PBS
What Are the Primaries and Caucuses?
What are the essential differences between primaries and caucuses? As part of a study of the process by which Americans select their candidates for US president, class members examine the nominating process, the changes that have...
Curated OER
US Presidents
Students work in small groups to analyze various presidential campaigns. In this presidential election lesson, students research election rules, candidates, and winners from 1900 to 2000. Students will create and present an oral report...
C-SPAN
Presidential Birth Requirement
Every president of the United States must be a natural-born citizen, but the definition of natural-born is not as straightforward as it seems. Secondary scholars examine two points of view surrounding the constitutional requirement...
Curated OER
Presidential Trading Cards
Students research the Internet to collect data about the US Presidents. They use the data that they collect along with available technology to produce trading cards and brochures using keyboarding skills, text boxes, acquiring photos,...
Classroom Law Project
How do we hire a President?
What are the job requirements for the office of president of the United States? What attributes should a candidate possess? Are the qualities needed to govern the same as those needed to win? What can an analysis of the...
Curated OER
Election 2000
Seventh graders explore issues facing the potential leader of our country, form opinions about the candidates representing the two major political parties, research election material and choose candidates, conduct debates, and vote in...
Curated OER
The Election of 2008: Primaries and Caucuses
Students examine the American presidential election process. In this presidential election instructional activity, students discover details regarding the campaigns of McCain and Obama in the 2008 election. Students create timelines that...
Curated OER
Electoral College
Eleventh graders discover how the Electoral College works. In this presidential elections lesson, 11th graders compare and contrast the Electoral College and popular vote as they participate in a classroom simulation. Students also...
Curated OER
Project Whistlestop “Show Me” Learning Unit Election of 1948-Digital Scrapbook
Young scholars create a digital scrapbook of the election of 1948 -- one of the most interesting and unique elections in US History.
Curated OER
Case Study of a Campaign
Students read a case study of one campaign to discover how political campaigns addresses the needs of the voters. In groups, they answer questions related to the case and discuss how the commercials affect society as a whole. They use...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Slavery and the Electoral College
How did slavery mold the creation of the US Constitution? The final lesson in the series focuses on how slavery impacted the creation of the Electoral College. Academics learn how the Electoral College was created because Southern states...
Curated OER
Democracy in Action?
Students compare and contrast democratic election processes. In this 200 presidential election lesson, students visit websites that allow them to compare federal American elections to British elections. Students hold their own classroom...
Curated OER
We the People: A Study in American Voter Turnout: US Government
Young scholars examine and compare voter turnout in US Elections. They write a letter to a favorite candidate or representative suggesting ways to increase voter turnout.
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...
College Board
Civic Knowledge and Action in AP U.S. Government and Politics
Vote, it's your civic duty! The high school instructional activity focuses on voter turnout and civic participation with a series of activities. Young scholars analyze data to discover voter turnout trends, complete worksheets, and...
Curated OER
1960 Election
Learners examine the election of 1960. In this US politics lesson students listen to a teacher driven lecture, take notes, engage in a class discussion and write a response to what they have learned regarding the 1960's presidential...
Curated OER
They Were Born Where?
Students assess where the presidents of the United States were born and analyze the role of geography in determining the outcome of presidential elections. They create graphs visualizing the birth and home states of the presidents along...
Curated OER
Fighting The Horse Race: Creating Ads Which Explore 2008 Presidential Candidates & Issues
What is advertising? What role does it plan in an election? Middle and high schoolers discuss advertising and its purpose by sifting through different magazines and discussing the products they find. Then they relate advertisements to...
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...
Curated OER
CIVICS AND HISTORY LESSON
Middle schoolers conduct research using recommended websites and other appropriate resources. Based on their findings, groups prepare recommendations for future elections to ensure efficiency and fairness. students must refer to the 2000...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Winner-Take-All: The Two-Party System
Two's company, three's a crowd. High school historians learn about the Electoral College, a two-party, winner-take-all voting system in the United States. The lesson plan explains the pros and cons of the two-party system, roadblocks for...
Museum of the Moving Image
Political Ads in Historical Context
Campaign ads target both timely issues and general themes. Presidential campaign ads from 1952 and 1988 provide class members an opportunity to compare how the topics ads choose to address can dramatically influence election outcomes.
Curated OER
Stand and Deliver
Students take a closer look at the presidential election of 2004. In this American politics lesson, students visit selected websites to learn about the 2004 campaign and active citizenship. Students then create personality...
Curated OER
Citizens of the Future
Young sociologists explore how local, state, and federal governments work. This very impressive and ambitious lesson requires pupils to contact government officials who represent them and their families. They research elections, and hold...