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The Election:
Classroom Activities


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FAOW The primaries and the political conventions for Election 2012 are coming up. The lessons in this Education World resource are from Election 2008 and are aimed at helping teachers capitalize on this once-every-four-years "teachable moment." Included: Lessons for teaching about the Electoral College and the importance of voting, plus a unique approach to staging a classroom debate about election issues!

Elections offer a unique opportunity for students to learn about the political process and to witness the wheels of democracy in motion. Computer-savvy teachers and students can follow all the goings-on -- thanks to the Internet! Many online news sites will provide in-depth coverage. Among the potential classroom resources are the following online resources:

  • Election Center (CNN)
  • Decision 2010 (MSNBC)
  • Americas Election HQ (Fox News)
  • Campaign 2010 (CBS News)
  • Vote 2010 (ABC News)
  • 2010 Mid-Term Election Coverage (USA Today)
  • Post Politics: Campaigns (Washington Post)
  • 2010 Election Coverage (Politico.com)

    Lesson Plans Too!

    Throughout this campaign season, Education World will bring you election-related lesson plans! The lessons will help teachers bring alive in classrooms the upcoming elections and the election process.

    Find additional lesson plans in our Elections & Voting theme page. The lessons inclued an Election WebQuest, which involves students in preparing weekly press conferences to update their peers on the candidates and the issues.

    Following are a list of the ten lessons we provide today. Click on the lesson headline below to access a complete teaching resource! (Notations in parentheses indicate approximate grade levels for each activity.)

    Election Scavenger Hunt
    Students hunt through newspapers and other news sources for election-related "treasures." (K-12)

    Getting Out the Vote: An Election Day Classroom Experiment
    An experiment drives home to students the importance of voting! (3-12)

    Election Results Map
    Students create color-keyed maps showing election night returns. (K-12)

    Campaign Ad Critique
    Students learn a lesson in media literacy! (6-12)

    Take a Stand!
    Students take a unique approach to a classroom discussion/debate of the election process! (3-12)

    What Are the Important Issues?
    Students determine the most important issue of the current campaign. (3-12)

    Terms of Office
    Students create a classroom dictionary of election terms. (3-12)

    The Electoral College
    When has the Electoral College been a deciding factor in an election? (3-12)

    Presidents at Inauguration Graph: How Old Were They?
    Students graph the presidents' ages at inauguration. Who was the youngest president? the oldest? (K-8)

    If I Were President
    Students think critically about issues in the current election campaign. (K-12)

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    Originally published 07/31/2000
    Last updated 08/19/2010