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Current Event

Teaching Resources for the US Elections

Use these resources on voting, media literacy, polarization, and bias to talk about US elections with your high school and middle school students.

Published: March 28, 2022

Collection

Language

English — US

Subject

Civics & Citizenship
History
Social Studies

Grade

6–12

Democracy & Civic Engagement

Overview

Facing History’s US election resources were designed and curated to help students explore the role of elections, voting, and civic participation in creating and sustaining a just and healthy democracy.

Examine the historical struggle for voting rights and the importance of ensuring that today’s elections are free and fair.
Consider the factors that shape our political decision making and the role of media literacy.
Explore the many ways that young people, both current and future voters, make their voices heard and choose to participate.

This collection includes:

Flexible mini-lessons to explore election news and related history.
Printable explainers to introduce key terms and concepts.
Classroom routines and guides geared towards community building and fostering inclusive, constructive discourse among your students in both remote and in-person settings.

Inside this Collection

Explainer

This Explainer describes the standards that governments need to meet before, during, and after an election to ensure that the election is "free and fair."

A line of U.S. voters submitting their ballots behind privacy screens.

Explainer

This Explainer defines the term political polarization and provides information on how it impacts US politics and society.

Mini-Lesson

This mini-lesson provides students with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of democracy and a framework for making meaning of news stories about the tensions and conflicts in democracies today.

Collection

Explore this collection of lesson plans that cover a wide range of themes related to democracy, including citizen power and civic participation, the rule of law, the role of a free press, and more.

A magnifying glass over the definition of democracy in a dictionary.

Mini-Lesson

Use these activities to help students reflect on the themes in Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Day poem and consider how their unique experiences and voices can help America “forge a union with purpose.”

Photo of Amanda Gorman at Biden's Inauguration.

Mini-Lesson

In this mini-lesson, students learn about the history of democratic and anti-democratic efforts in the United States and examine sources that illuminate this tension from Reconstruction through today.

Mini-Lesson

In this mini-lesson, students learn about the history of voting rights in the United States and consider how current voting laws in different states impact voters today.

Mini-Lesson

This mini-lesson uses our Free and Fair Elections Explainer to help students reflect on the importance of elections, define the phrase “free and fair elections,” and learn about electoral systems in their region.

Hand putting Jefferson County Colorado election ballot envelope into ballot drop box in early voting mail election

Mini-Lesson

Explore why young people tend to vote at lower rates and how they can get more involved in elections.

Mini-Lesson

Explore media bias using recent news coverage of controversial events and help students think about what healthy news habits they want to adopt.

Teaching Strategy

Help students identify and analyze the key characteristics of the three most common types of news articles.

Students in library working on computers

Guide

The ideas and tools in this guide will help you prepare students to engage in reflective conversations on topics that matter, whether you are in a remote, hybrid, or in-person setting.

We recommend these materials for further exploration of democracy and civic engagement in the United States.

Matrix and Checklist

Teaching for Democracy Alliance

Educator Resources

Educating for American Democracy

Above the Noise

KQED

Youth Media Challenges

KQED

The Learning Network

The New York Times

Resource Library

News Literacy Project

Lesson

Use this lesson to help your students understand more about the origins of race as a socially constructed concept and racism as a force that shapes society.

Lesson

Use this lesson when your students are engaging with a text that contains racist and dehumanising language.

Uniformed high school students write at their desks.

Lesson

Use this lesson to help your students explore the impact of racism in the UK and what can be done to challenge it.

Uniformed school students complete assignments at their desks.

Assessment

Students participate in a people's assembly centered on the question, how might we challenge all types of racism in the UK so that everyone can thrive?

Unit

This unit is designed to help teachers in the UK have conversations about race with their students in a safe, sensitive, and constructive way.

Lesson

Students establish a safe space for holding sensitive conversations, before introducing the events surrounding Ferguson, by acknowledging people's complicated feelings about race and creating a classroom contract.

Lesson

Students explore the role of social media in Ferguson, apply information verification strategies to social media posts, and develop strategies for becoming critical consumers and sharers of social media.

Peaceful demonstrators gather in Ferguson, Missouri, in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death.

Lesson

Students evaluate the differences among news accounts about Ferguson, develop strategies for verifying news and information, and understand the challenges facing journalists as they cover complex, fast-moving events.

Unit

Help students become informed and effective civic participants in today's digital landscape. This unit is designed to develop students' critical thinking, news literacy, civic engagement, and social-emotional skills and competencies.

Peaceful protestor speaks to police officer in Ferguson.

Mini-Lesson

This mini-lesson is a guide for teachers to begin conversations with their students about George Floyd’s death and the events that surround it.

Image of people marching in a protest for George Floyd.

Mini-Lesson

The mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue capped off a week of hate crimes and political violence in the United States. This mini-lesson help teachers and students process the events and reflect on what they mean for them and their communities.

Lesson

Students review the First Amendment, understand the importance of a free press, and consider how that freedom can conflict with other societal needs through journalists’ experiences in Ferguson.

Newspaper front page featuring story about protests and police in Ferguson.

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The resources I’m getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable.

— Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif

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Teaching Resources for the US Elections