WEBQUEST

 INTRODUCTION  TASKS & RESOURCES  PROCESS  EVALUATION  CONCLUSION  RESULTS  PRINTVERSION
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2004

PROCESS

This Webquest is divided into three parts:
1. Newspaper coverage
2. Investigative journalism
3. U.S. elections


The first part (4 lessons) will provide you with the tools necessary for a future analysis of the media coverage of the electoral campaign which you will undertake up to the day of the election.

The tools:
  • In maths, you will analyse and evaluate data concerning the readers of certain newspapers (age, income, education etc.) and express your findings with graphs. This should provide you with enough background to judge reports in those papers. Present your graphs in your class folder "English/Graphs".
    Please remember the rules governing good graphs (e.g. clear labelling of axis, …).
  • In English, we will have a look at headlines and their special grammar and lexis. This should help you read and understand them at a glance before reading the articles closely.
At certain times in the year, you will be asked to present your findings in class.

Work in groups of seven and choose one newspaper (tabloid or quality) on whose coverage you will focus. In your class folder "English/Newspaper coverage" you will find one subfolder for each newspaper and a template, which you should use for your analysis. Every week, one member of each group skims through the newspaper chosen and reports about articles covering the election.

In the second part of this Webquest (6 lessons) we will first watch and discuss the film 'All the president's men'. Then you will work with a partner and do some research on scandals connected with American presidents (for complete instructions cf. Task section).

The third part (4 lessons) deals with the various aspects of the election process itself and American presidency. You will be assigned to one of five groups dealing with the different topics (cf. Task section).

Present your findings in WIKI (http://linux.htldornbirn.vol.at), so that you can work closely together and we can discuss your work in class. You should complete your assignment within 3 lessons, in the fourth lesson you will be asked to present your findings in a PowerPoint presentation.

With all your findings, be sure to cite the source you got them from.