2008 Election
http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernmentandlaw/politicalparties/
This is a five minute video made for kids to explain the difference between the political parties. It will build good background knowledge as they learn to defend a candidate.
http://pbskids.org/democracy/mygovt/index.html
This is a neat visual for kids to learn why the government is important and how the government affects the lives of young people. Again, this is good background knowledge and it would be appropriate for the kids to explore for about 5-7 minutes.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/election2008.htm
A wealth of kid friendly information is found by exploring different parts of this website.
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/election08/candidates.html
The entire election section of this website is useful, but this specific web address will lead students to learn more about each candidate.
http://www.electoral-vote.com/
This website shows a map of the United States and outlines the current favored political party of each state.
http://www.barackobama.com/index.php