The Classroom

Get the Content You Need To Teach About U.S. Election Day

Christy Walters

Oct 23, 2024

When an election cycle occurs in our country, students often have questions and opinions about the voting process, candidates, or policy issues. We have all the content and activities you need to engage with them about U.S. Election Day:

Give students the U.S. Election Day facts with social studies activities

Teach students about the election process and keep up to date with the election using our 2024 Election Resources text set for social studies:

Stay informed with current events content

The latest news from the presidential election campaign trail changes every day. Help your students stay informed and up to date with current events topics using resources like:

The full text of President Joe Biden’s statement about dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
A news article about Vice President Kamala Harris accepting the Democratic presidential nomination and choosing Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
An informational article about the attempted assassination of Republican candidate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally.
An informational article about the increasing use of deepfake AI technology to mislead voters and interfere with elections.
An analysis article about the weight of celebrity endorsements on elections.

Meet the candidates

Help students get to know the next potential leaders of our country with candidate profiles on:

Vice President Kamala Harris (Democratic presidential candidate)
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (Democratic vice presidential candidate)
Former President Donald Trump (Republican presidential candidate)
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (Republican vice presidential candidate)

Explore the voting process

Though most students are too young to vote in the upcoming election, they may have questions about how the voting process works. Use our Registering to Vote lesson to help them understand:

How to navigate the voter registration process in the United States.
What state-level measures may limit voter participation in elections.
How votes get counted in the Electoral College.

See how elections work

Elections are far more than just one day of casting votes and one night of counting them. Help students understand the full scope of the electoral process with the following lesson:

Discuss the importance of Super Tuesday in a presidential primary election.
Explore how political parties pick their presidential nominees.
Play a game using fictional candidates and different electoral processes to see how nominations can change based on the circumstances.

Understand the Electoral College

Although each eligible citizen can cast their vote for president, a group of electors from each state are the ones who ultimately decide who will take office. This concept is tricky for most students to understand, but you can make it clearer for them with content like:

The full text of Federalist Paper 68, written by Alexander Hamilton, which explains how the Electoral College was established.
An article about the Great Compromise, a deal the Founding Fathers struck during the 1787 Constitutional Convention to resolve a dispute over states’ congressional representation.
An article that explains the purpose of swing states that can affect the outcome of a presidential election.

Learn about political parties

Two major political parties select candidates for each presidential election: The Democrats and the Republicans. Help students learn more about what being a member of a political party means and how they’ve evolved over time with resources like:

An explainer article about the two-party system in the U.S. and the values most commonly held by Democrats and Republicans.
An interactive video that explains what political parties are and why they exist.
An article that looks at why it’s so challenging for third-party candidates—like those from the Green Party or the Libertarian Party—to get on presidential ballots.

Define civic engagement

Civic engagement is the act of partaking in local or national events or supporting relevant causes. Voting is just one thing people can do to be engaged with their local communities and their country. Help students understand the responsibilities of civic engagement with resources like:

An explainer article that defines civic engagement and activities associated with it.
A perspective article on why our country’s youngest voters often have low turnouts at elections.
A news article about the March for Our Lives youth movement that supports causes like school safety and encouraging young people to vote.

Introduce students to media literacy

Most—if not all—of our campaign and election coverage filters through some form of media. Introduce students to the basics of media literacy to learn how to be smart, honest, and respectful when interacting with election content. Use resources like:

An interactive video that introduces students to media literacy and what it means to consume media.
A tips article that lists four ways to protect yourself from disinformation in the media.
An article about New Jersey’s information literacy education law that requires all K-12 students to receive information and media literacy education in schools.

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Discover how to validate news sources and information

All news isn’t created equally. Certain publications or outlets may have a partisan perspective on the things they report. And with so many individuals who have access to social media, unvetted blogging platforms, and other tools, it’s easier now than ever to encounter unvalidated news and information. Use these resources to teach students about journalistic ethics and how to validate the news and information around them:

Read an article about the history of Yellow Journalism, or deceptive journalistic practices.
Share an article that teaches how using critical thinking and healthy skepticism when encountering media can help you determine what information is valid.
Explore an article that gives tips on how to spot unvalidated news, information, and publishers online.

Discover and debate important U.S. election issues with ELA lessons

Debates and discussions are cornerstones of any electoral process. Help students dive into them with our ELA Resources for the 2024 Presidential Election collection:

Research how state and local governments run

Although presidential elections get a lot of attention, they’re not the only ones that matter! Assign a research project about state and local government officials and elections that encourages students to explore:

The purposes of government and the various roles within a government.
The rights and responsibilities attached to citizenship in a specific country.
How state and local governments function in the United States.

Debate the effectiveness of the Electoral College

The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College to make sure citizens of all states—no matter their population or size—got a fair chance at electing the United States' next leaders. But not everyone thinks the Electoral College is a beneficial institution. Have students debate this issue by looking at content like:

A video about how the Electoral College works.
A pro/con article showing different points of view about whether it’s time to abolish the Electoral College.
An opinion article that discusses the complexities of the Electoral College and how it affects the outcome of presidential elections.

Debate the voting age in the United States

The current voting age in the United States is 18, lowered from 21 in 1988. But some people think that even younger citizens should be able to weigh in on who runs their country. Have students debate the legal voting age by reviewing content like:

A video about who has the right to vote in the United States.
An explainer article that discusses the voting process and voter eligibility in our country.
An article that looks at the issues surrounding the debate over lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 in elections.

Debate the voting rights of incarcerated U.S. citizens

In most states, people who are currently incarcerated or who have previously been incarcerated are no longer eligible to vote in elections. Some people believe this isn’t a fair practice. Have students debate this issue by reviewing content like:

A pro/con article that looks at the benefits and drawbacks of allowing incarcerated people to vote.
An article that dissects the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
A 2016 news article that discussed restored voting rights for about 13,000 formerly incarcerated people in Virginia.

Teach “Election Day, November, 1884” by Walt Whitman

Elections talk even makes its way into fiction and literary nonfiction. Show students how elections can be the topic of poems by doing the following lesson:

Before reading, have students build background knowledge on the 1884 election.
Then, assign Walt Whitman’s “Election Day, November, 1884.”
End with a whole class discussion about the piece, and ask students to answer questions like, “What did Whitman say about the 1884 presidential election,” or “How was the 1884 election similar to or different from our current election cycle?”

Explore the rhetoric behind campaigns and elections

Election campaigns often use rhetoric—or the art of persuasion—to encourage people to agree with a candidate’s point of view on key issues and vote for them. You can use our Elections, Campaigns, and Rhetorical Analysis collection to help students understand how rhetoric works in politics. Choose from lessons like:

Newsela is your go-to resource for educational election content

Answer all your students' questions about the election process, candidates, and top policy issues with Newsela’s election resources. We have everything you need to source content, start healthy discussions, and handle tricky situations that could arise during your lessons. Check out some of the resources designed to make your life easier:

From the Polls to Pedagogy: Teaching the 2024 Election On-Demand Webinar: Get tips on creating engaging and thought-provoking election lessons.
Election and Media Literacy Resources Mini Toolkit: Get templates, printables, and tips to help you teach media literacy and other key election concepts this season.
4 Ways To Promote Civics and Media Literacy Guide: Get tips on the most effective ways to weave civics and digital media literacy lessons together during your election discussions.
Election Resources Guide: Discover all the great election content you can access with your Newsela products this November!

Not a Newsela customer yet? Create your free Newsela Lite account to activate your 45-day free trial of our premium products. You’ll have access to all our great election content, plus 15,000+ other pieces of content and activities that you can use to teach your students about any subject in your curriculum!