Writable has teamed up with KQED to support your election instruction by contributing to the KQED Youth Media Challenge: Let’s Talk About the Election 2020. The Election 2020 media challenge for middle and high schoolers is a free, standards-aligned program on KQED Learn, co-hosted by the National Writing Project and PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs.
When you assign the election challenge in Writable, your students will choose an election issue that is important to them and write a persuasive commentary that brings together fact-based research with personal narrative. They can then stretch their media-making muscles by recording their commentary, with audio or video, and adding sound and images that support their perspective. Students can find inspiration on the KQED Election 2020 youth media showcase, where hundreds of students from across the country have published their commentaries on topics ranging from immigration to health care to climate change.
This challenge is an authentic and engaging way to bring your students’ writing and media skills to a wider audience. Some students’ media may be selected for publication on the KQED youth media showcase, where it will be seen by a real-world audience of KQED readers and students from around the country, and may even be shared by other PBS and NPR member stations. All voices are welcome and students can take this challenge until the inauguration in January of 2021.
How to Complete the Election Media Challenge
1. Log into Writable or create a free account by signing up.
2. Copy the KQED Election Media Challenge Assignment to save it to your ‘My Assignments’ page.
3. Assign the KQED Election Media Challenge Assignment in Writable to your students. Choose any of our feedback options, including peer review, to help students get feedback as they revise their draft scripts and videos or writing.
4. Students complete the assignment in Writable, which includes choosing a topic, using a graphic organizer in Writable to plan their script, and recording or uploading their audio or video response to the assignment.
Once students begin the assignment we’ll send you a release form for students that you’d like to submit to KQED Election 2020 youth media showcase.
Find out more about this challenge and explore the Curricular Resources Toolbox for teachers.
Sneak Peak at the KQED Election Media Challenge Assignment
Assignments in Writable include side-by-side readings, PDFs, and resources, plus student-friendly rubrics that support students as they write and review. Writable includes graphic organizers in many assignments (like this one) and students can also submit a picture or video in addition to, or instead of a written assignment.
Teachers can differentiate assignments, add additional media or readings, and even record their own instructional lessons in Writable to help reinforce learning with their students. If you’d like to adjust the assignment, every component of a Writable assignment is customizable, or you can simply create your own from scratch.
Additional Election Assignments
In addition to the KQED election challenge, we’ve compiled a collection of assignments that you can use to support your instruction leading up to this year’s election. These additional prompts can help students share their voice and improve their argumentative and informational writing skills. Choose from prompts about the Supreme Court, local elections, and our presidential candidates, or treat the assignments like templates and write your own prompts.
Resources for Teaching the Election
To help students research and refine their own voice and opinion on the important issues currently facing our nation, we’ve compiled this list of neutral resources that might be helpful when creating your lessons or for sharing with students for research purposes. You might also use sources like Wikipedia, official candidate websites, or local news organizations.
- Associated Press
- Reuters
- Bloomberg News
- New York Times Learning Network
- PBS or your local PBS organization, like KQED
- NPR
- Google Scholar
- Microsoft Academic
- Library of Congress
- Smithsonian Education
- TIME for Kids
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