Beskrivelse af delforløb 2: Presidential elections 2012 (CNL -VV)

Nedenstående kan man se et konstrutivistis delforløb af Presidential Elections 2012. Forløbet er er afprøvet i min 3.års klasse.

Læringsmål: At eleverne gennem arbejdet med indivduelle mindmaps over emnet "Minority Votes in American Politics" opnår en forståelse for sammenhængene mellem demografi og politik, herunder "the browning of America" og hvilken indflydelse immigration og den demografiske udvikling har på den poltiske dagsorden i USA i disse og kommende år.

Elevforudsætninger: Jeg har afprøvet Mindmeiste, Openmind og Freemind. Det viste sig, at eleverne ikke var videre trænede i at bruge elektroniske mindmaps, og der gik en del tid med at drøne rundt og hjælpe dem igang. Hvilket jeg var meget overrasket over. Det betød, at vi ikke nåede så langt i selve timen, som jeg havde planlagt. Derudover, er mange elever ikke meget for at skulle oprette en konto, hvor de skal indtaste kortoplysninger etc, som de så skal huske at afmelde igen. Derfor valgte mange at bruge freemind,som de kan downloade fra Sharenet. Det fungerede jo kun fordi dette ikke var et socialkonstrutisvistisk forløb. Da eleverne er meget differentierede mht. læsefærdighed og motivation til at læse meget teksttungt materiale, og jeg havde fundet noget virkeligt godt audiovisuelt materialet,  har jeg valgt at bruge dette i stedet for artikler. Dernæst hjælper jeg eleverne på vej mht. til at forstå hovedpointerne ved at give dem nogle comprehension spørgsmål, der skal fokusere deres lytning.

Lærerforudsætninger: Jeg har ikke anvendt Mindmeister eller Freemind før i UV, og var ditto eleverne lidt loren ved at skulle oprette en konto med kortoplysninger på Mindmeister.

Organisering: 2x 45 min. Individuelt arbejde efterfulgt af en individuel aflevering.

Evaluering: Der var en høj grad af elevaktivitet. Dette skyldes dog nok mest at mindmappet skulle afleveres! Det var stressende for både elever og lærer, at tiden var presset mht. til at få gennemført forløbet, da vi også skulle nå det socialkonstrutivistiske forløb i samme uge grundet sygdom. De 2X45 min., fungerer kun hvis eleverne mindmapværktøjet er kendt for dem. Derfor var der også nogle af eleverne som benyttede sig af Openmind, da det var et kendt program for dem. Tilsidst var det en udfordring at eksportere deres mindmaps til formater, som kunne afleveres og åbnes i elevplan. Summarsumarum: Her skal man som lærer bruge tid på at blive bekendt med det derhjemme, og kende produren for formatering etc. Dernæst afsætte tid i UV, til at eleverne bliver bekndt med værktøjet.

Presidential Elections: The Growing Importance of Minorities

Warm Up Questions

1. What is a swing state?

2. What is a voter demographic?

Candidates Vie for Votes Among Asian-Americans

As the current presidential hopefuls work the campaign trail, many citizens are seeing political advertisements flood their email, play repetitively on television, and fill their mailboxes urging them to get ready for the November 6th election. Candidates have begun targeting swing states such as Virginia and Nevada, and those states' burgeoning Asian populations; a demographic that few politicians have reached out to before.

Asian-Americans have surpassed Latinos as the largest new immigrant group in Nevada, and politicians from both political parties have begun to lobby for their support. However, the effort to capitalize on the Asian-American vote is proving difficult. While ballots are now offered in a variety of languages, politicians are finding it difficult to reach out to the diverse community because of language barriers.

Additionally, the lack of organization in the Asian-American community has led to the lowest voter turn-out for any minority group.

Watch this news segment:  Overlooked Asian-American Vote Is Pivotal in Nevada to learn more.

Comprehension Questions

1.       Why, according to Amie Belmonte, is voter registration and voter turn-out low among the Asian- Americans in Nevada?

2.       What is according to this news segment the goal of most Asian immigrants? How does this goal affect their political stand point?

3.       What other minority groups also play an important role for the election in Nevada?

Latinos Are Gaining Political Power in the US

The United States is undergoing important demographic changes, also called the browning of America. Listen to the segment from P1 Orientering on the role of Latinos in this and coming elections.

The segment starts at 00.01:58 and it ends at 00.10.30: Latinoerne får mere politisk magt i USA

Comprehension questions

1.       Why is the Latino population growing faster than other ethnic groups in the US?

2.       What do recent opinion polls show regarding which candidate the Latino voters prefer  in the swing-states?

3.       What values are important for the Latino voters?

4.       What political issues are important for Latino voters?

5.       What factors affect the Latino voter turn-out?

6.       In which other states besides Texas, may the Latino vote play an important role?

Campaigns Speak to Growing Hispanic Population Through Spanish-Language Media

With a tight presidential race, growing Hispanic populations in key swing states -- Colorado, Nevada, Florida and Virginia -- could provide the margin of victory. Ray Suarez reports on the campaigns' efforts, including spanish-language ads, appearances on Univision, and more, to capture Hispanic votes that are up for grabs.

Watch this segment:  Campaigns Speak to Growing Hispanic Population Through Spanish-Language Media to learn more.

Comprehension questions

1.       How do the presidential campaigns reach and target the Hispanic communities?

2.       What are the challenges for the campaigners when targeting the Hispanic communities?

3.       Which issues is Romney high-lighting to attract the Hispanic voters?

4.       Which issues is Obama high-lighting to attract the Hispanic voters?

Mindmapping exercise

Use  Mindmeister, Openmind or Freemind to make a mindmap on the growing importance of ethnic minorities in American politics, based on the above three news segments. Hand it in on elevplan