This video helps students make sense of the American election process by learning how citizens decide who to vote for in the election, the importance of the electoral college, and how swing states affect the outcomes of an election.

In this lesson, students will explore voter turnout in North Carolina and through a short reading, they will learn about the various reasons for depressed voter turnout in the US. Students will then learn about various "Get Out the Vote" (GOTV) efforts to combat low turnout through platforms such as Twitter and various GOTV commercials. As a culminating project, students will create their own GOTV campaigns for the First Vote school-wide election simulation.

This video will help students understand the nomination process for political parties. They will learn how primaries and caucuses help determine the candidate that will best represent a party platform, the role of delegates and super delegates in the election process, and the impact of "Super Tuesday."

In this lesson, students will learn about registering and voting in North Carolina, particularly focusing on North Carolina's preregistration law, which allows 16 and 17 year-olds to pre-register to vote. The law was originally effective January 1, 2010 but was repealed in 2013 by NC's Voter Information Verification Act. In July 2016, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a number of VIVA's provisions and reinstated pre-registration for 16 and 17 year-olds. Students will also explore the importance of registering and voting, as well as the reasons for voter apathy. This lesson will culminate with students creating a commercial to encourage North Carolina’s 16 and 17 year-olds to pre-register to vote.

In this lesson, students examine the role of the Internet as a political campaign tool using reason, facts and examples in class discussion activities. Students will work in small groups to brainstorm reasons why they agree or disagree with a statement related to the role of technology as an election tool and then draw conclusions from the content of a news article and use this information and the conclusions they have drawn as part of a class discussion activity.

This inquiring leads the students through an investigation about our current election process.  The students will receive a broad overview of how the US Presidential election process works.  At the end of the research the students will understand four key components to the presidential election process; being the Electoral College, influence of the media, role of interest groups and PACS, and the role of the voting citizenry. After learning about the election process and the “big players” the students will read through documents, analyze charts and infographics, and watch videos pertaining to the importance of voting. 

In this lesson plan, students examine the evolution of Latino electoral participation with specific reference to the growth of voter participation in South Texas and New York in the 1950s – 70s, as well as the impact of Latino voters in major elections of the early 2000s. Students will explore early efforts to mobilize disenfranchised voters, examine watershed campaigns and elections and consider major issues – including the politics of immigration. They will reflect on the major paradigm shifts that have occurred within the last 60 years. Teachers can complete the entire sequence of activities or choose just one of the activities as a stand-alone lesson.

Students will read and discuss the differing views on voting procedures. Students are placed into six groups, pretending to be a subcommitte of the state legislature, and receive a voting policy to defend using arguments from information provided in the article.

Students gain an understanding of midterm elections and discuss reasons why voter turnout remains low.

Students understand the many important positions in state and local government and that local elections and ballot measures have a great impact on their lives. Students will also analyze the merits of candidates and ballot measures in their local elections.

This lesson will be a look at the role morality plays in presidential elections. The lesson will require students to view different candidates for president and their standpoints on moral issues. Students will be required to identify the impact they believe morality plays in elections, and based on their own results from a survey on political party affiliation, will need to identify why issue standpoints have proven more pertinent in elections and if this hold true for them.

Students can use this interactive site from the US National Archives and Records Administration to view the electoral votes, popular votes, electors, and certificates of past presidential elections.

This video explains the role of political campaigns in elections. Students will learn why we have campaigns, why the campaign seasons run so long, and why campaigns cost so much.

Students gain an understanding of the evolving presence of political parties in the history of the United States, as well as the role of third parties in the political process. Students work in groups to apply what they have learned by designing a tombstone for a historical (or rather "dead") US political party.

In this lesson, students consider how the media's coverage of politics is influencing public opinion on politicians and the election process. A set of discussion questions is provided. In an associated activity, students form small groups and analyze a list of topics and discuss whether or not they are newsworthy.

Students apply both quantitative and qualitative reasoning skills to profile a current election. Using polling and demographic data, they synthesize data, statistics and representations to investigate the mathematics of elections.

In this lesson, students explore voting laws in North Carolina and weigh the pros and cons of bills like VIVA.

Students explore voting laws in North Carolina and weigh the pros and cons of bills like VIVA. Based on class discussion and evidence they collect throughout the lesson, students make an informed decision regarding their opinion about North Carolina's election law.

This lesson provides various activities to analyze election results and voter demographic, as well as ways for students to share and offer their own commentary on the election process and results post-election throughout the school and community.