Curated OER
Getting Out the Vote: An Election Day Classroom Experiment
Students explore through a hands-on experiment why voting is important. They examine the potential impact of deciding not to vote. They they have the opportunity to vote in a mock presidential election if they choose to.
Carolina K-12
How Do I Pre-Register and Vote in North Carolina?
This practical activity helps young citizens learn about pre-registration to vote in elections, discuss the merits and flaws of the pre-registration process, and register themselves. The concluding activity has young voters creating an...
C-SPAN
Survey Analysis- Public Perceptions of Voting and Elections
The perception of fairness in elections becomes more important with each passing election. Using data from a C-SPAN poll, budding historians consider the differences between how people perceive elections. The resource includes videos of...
Curated OER
The Election Is in the House: The Denouement
Students research the US Presidential election of 1824. They explain why the election of 1824 was decided in the House of Representatives. They summarize relevant portions of the Constitution on presidential election procedures.
iCivics
Cast Your Vote
Impress upon your learners the importance of researching candidates in an election and considering not only which issues are most important to them as voters, but also which issues are most important to the candidates.
Curated OER
Early Voting, Other Election Changes are Possible
Pupils use the internet and linked sites to explore current voting methods in their community. They research suggestions that have been made for changes and interview people who made these suggestions (when possible). Students suggest...
Curated OER
Voting and Elections: Vote to Make a Difference
Students use a ballot to make a choice about two items to vote on. In this voting lesson plan, students discuss comparing choices between two items, the benefits and drawbacks to each, and make tally marks to total the votes.
C-SPAN
Why Do Americans Not Vote in Elections?
In an age of inflamed politics, who votes, who doesn't vote, and why are the questions everyone is trying to answer. Pupils listen to scholars, journalists and data crunchers on voting statistics to make their own conclusions. A chart...
Curated OER
Voters, Ballots, and Elections: Matching
After studying voting and elections in the United States, have your class show what they know. They match 15 terms related to voting, ballots, and elections to the proper definition. This is a great way to practice vocabulary or content...
Teaching Tolerance
The True History of Voting Rights
Explore what voting rights really are in an intriguing lesson plan that explores the history of American voting. The resource examines the timeline of voting rights in the United States with group discussions, hands-on-activities, and...
Carolina K-12
The Results are In! Examining Our First Vote Election
The 2016 election is over, and now it's time to dig in to some data! An activity revolves around data gathered from the First Vote Project in North Carolina wherein thousands of students voted. After diving in to the data using provided...
C-SPAN
Should States Shift to Mail-In Voting during the Coronavirus Pandemic?
With the coronavirus pausing many norms in American society, officials are trying to decide how to safely hold voting in the 2020 presidential election. Using curated video clips, including speeches from Congress, journalists, and...
Curated OER
March 2, 1877: Hayes Declared Winner in Disputed Presidential Election
After reading an interesting article comparing the disputed presidential election of 1877 to a similar event in the year 2000, kids blog a response. They read the article, check out the embedded links, then respond to four related...
Classroom Law Project
What does the Constitution say about voting? Constitutional Amendments and the Electoral College
As part of a study of voting rights in the US, class members examine Constitutional amendments connected with voting and the role of the Electoral College in the election process.
Classroom Law Project
What do cartoonists see in this election?
Cartoons from the 2008 Presidential election provide the text for a lesson designed to help learners understand how political cartoonists use persuasive techniques to present a point of view.
Mikva Challenge
Why Vote?
Elections are supposed to represent the will of the people. So why don't 100% of registered voters line up at the polls on Election Day? High schoolers study the last few elections and the voter turnout for each, according to race,...
Carolina K-12
Get Out the Vote!
What better way to have a class learn about get out the vote campaigns than by having them create one themselves? After introducing get out the vote efforts and why they exist through videos, articles, and discussion questions, the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson: Changes in Voting Participation
Students give examples to indicate how voting participation changed in the first half of the 19th century, and make connections between changes in voting participation and the results of the election of 1828.
Middle Tennessee State University
Fights, Freedom, and Fraud: Voting Rights in the Reconstruction Era
As part of a study of post Civil War era, young historians investigate the changes in voting rights during the Reconstruction Era (1863-1876), the fraud involved in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876, and efforts by Pap...
ProCon
Voting Machines
Does technology always mean advancement? Scholars take a close look at the use of voting machines. Does using a machine make voting more effective? Readers consider the advantages and disadvantages of the current voting process. They...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson: Expansion of the Voting Base
Students give examples to indicate how the franchise was extended and limited in the first half of the 19th century, and cite some differences in the newly enfranchised population that could affect the way they would vote.
Classroom Law Project
What is a class hearing and youth summit and what do they have to do with the presidential election?
After researching the presidential election process, class members develop questions and interview voters about their choice of candidate and the issues that concern them.
Heritage Foundation
Voting and the Constitution
How difficult was it for everyone to get voting rights? Understanding voting rights and the fight to get them for everyone in the United States can be tricky for some learners. However, they are clarified after engaging in the...
NYC Department of Records
Citizenship and Elections: The Importance of a Ballot
Approximately 58 prcent of those eligible voted in the 2016 US Presidential election. In an attempt to impress upon learners the importance of voting and voting rights, class members examine primary source documents related to the...