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123 search results for: 'voting'

Constitution 101 Curriculum: High School Level

From The National Constitution Center “Constitution 101 is a 15-unit asynchronous, semester-long curriculum that provides students with a basic understanding of the Constitution’s text, history, Read More

Midterm Elections: 1966 Midterms Signal a Realignment, Shaping Today’s Parties

From Retro Report “Southern voters, once loyal to the Democratic Party, elected Republican candidates in 1966 as the two parties began to sort themselves into Read More

Virtual Escape Rooms

From Law For Kids “Put your civic knowledge to the test as you answer clues to escape the room in time.” Escape Rooms: When you Read More

DC Residents—Taxation With Some Representation

New Jersey State Bar Foundation The federal government in Washington, D.C. is under federal control and not dependent upon any state for protection. Article I, Section 8, Clause Read More

How Voters Decide: Crash Course Government and Politics #38

From CrashCourse What factors influence voter decisions? This video (7:35) focuses on party loyalty, the issues involved in an election, and candidate characteristics. tags: voting, distance/ online Read More

State-by-State Race to Ratification of the 19th Amendment

Follow the state by state stories and timeline of the ratification of the Nineteenth (19th) Amendment.

StoryMap: Places of Women’s Suffrage

Explore this StoryMap to discover places associated with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. This StoryMap features places related to women’s suffrage (the right to Read More

ABA Supreme Court PREVIEW – Featured Cases 2018-2019

  Scroll down to “Past Cases” to find modified case studies and focus questions for classroom use. Featured Cases from the Supreme Court’s 2018-2019 session -  Read More

Who leads our country?

From DCPS  - Instructional Continuity Plan (distance learning) Who leads our country? Students write one paragraph that explains what the president does and how presidents Read More

Bill of Rights in Action

The Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) has published the Bill of Rights in Action, since 1967. Scroll to the view the issues available online or browse the Read More

Let’s Vote – Everyday Learning

In this 2 minute video, students (PreK-1), taste three different apples, vote for their favorite, and tally the results. 

Political Gerrymandering Explained

What is political gerrymandering? Infographic with text. Also see: Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benison (https://www.subscriptlaw.com/blog/rucho-v-commo-cause-and-lamone-v-benisek)

Case Study – Rucho v. Common Cause

In 2016, a federal court ordered North Carolina to redraw its congressional districts because the existing map was unconstitutional because it included districts that were racially Read More

Direct Election of Senators? It Wasn’t Always That Way: The 17th Amendment Turns 100

Insights on Law & Society 13.1, Fall 2012 Read about how before the 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913, providing for the direct election of U.S. Read More

Women’s Suffrage in Sheet Music

“Women’s Suffrage in Sheet Music includes over 200 pieces of sheet music spanning the years 1838-1923, over half of which highlight women’s emerging voices and suffrage Read More

Extending Suffrage to Women

Students must analyze and chronologically sort eleven different documents arguing both for and against women’s suffrage.

Suffering Through Suffrage: Arguing Women’s Right to Vote

From The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship Primary Source Document: Memorial of Alice Wadsworth of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, 12/11/1917 Why do the Read More

ProCon.org – 2020 Presidential Election Site

Researched non-partisan pro-con presentations of where US presidential candidates stand on issues.  

The Voters

From the Esri GeoInquiries collection for Government Examine factors affecting voting and registration in presidential and midterm elections. How does the percent voting vary by Read More

60-Second Civics

Produced by the Center for Civic Education 60-Second Civics is a daily podcast that explores themes related to civics and government, the constitutional issues behind the Read More

Sal teaches Grover about the electoral college

Grover, a character from Sesame Street, helps students understand how the president of the United States is elected.  Watch video (3:36): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-n_YOtUnqU  

American Panorama: An Atlas of United States History

By Digital Scholarship Lab, University of Richmond “American Panorama is an historical atlas of the United States for the twenty-first century. It combines cutting-edge research with Read More

ProCon.org’s State Laws & State Data On…

Many ProCon.org’s websites feature state laws and state-specific research on the issues they cover. Find links to state laws and related state resources here. Be Read More

Debate: Gerrymandering Is Destroying the Political Center

The National Constitution Center Event Date: November 2016 Watch video (1:46:15): “It is alleged that the practice of gerrymandering -dividing election districts into units to favor Read More

Lesson Plan: Redistricting and Gerrymandering

From KQED/ By Rachel Roberson How do redistricting and gerrymandering work? Does gerrymandering silence voters? Who should decide how legislative districts are drawn? Students watch Read More

Image Detective – Women and Suffrage

Pose a question, gather clues, get background information, draw a conclusion using primary source documents with this online media literacy activity. Go to: http://cct2.edc.org/PMA/image_detective/main/index.html?women      

Evaluating Election Ads

From NewseumED “In this activity, students examine some of the techniques political campaigns use in ads to persuade voters.” Go to: https://newseumed.org/activity/evaluating-election-ads/ tag: media literacy

Legal Stuff Booklets

Produced by the Hennepin County Bar Association, Legal Stuff,  is a 48-page booklet of practical legal information about the laws that impact the daily life of Minnesota residents.  The booklet Read More

Bell Ringer: 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments

From C-Span Classroom Students will be able to explain the relationship among the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Bell ringer video (4:32): https://www.c-span.org/classroom/document/?1323 Username: students Read More

Congressional Moments Videos

From Indiana University Center on Representative Government “Examine key legislation throughout our country’s history that impacts our lives today. Watch videos featuring primary source images Read More

Gerrymandering: Crash Course Government and Politics #37

From CrashCourse This video covers the topic of Gerrymandering, the process in which voting districts are redrawn (usually in census years) in a way to Read More

Pulling the Curtain – Voting in America

From BackStory With The American History Guys “In this episode of BackStory, the History Guys look at voting trends – from the changing mechanisms of Read More

A Brief History of the FBI’s Involvement In U.S. Elections

From BackStory With The American History Guys “Just what is the role of the FBI when investigating politicians and did [FBI Directory James] Comey cross Read More

Video: How does ranked-choice voting work?

Under the Minneapolis’ ranked choice voting system, also called instant runoff voting, voters choose up to three candidates and rank them — first choice, second Read More

Constitution USA – Episode III: Created Equal (Equality)

Part III of a four-part series hosted by Peter Sagal. Viewers are introduced to some of today’s major constitutional debates. For “each contemporary story, Sagal Read More

PolitiFact

PolitiFact staffers research statements made by elected officials, candidates, leaders of political parties and political activists, and rate their accuracy on the Truth-O-Meter, from True Read More

ProCon.org – 2016 Presidential Election: The Candidates and Where They Stand on the Issues

Researched non-partisan pro-con presentations of where US presidential candidates stand on issues. http://2016election.procon.org

The Living Room Candidate

The Living Room Candidate: Presidential campaign commercials from 1952-2016. http://www.livingroomcandidate.org

270towin.com

270towin.com: This website educates its audience on the Electoral College system through the use of an interactive Electoral College map for 2016 and a history Read More

FactCheck.org

FactCheck.org: A nonpartisan, nonprofit project which monitors “…the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, Read More

Project Vote Smart

Voting records, campaign finances, interest group ratings, public statements, issue positions, and biographical and contact information for every candidate and elected official from President to Read More

Blue Feed, Red Feed

From The Wall Street Journal See Liberal Facebook and Conservative Facebook, Side by Side. To demonstrate how reality may differ for different Facebook users, The Read More

The Election of 1800 Animatic

Published June 12, 2016 by Giselle Duration: 04:03 This animated video depicts the election of 1800 using the lyrics from the Hamilton, the Musical.  Students Read More

Presidential Debate Analysis (current and historical)

From C-Span Classroom This lesson allows students to compare and contrast the current presidential debates with past presidential debates. Students will watch and evaluate Presidential Read More

“I Side With” political ideology quiz

I Side With – Political Ideology quiz. Can take shorter or longer version of quiz. Matches up beliefs with the 5 major candidates and explains Read More

Debate Observation and Analysis Sheet (2016)

From The Learning Network “The presidential debates give students a chance to see both candidates side by side, answering questions about the nation’s most serious Read More

Election 2016: Analyzing a Campaign Ad

From The Learning Network Students watch two short television commercials, one representing each campaign. A sampling of commercials promoting each candidate (some were created by Read More

Teaching With: ‘How to Win an Election’

From The Learning Network “In this short documentary, a leading political strategist explains how candidates use the art of storytelling to help swing elections. Encourage Read More

FRONTLINE: How Voting Laws Have Changed

From PBS LearningMedia “Examine data about the voting rights laws that most impact Americans’ access to the ballot box and how they’ve changed across the Read More

VOTING LAWS AND VOTING RIGHTS

By Street Law Inc. August 2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the landmark Voting Rights Act. Recent years have seen many changes in and many debates Read More

The Right to Vote & Restrictions on Voting

From Street Law Activity: Students consider state voting laws (North Carolina, Texas, North Dakota, Ohio) that limit registration, voting times, or voter identification. They examine Read More

Voting Matters To Me

by JoEllen Ambrose, Jennifer Bloom, Alex Gray, and Filiz Yargici This 3-4 day unit will prepare students to vote by showing them why voting matters Read More

Congress Protects the Right to Vote: The Voting Rights Act of 1965

From The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration’s Center for Legislative Archives “By analyzing evidence reviewed by the House Judiciary Committee related to the Voting Read More

Minnesota Election Vocabulary

At quizlet.com Use this learning tool to play around with flashcards, matching games, multiple choice tests. Minnesota Election Vocabulary: http://quizlet.com/45297243/minnesota-election-vocabulary-flash-cards/alphabetical

11 Excellent Reasons Not To Vote

From New York Times, By Errol Morris In this Op-Doc video, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris speaks with young Americans about the merits of voting Read More

Decoding the Video: Bad Romance (Women’s Suffrage)

Learn more about the passage of the 19th Amendment by watching Soomo Publishing’s five-minute parody music video of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” (2012 Emmy Award recipient for Best Informational/Instructional Program.)
vote/ voting/ suffrage

The Redistricting Game

USC Annenberg Center for Communication The Redistricting Game is designed to educate, engage, and empower citizens around the issue of political redistricting. Currently, the political system Read More

Minimum Voting Age (DDA)

This lesson is designed to promote the teaching and learning of democratic principles and the skills of civic deliberation. Students complete a reading (available in Read More

Classroom Electorate

Students take on the role of a political analyst, forecasting the electoral vote count for the presidential election.

Voting Activities for Grades K-2

The intent of this theme is to educate students about elections, from gaining an appreciation of the power of voting, to studying the candidates and issues, to understanding the registration process and participating in an election.

The Powers of Getting a Drink (An Activity for Teaching the Concept of “Implied Power”)

A dramatic scene in a high school government or civics class provides the setting. Students follow a process of inductive reasoning in a situation which is especially relevant to their daily lives. In the scene, the teacher grants a student permission to get a drink of water and the student begins to leave the room. But does he or she have “implied” authority to get out of his seat, open the door, and walk out into the hall?

Voting! What’s It All About?

A series of eight lessons on voting. Students discuss information, read from a variety of sources, collect images, articles, and other things they can use to create a graffiti wall about voting. They create a chart listing what they know about the current election and how they know it, then examine the chart to determine which items are fact and which are opinion. They explore the history of voting and voting rights and create a timeline of voting history.

Minnesota Constitutional Amendment: Voter ID

This lesson focuses on the proposed amendment to the Minnesota Constitution requiring a photo ID to vote.

New voter photo ID laws: Preventing fraud or discriminating?

This “Speak Out” from the Annenberg Classroom supports online discussion of these questions: Are voter ID laws necessary to prevent election fraud? Are the voter Read More

Expanding Voting Rights

Expanding Voting Rights traces changes in voting rights through the early republic, African-American suffrage, women’s suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the 26th Amendment

Voter ID, Voting Requirements, and Vote Counting

A collection of lesson plans from the American Bar Association that teach voting requirements, voter ID laws, and vote counting laws.

Voting In Congress

Through an interactive PowerPoint presentation, students learn what factors members of Congress consider when deciding whether to vote for a bill. These include the powers given to Congress by the Constitution (“necessary and proper” clause highlighted), members’ personal opinions, political party support, and what voters think. During the first part of the lesson, students find out about each of these factors and participate in mini-quizzes to check for understanding. During the second part, students try their hand at weighing the factors by considering hypothetical bills. This lesson is part of the Legislative Branch curriculum. While the graphics and some of the examples in this lesson are appropriate for younger students, the content also works well for high school.

Voting Rights

With guided notes, students explore the evolution of voting rights in the United States through an interactive PowerPoint presentation highlighting landmark changes. They apply knowledge of voting legislation to individual scenarios through a class activity. This lesson is part of the Politics and Public Policy curriculum. The Teacher’s guide has a useful “Voting Rights: A Brief History” chart.

The Electoral Process

Take a peek into the electoral process- from party primaries to the general election. Students will learn the distinctions between the popular vote and the Electoral College, and exercise their critical reasoning skills to analyze the differences between the presidential and congressional elections. Students will also contrast the various nomination processes and learn about the role of party conventions in American politics.

Compulsory Voting (DDA)

This lesson is designed to promote the teaching and learning of democratic principles and the skills of civic deliberation. Students complete a reading (available in English, Spanish, and Audio-English) and engage in a Structured Academic Controversy. Deliberation question: Should voting be compulsory in our democracy?

Failure is Impossible – Woman Suffrage

To dramatize the debate for woman suffrage, playwright Rosemary Knower was commissioned to write a narrative script, drawing on the Congressional Record, petitions to Congress, personal letters within the legislative records of the Government, and other archival sources such as newspaper editorials and articles, diaries and memoirs.

The American Presidency – grades 4-6

This group of lessons was created as part of the permanent American Presidency – A Glorious Burden exhibit at the National Museum of American History.

The American Presidency – grades 7-9

This group of lessons was created as part of the permanent American Presidency – A Glorious Burden exhibit at the National Museum of American History.

The American Presidency – grades 10-12

This group of lessons was created as part of the permanent American Presidency – A Glorious Burden exhibit at the National Museum of American History.

Extending Suffrage to Women

In this interactive activity, students will see eleven different documents arguing both for and against voting rights for women. Their task is to put them in the order that they were created, making a list of the arguments that suffragists and anti-suffragists used to convince others of their opinions.

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony: The Woman Suffrage Movement, A Document-Based Question

Students are asked to use primary source documents, knowledge of the period from 1865–1873, and knowledge of Susan B. Anthony to answer: To what extent did the trial of Susan B. Anthony advance the cause of suffrage for women?

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony: Interpreting the Fourteenth Amendment, A Simulation Activity

In order to examine the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment and the suffragists’ arguments in favor of voting rights, students write scripts for and reenact a hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary as well as reenact a jury deliberation in the Susan B. Anthony trial.

Private: The Trial of Susan B. Anthony: Public Audiences for a Federal Trial, A Primary Source Activity

Susan B. Anthony presented her public audiences and the federal court with her argument that, because the vote was the essential and defining right of citizenship, the recognition of United States citizenship in the Fourteenth Amendment extended suffrage to women. Students read and then analyze primary sources related to this case.

Felon Voting

“Should felons be allowed to vote?” is the core question explored on this site, with arguments and support given both pro and con. The topic of felon voting is further explored pro-con by categories.

Seize the Vote

This in an online interactive voting rights game which addresses historical and current suffrage issues.

Vote America!

Vote America! educates students about suffrage. The struggles of the civil rights era, passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 15th, 19th, and 26th amendments to the U.S. Constitution are chronicled in this video.

Claim Your Powers

This cooperative small group activity will involve students in a class competition. Groups are assigned one of the three branches of government and points are awarded when groups correctly claim the branches power and/or checks the branch has over other branches. Students will claim powers based on their reading and application of the first three articles of the Constitution to hypothetical situations. The constitutional themes presented are separation of powers and checks and balances.

Fourth Amendment’s Protections in the Home

In this lesson, students will be presented with a brief summary of the scope of the Fourth Amendment as it relates to the home. They will read the facts of the Supreme Court case California v. Greenwood and work in small groups to deliberate as the Supreme Court would. After reaching a decision in their groups, they will be provided with the Supreme Court’s reasoning and have an opportunity to compare their explanations with those of the Court. The lesson includes background information and relevant case summaries for the teacher.

Juvenile Sentencing

This lesson plan will aid students in understanding the goals of the juvenile justice system and the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment by participating in a Mock Appellate Argument.

Our extensive library of civics lesson plans makes it easy to find the right lesson at the right time for the right students. These lessons include materials developed by Learning Law and Democracy Foundation and lessons written by others, vetted and linked to their source.

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