Day 7: Communication & Framing

• Develop an understanding of political framing

• Reflect on experience volunteering - What’s going well? What’s a challenge?

• Gain insight and inspiration from guest speakers

0) Reflection

• Highlights, lowlights, and insights:

• • • What’s been a highlight of your recent volunteer time? (Or of this program.)

    • What’s been a lowlight of your recent volunteer time? (Or of this program.)

    • What’s been an insight--something you’ve learned--from your recent volunteer time? (Or this program.)

• Guest Speaker Name: Date:

  • What are 1-3 things that you learned, or that struck you, from our time with the guest speaker today?

  • What follow up questions do you have for the guest speaker? Or, what questions arose from your time with the guest speaker?

1) Framing & News Comparison

• Watch this 2008 George Lakoff video. (Still VERY relevant today.)

• Read two articles about a topic you’re interested in from TWO different news sources that approach things from different angles. (For example, find an article about something you’re interested in from The New York Times and an article about the same topic/event/issue from Fox News.)

• In your journal, answer the following questions:

  • What words jump out at you in each article? Why?

  • How do the articles differ in the way they describe the topic/issue/event?

  • How might the way the topic/issue/event is described influence how a reader understands it?

2) Develop questions for our guest speakers. Please read their bios and/or Google them, and develop 3 questions you’d like to ask. Write these in your journal and add ONE to a sticky note in the JamBoard (include your name).

3) Volunteer!

• Aim for 3-5 hrs/week; log your hours in your journal.

• Reflect in your journal: What are your observations? Highlights? Lowlights? Insights?

• Come prepared to discuss and share your experiences.

PPT for this session are here.

JamBoards: Guest Speakers

Reflection (write in journal after or during session)

• What are 3 metaphors that you see or use in your everyday life? How do they influence your thoughts and actions?

• What are 3 metaphors you see in political reporting or language that candidates are using to describe issues? How might these influence the thoughts and actions of voters?

• Guest Speaker Name: Date:

  1. What are 1-3 things that you learned, or that struck you, from our time with the guest speaker today?

  2. What follow up questions do you have for the guest speaker? Or, what questions arose from your time with the guest speaker?

• Develop questions for our guest speakers. Please read their bios and/or Google them, and develop 3 questions you’d like to ask. Write these in your journal and add ONE to a sticky note in the JamBoard (include your name).

• Calculate: If 60 people each got 3 friends/family members to volunteer for 3 hours per week for GOTV efforts or a campaign for 2 weeks, and each of those people’s efforts resulted in 5 additional people voting each week. How many voters would they turn out in total?

  • What if they volunteered for 5 hours and their efforts resulted in 8 additional voters per week?

• Volunteer!

• Aim for 3-5 hrs/week; log your hours in your journal.

• Reflect in your journal: What are your observations? Highlights? Lowlights? Insights?

• Come prepared to reflect on and share your experiences.