Objective:
Students will understand the U.S. presidential election process, explore core American political values, and critically analyze current election issues.
Part 1: Understanding the Election Process
- Video Introduction: Start with the video “Electing a US President” by CommonCraft, which simplifies the U.S. presidential election process. Follow with the C-SPAN video “How the Electoral College Works” to clarify this essential component of U.S. elections.
- Class Discussion
Discuss the key points from both videos, covering aspects such as the Electoral College, primary elections, general election procedures, and the role of political parties. Encourage students to share their thoughts on how the Electoral College shapes election outcomes and its impact on voter engagement. - Additional Resources
- Overview of the Presidential Election Process by USA.gov – a simple, comprehensive guide to the process of electing a president over nearly two years.
- BBC’s Guide to the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election – offers an accessible explanation of the steps involved and includes helpful visuals and international perspectives.
- Student Reflection
Students write a brief blog post or journal entry summarizing the U.S. election process in their own words. Encourage them to reflect on any aspects they find particularly complex or significant.
Part 2: Exploring American Political Values
- Introduction to Core Values
Present the five core values of American political culture: liberty, equality, democracy, individualism, and nationalism. Use resources like the National Constitution Center to provide a historical and philosophical context for these values. Visual aids, such as infographics, can also help illustrate each value’s role in American society. - Class Discussion
Facilitate a conversation on how these values are evident in U.S. politics and policies. Discuss real-world examples, such as current debates around liberty (e.g., free speech), equality (e.g., civil rights), and democracy (e.g., voting rights). Draw on student experiences to compare these values with political or cultural values from other nations. - Student Assignment
Each student selects one value they admire. They then write a brief blog post comparing this value to a political or cultural value from their own country, highlighting similarities or contrasts.
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Part 3: Current Election Issues
- Resource Exploration
Introduce students to a range of resources to help them analyze the 2024 election issues:- PBS Learning Media’s Election Collection – contains NewsHour videos, lesson plans, and games that cover current election issues, political party stances, and candidate profiles.
- ABC News – Project 538 – a platform with national polls, fundraising information, and data visualizations tracking public opinion on key issues.
- New York Times 2024 Elections – features free access to their “Issues Tracker” and polling information, offering insights into party perspectives and current debate topics.
- Resource Exploration
4. National constitution center
- Group Activity
In small groups, students explore candidates’ issue positions using tools like PBS’s Election Collection or Project 538. Each group selects an issue (e.g., climate change, healthcare, or immigration) and discusses how candidates’ views align or diverge from each other. - Class Discussion
Regroup to discuss each issue and its importance in the upcoming election. Invite students to share which issue they think is most critical, encouraging them to consider the values and interests it reflects. - Reflection Assignment
Each student writes a short reflection on the issue they find most significant and explains why it matters to them personally or in a broader societal context.
Additional resources
- In our latest Conversation With a Journalist, students are discussing two articles reporting on a significant gender gap in the political preferences of Gen Z voters in the United States. The reporter Claire Cain Miller will be responding to students in our comments section.
- In our current What’s Going On in This Graph?, students are noticing and wondering about a graph on the issues most important to Harris voters, Trump voters and swing voters.
- We rounded up a selection of our favorite comments from students answering the question, What is your relationship with news? They discuss where they get it, how they navigate it — and why they think adults are more likely to fall for misinformation than they are.
- Our Coming of Age in 2024 multimedia contest invites students to explore their political identity and values. The deadline is Nov. 4.
- In addition, our Election 2024 Student Conversation Forums are still open. Over 4,000 students from across the country and around the world have shared their experiences and opinions so far. Source: The New York Times
PBS Learning Media – the Election Collection:
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a longstanding staple of the informal U.S.
educational media landscape. Their collection of PBS NewsHour videos, lesson plans, games, and more gives users a wide selection of information and resources for the classroom. While the materials are meant for native English speakers, experienced English speakers should have no problem following along.
ABC News – Project 538:
Like many broadcasting companies, ABC News has a dedicated elections information site.
ABC tracks national polls, fundraising and other aspects of the elections, and their staff
create graphs and other visuals that may be useful in the classroom. 538 is just one of
many projects ABC News produces, so it may be worth scrolling through to see what else
may be relevant for your classrooms.
New York Times 2024 Elections:
During elections, the NYT offers free access to their election news and polling information.
Their “Issues Tracker” tool offers insights into the variety of views within a particular party.
Issues span the current gambit of debate topics and topics candidates speak about online
and during campaign trail visits.
iCivics Game – Win the White House:
As a non-partisan civic education organization, iCivics offers not only its simulation game,
but also further materials for educators and interested students about U.S. civic education.
The free simulation game leads players through various challenges candidates face during
an election