatorial elections, create comparison charts of their states' candidates' positions on these issues, and decide which candidate they would vote for based on...

Students participate in an election for the purpose of comprehending the political process and the responsibilities that come with citizenship in a free society. They elect officials with no identity and are surprised with the revealing...

Arranged into small groups, learners read a paragraph of the news story "Texas Kid Writes Book About Presidents." As one reads, others mark the text (underlining important information and writing notes in the margin of the story). After...

After watching a documentary on the Supreme Court case Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, class members research how the First Amendment and free speech issues influence judicial elections and then conduct a mock judicial election.

Learners watch election commercials for a homework assignment. They analyze the commercials and create a commercial for a fictitious candidate using the techniques they observed.

Young scholars work in teams to research candidates from a current political race. They access primary and secondary resources and differentiate between fact and opinion. Students present their findings to the class in an oral report and...

Study word choice and connotation in advertising. Readers examine campaign ads, both negative and positive, from the 2006 mid-term election before discussing an article and analyze a campaign of any candidate they choose. Finally,...

Students list some issues important during the campaign of 1840. They compare and contrast the careers of Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison before they became president and explain why the Whigs wanted to find a candidate in...