Instruction on Elections and Voting

RATIONALE & RESEARCH

Youth voting depends upon young people knowing how to vote, becoming informed and confident in their ability to do so, and being motivated to cast a ballot. Direct instruction about voting - the act itself, as well as how it fits into the broader electoral process and how that process has evolved to expand voting rights over time and is still in need of evolution today - helps students understand potential civic roles they might play (be it voting, serving as poll workers, volunteering for campaigns, or through other methods of engagement).

Research tells us:

"When schools provide the kinds of opportunities that allow students to learn and practice a variety of civic skills, learn about how government works, see how others engage civically and politically, and grapple with their own roles as future citizens, then we see increases in both students’ commitment to and capacity for future participation." ("High Quality Civics Education: What Is It and Who Gets It?", 2008)
"Young people who recalled high-quality civic education experiences in high school were more likely to vote, to form political opinions, to know campaign issues, and to know general facts about the US political system." ("High Quality Civics Education: What Is It and Who Gets It?", 2008)

LESSON PLANS & RESOURCES

JUMP TO:

Electoral Process

The Electoral Process

Take a peek into the electoral process- in this iCivics lesson, students will learn the distinctions between the popular vote and the Electoral College, exercise their critical reasoning skills to analyze the differences between the presidential and congressional elections, contrast the various nomination processes, and learn about the role of party conventions in American politics.
Lesson Plan

Understanding the U.S. Electoral Process

Use this Close Up lesson plan to help students understand the Electoral College, primaries and caucuses, and other rules and procedures that shape elections in the United States.
Lesson Plan

Presidency and Presidential Elections in an Elementary Classroom

This article, in NCSS' journal Social Education, offers specific teaching activities designed to engage elementary age learners in exploring the presidency and the process of elections.
Lesson Plan, Elem.

Presenting Political Parties

This lesson plan, from the Lou Frey Institute, uses political cartoons to engage students in exploring the purpose, activities, and impact of political parties.
Lesson Plan, Political Cartoons, MS/HS

U.S. Presidential Primaries

This guide, from Bites Media, offers a student-friendly overview of the U.S. presidential primary process, including a basic description, explanatory video, clarification of what the primaries are/not, and questions and resources for further reflection and discussion.
Student Guide

What are the Primaries and Caucuses?

This lesson plan, by PBS NewsHour Extra, is designed to be facilitated over the course of two 50-min. class periods and to help students understand the primary system in which candidates for U.S. president are nominated by the Democratic and Republican parties. Within the lesson, students will identify and understand differences between primaries and caucuses and key terms related to the primary season and be encouraged to research their own state's nominating process.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Parties, Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions

A candidate has to pass a lot of tests before anyone can actually vote for them for president. Introduce your students to the big events and mile markers of the electoral process with this iCivics lesson and learn what a candidate must do before reaching the final test: the general election.
Lesson Plan

Spotlight on the Iowa Caucuses

This Teaching Idea from Facing History helps students understand how the Iowa caucuses work, prompts them to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of voting in person at a caucus, and invites them to explore the question of whether Iowa should be the first state to vote in the presidential primary season.
Lesson Plan

Political Endorsements

This resource, from PBS NewsHour Extra and shared by the AFT's Share My Lesson platform, offers a video, summary, and discussion questions designed to help students consider the role and impact of political endorsements within elections.
Discussion Guide

Demystifying the Electoral College

This article, from NCSS' Social Education journal, is a great refresher for teachers (or students) studying the Electoral College. It's organized around 12 Frequently Asked Questions about this structure of American democracy.
Reference

Electoral College

This guide, from Bites Media, offers a student-friendly overview of the Electoral College, including a basic description, explanatory video, popular arguments for/against changing it, and questions for further reflection and discussion.
Student Guide

Teaching about the Electoral College

This article, from NCSS' journal Social Education, offers suggestions for three lessons (two before the presidential election and one immediately after) in which stills can explore the Founders' intended purpose for the Electoral College, analyze past elections' results, predict this election's outcomes, and track the accuracy of their predictions.
Reference, Lesson Plan

Running for Office

This module, from the Lou Frey Institute, offers resources about current political parties in the U.S., the qualifications of candidates running for office in the U.S., and the voting process.
Video, Student Guide, ELL (Spanish/Haitian Creole), MS

The Road to the White House

This unit, from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, is designed to teach students about presidential elections through an interactive, project based unit that invites the student to fully engage in the process of an election while also informing students about how elections work.
Lesson Plans, Elem/MS/HS

Win the White House

This refreshed version of iCivics' Win the White House game challenges your students to manage their own presidential campaign by: building arguments to support timely issues that are relevant to them, strategically raising funds to support their campaign, keeping campaign momentum high through targeted media campaigns and personal appearances, and polling local voters to see what issues resonate.
Game, ELL

Represent Me!

In the game Represent Me! from iCivics, students work as legislators trying to balance the needs of their diverse constituents and decide what bills to sponsor in Congress.
Game

Mid-Term Elections Matter

This three-series lesson plan, from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, is intended to help students understand that midterm elections (whether they be for congressional candidates, governor, state representatives, or state initiatives) are equally as important as the presidential race every four years.
Lesson Plans, HS

U.S. Midterm Elections

This guide, from Bites Media, offers a student-friendly overview of U.S. midterm elections, including a basic description, explanatory video, clarification of why midterms matter and what they look like in action, and questions and resources for further reflection and discussion.
Student Guide

Do Midterm Elections Matter?

This lesson plan, from PBS NewsHour Extra, is designed to help students gain an understanding of midterm elections and discuss reasons why voter turnout remains low.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Mid-term Elections: The Impact of Local and National Issues

This lesson plan, created by PBS NewsHour Extra and shared via NCSS, guides students in discussing the right to vote and the significance of mid-term elections, and then working in small groups to conduct research about a specific mid-term election issue and the localized impact of and diverse perspectives on this issue.
Lesson Plan

Down-Ballot Voting and the Role of Local and State Elections

Often times, state and local elections are overshadowed by the media’s focus on national elections, but it is more often the local officials and laws or ordinances that affect daily life the most. In this lesson, from PBS NewsHour Extra, students will explore the importance of down ballot voting—looking beyond the national contestants to the local candidates where most of government’s direct impact on people occurs and examine the merits of local candidates and ballot measures.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Voting Access

Voting Rights in the United States

This Teaching Idea from Facing History helps students explore the history of voting rights in the United States, the impact of the Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder, and questions around voting rights today.
Lesson Plan

Voting Rights Amendments

This voting rights amendments handout, from the AFT's Share My Lesson platform, asks students to re-write the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments in their own words, then provides charts about overall voter turnout and different demographics along with questions asking students to write their observations, questions, and comments for each chart.
Student Guide, HS

Evolution of Voting Rights

Explore the evolution of voting rights in the United States through an interactive PowerPoint presentation from iCivics highlighting landmark changes. Following the presentation and class discussion, students apply the new knowledge of voting legislation to individual scenarios through a class activity.
Lesson Plan

Protecting the Right to Vote

This guide, from Bites Media, offers a student-friendly overview of history of voting rights in the U.S., including a basic description of how rights are enshrined in U.S. law, explanatory video, highlight of challenges and campaigns then and now, and questions and resources for further reflection and discussion.
Student Guide

Civil Rights Historical Investigations

This resource from Facing History contains three units dedicated to the exploration of the civil rights movement, including one unit focused on "The March for Voting Rights".
Unit Plan, Lesson Plans

Susan B. Anthony and Women's Right to Vote

In this lesson from Facing History, students analyze a daring challenge to the legal and social order of the time: Susan B. Anthony’s casting of an illegal ballot in the 1872 presidential election. Students close read an excerpt from Anthony’s speech "Is It a Crime for Women to Vote?" and draw connections between the past and present, especially around acts of civil disobedience, the role of voting in a democracy, and the meaning of equality.
Lesson Plan

An Example from India's Democracy

This Teaching Idea from Facing History focuses on access to voting by looking at the recent elections in India—the largest democratic elections in history—as well as voting in the United States.
Lesson Plan

What is Voter Suppression?

This blog post from The Civics Center (shared in English, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese) helps readers recognize and understand a range of common voter suppression practices.
Reference, ELL/Multiple Languages

Voter ID Laws & Voting Suppression

This lesson plan, developed by PBS NewsHour Extra and shared on the AFT's Share My Lesson platform, offers a video, discussion questions, and extension activities designed to help students consider the impact of varying voter ID laws.
Discussion Guide

Gerrymandering

This guide, from Bites Media, offers a student-friendly overview of gerrymandering, including a basic summary of what it is and why it matters, explanatory video, popular arguments for using or losing the practice, and questions and resources for further reflection and discussion.
Student Guide

Does the Constitution Forbid Gerrymandering?

These resource, from PBS NewsHour Extra and shared via the AFT's Share My Lesson platform, uses a video, summary, and discussion questions to engage students in a conversation about the constitutionality of the practice of gerrymandering.
Discussion Guide

How Felony Convictions Affect Voting Rights

In this PBS NewsHour EXTRA lesson, students are provided with a video and discussion questions designed to help them understand how the intersection of COVID-19 and felony convictions prevents access to voting rights. Later, an extension activity further explores the issue of unequal access to the law and civil rights.
Discussion Guide

Voting By Mail:
Should More States Allow It?

Using this student-facing resource from Close Up, students consider whether states should adopt voting by mail to increase access and participation.
Student Guide, HS, Virtual

Vote By Mail

This guide, from Bites Media, offers a student-friendly overview of vote by mail systems and alternative forms of voting, including a basic summary of the origins and status of vote by mail systems, explanatory video, popular arguments for/against the process, and questions and resources for further reflection and discussion.
Student Guide

Voting by Mail

As we approach the November 2020 election, this PBS NewsHour EXTRA lesson plan offers a video, discussion questions, and an extension activity to help students understand the process and political consequences of voting by mail.
Discussion Guide

Should Non-Citizens be Allowed to Vote?

This discussion guide shares background knowledge and a radio clip explaining the issue from the lens of one community's debates, discussion questions, and links to associated Facing History resources.
Discussion Guide

Big Money in Elections

This article, from NCSS' journal Social Education, offers background information on and excerpts from the Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (FEC) decision, as well as pro/con arguments discussing proposed resolutions to amend the Constitution to strengthen Congress’s ability to limit corporate funding of election activities, and ideas for engaging students in exploring this topic.
Reference, Lesson Plan

Voting Age in the U.S.

This guide, from Bites Media, offers a student-friendly overview of the history and status of the voting age in the U.S., including videos, popular arguments for/against lowering the voting age to 16, , and questions and resources for further reflection and discussion.
Student Guide

Lowering the Voting Age

This discussion guide shares a summary of the argument, a radio clip showcasing how one community is thinking about the opportunity, discussion questions, and links to associated Facing History resources.
Discussion Guide

Being an Informed Voter

Why It's Important to Vote, from a Youth Perspective

This video, narrated by youth leaders from The Civics Center, describes the barriers to and impact of young people voting, as well as the experience of registering to vote for the first time.
Reference, Video

To Vote or Not to Vote?

In this lesson from PBS NewsHour Extra, students will view three short films that explore the importance of voting from a different, thought-provoking perspective. Students will then engage in discussion about the films and revisit their initial ideas about the importance of voting.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Voting: Will You Do It?

Voting isn't a requirement, but it is our responsibility and our right. It's the most direct way that every citizen can influence government, but many citizens just don't do it. In this iCivics lesson, students find out who can vote and the differences in voting by state. They will consider the importance of voting, connect with current issues, and decide for themselves if voting is something they will do.
Lesson Plan

What Factors Affect the Youth Vote?

In this lesson plan from PBS NewsHour EXTRA, students will watch a video and discuss why the youth vote turnout is traditionally low and what might convince Generation Z to go to the voting booths. Then, they will examine barriers to the youth vote and discuss their own confusions about the voting process.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Know Your Vote, Know the Issues

In this lesson from PBS NewsHour Extra, students begin by exploring liberal and conservative positions on government spending and balancing the budget, then examine various hot political issues (health care costs, funding for higher education, and social security). Then, students look at how the current presidential candidates are proposing to address these issues, and formulate a short media presentation to endorse one candidate.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Candidate Report Card

With this iCivics lesson, help students learn candidate evaluation skills. Students will select the issues and qualities they care about, then research candidates running for the office of your choice. Students will determine how the candidates rate, as they learn about the campaigns.
Lesson Plan

Candidate Evaluation

In this lesson plan from iCivics, students evaluate hypothetical candidates based on their qualifications, experience, campaign speeches and campaign materials. They also track campaign promises, explore voting records, and evaluate the legitimacy of information resources.
Lesson Plan

Cast Your Vote

In iCivics' completely reimagined Cast Your Vote game, students will discover what it takes to become an informed voter by learning about the importance of local elections, watching candidates discuss important issues in Town Hall debates, identifying issues that matter to them and rating candidates' stances, and collect their own notes on candidates within an in-game app.
Game, ELL, Visual/Mobile Accessibility

Got Ballot?

Covering everything from referendums to recalls, this lesson from iCivics takes students to the voting booth and explains what they might see on a typical ballot. Students will discover how voters have the opportunity to initiate change in state and local government.
Lesson Plan

Voting During a Pandemic

This PBS NewsHour EXTRA lesson plan provides a video, discussion questions, and an extension activity to understand various voting plans for the upcoming November election and start a conversation about the effectiveness of federalism.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Political Polarization in the United States

Americans appear to be increasingly divided over politics. The gap between the policies endorsed by the Republican and Democratic Parties is growing, as is animosity between people who identify with different parties. How is polarization influencing decision-making and civic life in the United States? Can Americans still find common ground?
Reference

Engaging in Electoral Activities

Organize a Mock Election

Holding Mock Elections

Political Debate Guide

Hosting a Presidential Debate

In this three-day simulation lesson from iCivics, students explain the steps taken from party formation to national election and act out the campaigning and voting process by simulating a real election in their own classroom.
Lesson Plan, Simulation

In this lesson, from the Texas AFT, students will do a simulated voting election in their classroom to learn the process of voting; why it's important to vote; their right to vote; and voting age.
Lesson Plan, Elem

Use this activity from iCivics to help your students view any political debate- local to national, historical to live broadcast. Preview candidates, issues, expectations, and details about the location and moderators; track what the candidates say and how they say it; then ask students to reflect on the debate experience.
Lesson Plan

In this lesson, by PBS NewsHour Extra, the class learns about techniques of persuasion, which are practiced using actual debate statements by presidents throughout history. Students then watch the We The Voters film “How to Master Debate,” which presents two Senators discussing global warming and committing constant logical errors, pausing to discuss each logical fallacy. Students then hold a debate of their own.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Elections in Action

Mikva Challenge offers an abridged five-lesson collection (derived from their "Elections in Action" curriculum) that engages students in learning about campaigns and elections by having them explore their own ideologies, learn about the candidates and get involved in electoral politics through a variety of scaffolded actions including registering voters to campaigning for candidates. (For Mikva Challenge's full Elections in Action Curriculum, click here.)
Curriculum, Lesson Plans

Activate!

In this online game from iCivics, students will campaign for an issue of their choice, grow an organization of friends into a national movement, and engage their community and elected leaders to raise awareness and support for their cause.
Game

Other

Election Headquarters

The road to the 2020 presidential election starts now. This is a critical time for students to learn about the election process, understand the power of their vote, and feel compelled to be an active participant in our constitutional democracy. We encourage teachers, administrators, and parents to help facilitate learning with the resources curated by iCivics in their new Election Headquarters.
Resources

2020 Presidential
Election Guide

Bites Media has put in one place issues that student groups have expressed interest in related to the 2020 election, including a definition of each issue and a side-by-side breakdown of how each candidate stands on the topic. The guide also contains resources for registering to vote and contacting political parties, as well as foundational topics like the Electoral College and voting rights.
Resources

2020 Election Toolkit

This year brings an opportunity to use the elections to engage students in the proven practices of civic education. IllinoisCivics.org, from the McCormick Foundation, has created a toolkit to provide resources and lesson plans to support this important work.
Resources

Curriculum Design Toolkit: Direct Instruction on Democratic Institutions

At the foundation of preparing students for civic life is grounding student knowledge of the workings of our constitutional republic. This pages for resources from IllinoisCivics.org offers teachers tools to facilitate rich civic inquiry for students, incorporating sound pedagogy, content, critical thinking, and civic skills.
Resources, PD

STORIES

High School Seniors Learn to Vote in Mock Election

High school seniors in Huntsville, Alabama had the opportunity to learn about and practice the act of voting through a simulation organized by the League of Women Voters of the Tennessee Valley, the Probate Office of Madison County, Huntsville City Schools and , Madison County Schools.

Inactive Education: How My High School Hindered My First Voting Experience

In this Forbes article, one young person reflects on what was missing from her high school experience, and how that impacted her civic engagement as a new voter and in the years since.

Voting for the First Time during a Turbulent Election

Read what it was like for high school senior, Lilly Hackworth, to vote for the first time during the contentious 2016 presidential campaign and how she used Facing History and Ourselves to help her navigate such a turbulent political climate.

School-Wide Election Simulation

Read about one teacher's detailed process for organizing a popular school-wide mock election and rally in conjunction with presidential election cycles.