Classroom

Resources for Educators

The Crystal Ball Classroom is currently being updated for the 2008 presidential election, and new lesson plans, features and more will be available prior to the begiing of the school year in the fall. Stay tuned!

The University of Virginia Center for Politics launched the national Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) as its signature program in 1998 to encourage greater interest and participation in American democr acy. YLI is a national citizenship education and engagement program designed to involve students in the American electoral and policymaking processes.

In order to help teachers bring the Crystal Ball to students, YLI has created several lessons plans that use the Crystal Ball in the classroom. Lessons include:

• Presidential Election 2004: Evaluating the Candidates
  This series of motivational activities can be used as a set or individually to assist students in identifying the formal and informal qualifications of presidential candidates. Students will examine the U.S. Constitution as it relates to the election of the President.
• The Congressional Balance of Power - What's at stake in the 2004 election?
  Students will examine the majority party control of the 108th Congress and evaluate the polit ical implications to public policy. Students will also use the Crystal Ball website to take a critical look at key House and Senate races around the country and make predictions about the outcome of Congressional elections and the potential for a shift in political party power in each house.
• Meet the Candidates Using DemocracyNet and Sabato's Crystal Ball
  In this lesson, students study and evaluate key presidential, congressional and gubernatorial candidates in th e 2004 election. In addition, students are asked to turn their attention to important issues in this campaign at the national, state and local levels. The lesson also provides a political efficacy component in which students write an informed letter abou t a campaign issue to an elected official or candidate of their choosing. This kind of personal contact with a government leader can be a powerful catalyst to future involvement in the political process. The lesson will also prepare students for partici pation in the YLI Mock Election.
• The Electoral College and Presidential Campaigns: Working the System
  This lesson may be used on its own or as a continuation of the YLI lesson The Controversial Hist ory of the Electoral College. Students are required to apply their knowledge of elections and the Electoral College system to use recent information on voter trends to examine the outcomes of the 2000 elections and predict the 2004 election using Sabato' s Crystal Ball website.
• The Vice-Presidency: Choosing a Running Mate
  The purpose of this lesson is to examine the role of the Vice President and how that role has changed in the modern era. Students will determine the importance of selecting a running mate in a Presidential election.
• Capturing the White House in 2004: The Battle for the Swing States
  Students will examine the relative importance of winning swing states in a presidential election, and the po tential implications with regard to the electoral college. In addition, using the Crystal Ball website, students will take a critical look at the strategies of both the Bush and Kerry campaigns to win these few critical battleground states. This lesson m ay be used in conjunction with the Crystal Ball lesson: The Electoral College and Presidential Campaigns: Working the System.

You know, for kids

The Crystal Ball was created just as much for students as for political junkies and reporters. As part of the Center's mission, the Crystal Ball seeks to foster youth civic engagement by empowering students to find their own answers and make their own decisions with the many tools on the CB, including:

• Sabato's Electoral Road Map
  Securing a majority in the Electoral College wins you the keys to the White House. How might the states stack up on Election Day and why?
• The Dirty 30
  What are the 30 most competitive races for the House this fall and who's running?
• Presidential Election History
  History usually repeats itself and politicians may not always learn from the mistakes of the past, but the Crystal Ball won't let anyone forget it.
• The Brutal Bottom Line
  While the nitty gritty details excite, what does it all mean in the context of American politics?