This collection of Lesson Plans, created specifically for Democracy & Me, is a great resource for teaching the political and electoral process in The United States.
United States Elections: History of Voting Rights & Public Policy:
Students will investigate and be able to explain how the United States Constitution can be changed from time to time through both formal and informal processes (e.g. amendments, court cases, executive actions) to meet the needs of its citizens or political groups.
Download the Lesson Plan Here
Download the Worksheet Here
Gerrymandering – How States Influence National Elections:
Students will investigate and be able to defend an argument pertaining to historical policies and practices that have influenced the outcomes of state and federal elections.
Basic Principles Defining American Government:
Students will investigate how the processes of persuasion, compromise, consensus building and negotiation contribute to the resolution of conflicts and differences.
Download the Lesson Plan Here
Download the Worksheet Here
How Does The Constitution Get Amended?:
Students will investigate how Constitutional government in the United States has changed over time as a result of amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court decisions, legislation and informal practices.
Curriculum: Create a Candidate:
Students will research the stances on major policy issues held by both political parties, debate the issues from the point of view of one party, and create a hypothetical political candidate by developing a campaign strategy.
Curriculum: Reading Your Rights:
Students will identify the historic and contextual rationale behind the inclusion of each of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights from the 18th century perspective and discuss the role of each right in our political culture today.
There are three documents to be downloaded:
A PowerPoint Presentation is also available:
Curriculum: Law of the Land Scavenger Hunt:
Students become familiar with the text of the Constitution, its organization and format. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to identify the major theme of each article and basic information about government structure as established by the Constitution.
There are two documents to be downloaded:
Curriculum: Convention Call:
Students will identify the problems facing the United States under the Articles of Confederation government and how these problems led to the organization of the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
There are two documents to be downloaded:
Curriculum: Founders’ Facebook:
Students will identify the characteristics of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention by conducting research. They will also determine the role that a particular delegate played in the ratification debate.
There are three documents to be downloaded:
- Founders’ Facebook Lesson Plan
- Founders’ Facebook Constitution Delegate Worksheet
- Founders’ Facebook Template
Curriculum: Election 1912:
Students will research the candidates in the 1912 Presidential election and their stances on major policy issues and compare them to issues that are important to voters today. Students will also choose a nominee and develop a campaign button that will best represent the candidate and his ideas.
Download the Lesson Plan Here
Download the Worksheet Here
You’ve Got Issues:
Students will form teams to research an issue of importance and argue the issue from either the Liberal/Democratic point of view or the conservative/Republican point of view. The issues will be debated in class.