9 Ideas for Using Twitter & Storify to analyze the presidential #debates in your classroom

If you’re an innovative educator who cares about addressing issues that are relevant in the world, you're talking to your students about the debate. Analyzing the #debates tweets is one great way to take a look at the presidential candidates and utilizing the free Storify tool is a great way to tell the story they want to share.

Storify lets you turn what people post on social media into compelling stories. With Storify, you collect the best photos, video, Tweets and more to publish them as simple, beautiful stories that can be shared anywhere. Storify is a great way to make meaning of and remember important events.  

Here are ideas for doing that.

1. If you or your students have Tweeted during the debate, create a Storify of student, teacher or class Tweets.
2. Storify #debates Tweets of someone (or more) they know and tell the story of this person’s political views.
3. Storify the #debates Tweets of a celebrity they admire and discuss that person’s political views.
4. Storify each candidate and discuss what each stands for.
5. Storify #debates along with an area of interest i.e. #edreform, #prolife, #immigration, #gayrights and see what the candidates are saying about that topic.
6. Storify accounts like @factcheckdotorg and @politifact to see whose facts are right and wrong. 
7. Storify student education reform author @Nikhil Goyal and #debates to get a young person's take on the best candidate for our students.
8. Storify reporter @Joy_Resmovits and #debates to get an education reporter's take on our candidates.
9. Storify your favorite quotes from a debate like Valerie Strauss did about education for the Washington Post

A lesson such as this is not only a terrific way to analyze current events, it is also a real and relevant way to empower your students to understand how the power of social media in conveying a message, creating a brand, and winning or losing an election.