Elections 
 

• Scholastic Election 2008 - contains campaign news, election blog, election games, and many other activities.

  •  Click here for the Scholastic Election Internet Hunt

• iCue -- interactive website from NBC News.  Check out the Decision  section under courses.

• Common Craft Video explanation of voting in the US

• INFOhio Election Resources

• Constitutional Rights Foundation -- Election 2008 links

• America Votes 2008 CNN --  up-to-date information, electoral college map, and polls

• Road to the Whitehouse with CSPAN has resources that will help you teach the election process from the primaries and caucuses through Election Day.

• C-SPAN in the classroom Campaign 2008 Clips

• Time for Kids Election 2008 - 

• Fact Check.org Annenberg Political Fact Checker- nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.

• Open Secrets this site reports and analyzes campaign spending as it happens.

• Presidency 2008 - Includes information on all candidates including independents and write-ins.

• Polling Report.com  -- check out the results of current polls

• Real Clear Politics - has links to articles, columns/editorials, and polling data updated daily.

• Ohio Election Central -- includes Ohio ballot

• Presidential Election Coverage: Vote 2008

• Google Election Tools for Teachers

• ABC-CLIO -- The Presidency today and in history.  Free until the election

• In Quotes pull up 20 different US politicians and see a variety of quotes on several issues.

• Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President

• League of Women Voters Election Guide

• Growing Voters 2008

• 2008 National Cyber Convention Project

Mock Elections -- a chance for students to vote
 

Mock Elections -- quick voting on the spot

• Scholastic Vote for the President

Mock Elections -- Must Pre-register

• Election 2008 Project online project by Sue Golubic Boardman Schools

• National Student Parent Mock Election The National Student/Parent Mock Election makes students and parents aware of the power of their ballot by actively involving them in a full-fledged campaign and national election. In the last two presidential election years alone, over 10 million students, parents and teachers participated in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and 14 countries/territories around the world where Americans are based. Click on Curriculum for lesson plans for all grade levels, covering a guide to the electoral process, issues in the election, motivating citizens and a mock election handbook. Numerous student activities support learning about the entire election process.

• Youth Leadership Initiative Mock Election

• Pearson Election Kit 

Electoral College - Interactive

• Electoral College Calculator - Predict the outcome of the electoral college state by state.

• Interactive Electoral College Map - Click on the state to choose the number of delegates

Elections Media Analysis
 

• Media Literacy Clearinghouse is devoted primarily to the 30-second campaign "spot;" so common in American elections. The site is designed to provide teachers with the tools they need to introduce political campaign advertising to their students.

• The Living Room Candidate Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 online exhibit from the American Museum of Moving Images contains clips of over 250 television commercials.

• PBS:  Access, Analyze, Act:  A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement - both elementary and secondary resources

The Parties/Candidates

• The Republican National Committee

• The Democratic National Committee

• The Libertarian Party

• The Green Party

• The Natural Law Party

• The Independent American Party

• Learn about the candidates including:

  • Hillary Clinton

  • John Edwards

  • Mike Huckabee

  • Barack Obama

  • Mitt Romney

  • Fred Thompson 

• Democratic Convention

• Republican Convention

Elections in History

• Elections in American Memory This is part of the American Memory Collection from the Library of Congress. Here you will find historical information and images of the election process. Explore the roles of voters, parties, and candidates.

• Election Statistics Click on an election year to see graphs of the electoral vote and the popular vote for the presidents. You can also see a map that shows the states won by the president. How does the popularity of the candidates vary in different parts of the country?

• History and Politics Outloud is a searchable archive of politically significant audio materials.

• Presidential Elections 1896-1996  

• Presidential Election 2000, Electoral and Popular Vote Summary

• Voter Turnout from 1945-2000

• The Ten Most Significant Elections in US History

• 1896: The Presidential Campaign The election of 1896 was one of the most contentious in U.S.

• ABC-CLIO Issues Election History Resources for the Classroom Free resources will be available September 5- November 4.

• Voting and Elections - a brief illustrated history of voting

• Commission of Federal Election Reform co-chaired by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, issued its report with 87 recommendations on September 19, 2005.

• Vote: The Machine of Democracy looks at the history of voting methods in the United States and explores how ballots and voting systems have evolved over the years as a response to political, social, and technological change, transforming the ways in which Americans vote

Activities

• Electing the President Crossword Puzzle

• Time for Kids Election Games

• Weekly Reader Election Fun

• 2008 Election Essay Contest Students can enter the 2008 Countdown to Election Day Essay Contest by writing an essay on a topic related to the 2008 election. Upon completing the essay, the student will receive immediate feedback on how well his or her essay was written.

Webquests/Projects

• What Do I Really Think? A Political Issue Research Activity (9-12) CongressLink WebQuest

• Winning the Seat A Congressional Election Simulation (9-12)

• Cast Your Vote!  Unit On Statistics (9-12)

• Election 2004 Webquest

• A classroom Webquest from Education World

• 2008 National Cyber Convention Project

• SelectSmart - select politics quizzes on the left side, you will be able to link to a survey that will match your political opinions with the presidential candidate that best aligns with your views. 

• Letter to the Next President: Writing Our Future For high school teachers and mentors who would like to capitalize on young people's interest in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, Google and the National Writing Project have teamed up to create this online writing and publishing project that invites young people to write about the issues and concerns they would want the next president to address and, with the support of their teachers, to publish their writing for a national audience.

• eLECTIONS Cable in the Classroom (CIC) created this free 3-Dimensional multimedia game in partnership with CNN Student News, C-SPAN and HistoryTM. eLECTIONS is the second in a series of broadband demonstrations showing the learning power of high-speed internet.

• Newspaper Election Activities: in all subject areas 

• Growing Voters - curriculum project with student centered learning activities for all grades.  Will be updated for 2008.

• Congress for Kids

Lesson Plans

• Pearson Election Kit - print and digital social students, civics, and government materials for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.

• Democracy Project Need a tasty idea for your election coverage at school? Why not create your own edible map, learning who your local and state officials are, and what issues they represent, as well as creating a map of your local or community government buildings and resources.

• CyberBee Election Activities A series of well-done lessons to teach about election history, campaign buttons, and much more; the links include one for teachers and online resources to support extension activities 

• MarcoGram  "As Election Day approaches, many Americans are paying close attention to the issues that affect them as individuals and as a nation. This month, the MarcoGram presents activities and lessons to help students understand the roles and responsibilities of the president and other elected officials, as well as the democratic process that gets them into office."

• Election Scavenger Hunt -- need not be done on the computer.

• Elect Me

• Hot Chalk Lessons  -- very comprehensive

• Elections: Classroom Activities great activities from Education World

• By the People: Election  PBS

• Lesley University: Growing Voters and Election  -Complete Materials for Teachers, Grades 1-12

• The Economics of Voting Why do so many voters stay away from the polls on election day?

• Winning the Vote: How Americans Elect Their President This social studies unit for grades 4 through 8 looks at the creation of the institution of the Presidency, the powers of the President, how to interpret an electoral map, the function of the Electoral College, presidential campaigning, and the roles of political parties. Student materials and worksheets are included.

• BFG for President an elementary school teacher  was involved with a project designed to teach the students about the election process by staging a mock contest between their favorite literary characters for the office of President of Never Never Land. The students nominated candidates, designed platforms, and composed songs and speeches to sway voters. The final vote was close, but in the end victory was awarded to "The BFG" and his running mate, "Amelia Bedelia".

• Vote For Me

• Campaign Finance Reform

• Voting What's It All About? Teaching tools included with this timely lesson plan include a list of books related to elections, links, a timeline tool, a persuasion map, and a fact-opinion writing rubric. Students are asked what they already know about voting, considering why people vote and what kinds of things we vote about. The whole class will create a graffiti wall mural on the items and articles they find on voting. This lesson plan can be used with the suggested book list or without the reading selections for an excellent exploration of our election system.

• ABC Teach Election Theme more reproducibles

• Election Related Books for Young People (pdf) For an annotated booklist of election-related children's books, see the Children's Book Council website, which provides a pdf file titled Election-Related Books for Young People 2004. It is seventeen pages long and is divided into four categories: Grades K-3, Grades 4-6, Grades 7-up, and About the Presidents.

• EdHelper's Election Theme Unit

• Election Results Map

• The Presidential Election Process

• Voting: A Privilege Through Registration

• The Voting Game

• Voting Simulation

• Teaching About Presidential Elections

• American Trustees Project Lesson Plans

• Ohio Government Resources

• Kids Connect Election 2008

• Election Central 

• CNN FYI 

• Lesson Plan Page

• Click here for Inspiration, Kidspiration and InspireData resources

Ohio Academic Content Standard

• Government 
• Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

updated 11/03/2009