Elections and the Political Process Lesson Plans

Young scholars study the election process. In groups, they conduct research and create chapters for an election guide that might be distributed in their community. They discuss current issues and determine which elected official would be most likely to deal with these issues.

Learners research the election process.  In this government and technology lesson, students research current local or national political candidates to determine demographic information and their positions on major issues. Learners create a classroom database and an individual PowerPoint,  HyperStudio, or poster presentation based on the collected information.

Students explore the impact of political cartoons on American elections. In this presidential elections lesson, students discuss the election process and then analyze political cartoons that were published during presidential elections. As a culminating activity, students create their own political cartoons.

Young scholars interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this presidential election lesson, students research and analyze how the election process changed in America from the 20th into 21st century.  Young scholars create PowerPoint presentations regarding the topic.

Students examine the presidential election process and discover that presidential elections are decided by the electoral college and not popular votes. They see that each state has a number of electors, and understand how this number is determined. Students access a website imbedded in this plan which helps them examine election trends over the years.

Students discuss the Electoral controversy, examine the Electoral College, and create a PowerPoint presentation to teach younger students about the election process. Students complete the instructional activity by participating in an online, nationwide, mock election.

Students discuss the role of political parties in the election process. In this election process lesson plan, students work in groups to examine the major functions of political parties and the role political parties play in the election process.

Students investigate how ballots are cast and counted in the American election process. They research how the process has changed over the years. They study the Electoral College and how it effects the presidency.

Students identify political parties, then read a news article about the 2008 election. In this current events lesson plan (written prior to the 2008 election), the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and vocabulary activity, then students read the news report and participate in a think-pair-share discussion. Lesson includes interdisciplinary follow-up activities.

Eighth graders explore the impact of exercising voting rights. In this election lesson, 8th graders research the importance of voting and use technology tools to share their findings about national, state, and local election campaigns.