The lesson plan listed below are designed to tie to national and regional standards for civics, social studies, history, mathematics, language arts and citizenship education. This list is not all inclusive; we will continue to update the list and eliminate any links that close, are found to be unfactual or deceptive. The resources included are those generally considered most relevant to the topic and worthwhile for their content and services. We urge you to explore these resources for their information, ideas, and services. Please suggest other resources you think we should list here. Notify us if you think a resource listed here has become deceptive or unfactual.

Lesson Plans and Ideas for Primary Students

	Smart Art
	This activity asks students to examine and practice the art of political cartoon-making by focusing on how and why they are so effective in making a political point.
	If I Were President
	Make a class book about what your students would do if they were president.
	Budget Making
	Introduce students to budgets, expenses and savings; learn about government services and basic expenses; and create pie charts representing government spending priorities.
	Download Election Material
	Run an election in your class. Resources include manifestos, party logos, posters, ballot papers and role play cards.
	Why Vote?
	Learn about the important public services that government provides, and by extension, the importance of voting in local, state and federal elections. Create a public service campaign to encourage adults in your community to vote.

Lesson Plans and Ideas for Secondary Students

	Learning About Elections: Campaigning and Voting Lessons
	It’s election year. Do your students know how to campaign for a candidate? If you think they need help in understanding election basics, try this classroom project.
	Why Vote? A Public Debate Awareness Campaign
	Students will learn that towns include people whose jobs contribute to the quality of community life.
	Access, Analyze, Act: A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement
	Discover the power of social media while promoting your students’ civic engagement
	Political Polls
	In a society which surveys everything from soap used to political preference, it is essential that polls are neither feared nor revered. Students must know polls are statements of short term probability that may easily be skewed. They are a tool to help man make rational decisions.
	Campaign Ad Critique
	Students analyse current campaign TV ads and literature. They identify the ad by "type." They learn to look beyond the ad to understand its intended purposes and its real content.
	Download Election Material
	Run an election in your class. Resources include manifestos, party logos, posters, ballot papers and role play cards.
	Learning Through Elections
	"Learning Through Elections" includes lesson plans, activities and background information designed to support teachers across Key Stages 3 and 4 in bringing the concepts of citizenship and democracy to life.
	Election Time using a Database
	Students, working in groups, use various resources to answer prepared questions about the candidates. Students will enter their data into a prepared database. With teacher guidance, students will learn to use the database to find information.
	Reading newspapers: Editorial and opinion pieces
	A learner's guide to identifying, reading, and understanding editorial and opinion pieces in historical newspapers.
	What Matters Most?
	Most students are too young to vote, but they can still participate in the election process by sharing their views. This lesson plan includes some activities to encourage students to articulate their opinions.
	Campaigning For Change
	In this lesson, students select a school issue of importance to them, the faculty and the administrative staff, and devise a proposal for mounting a campaign around the issue.
	Persuasion and Political Debate
	This lesson gives students a chance to participate, observe and discuss the rhetorical strategies that best suit a presidential debate format.
	Writing a Political Speech
	Students practice the writing process in small groups while researching the platforms of political parties for speeches to be made in the same venue. Each group creates its own standard for assessing its political speech, which is, in turn, used by an audience to assess that group's speech and to corroborate the instructor's assessment of that speech.
	Analyzing Political Ads
	Students will view current political ads and learn how they make use of various commercial ad appeals. Students will also develop familiarity with basic videography terms.
	Political Commercials: Leading or Misleading Voters?
	Students analyze commercials and look for logical fallacies. They then use a storyboard template to make their own commercial for a fictitious candidate, using the techniques and fallacies they've learned.
	Creating Video Public Service Announcements
	Students will identify ways increased voter participation could impact the issues of concern to their communities and write, shoot, and edit a 10-30 second public service announcement on the importance of voting.
	Political Polling in Your Community
	Students read about how polls are written, conducted, and used by candidates, and about problems inherent in political polling.
	Voting
	By brainstorming, developing, and implementing an action plan for boosting local voter registration or participation, students can analyze voter participation statistics and make inferences for why voter participation has decreased.
	Get it on the Ballot
	In this real-life, hands-on activity, students will research referenda/ballot initiatives in their areas, choose something to put on the ballot, and compose a petition and gather signatures.
	Voting Rights: What Age is Too Young?
	Students will construct a timeline of voting rights in the US, perform biographical research on someone important to voting rights, and finally write a letter to their US Representative taking a position on lowering the voting age to 16.
	Political Satire
	Students get to take a serious look at a funny subject and understand better how political satire is used during an election.