Create Timely Lessons With These Election Day Activities
In 1788, the newly formed United States held its first federal elections. Voters chose George Washington as the country’s first president and also elected members of the first United States Congress. Over 200 years later, the United States still holds presidential elections every four years, where citizens can choose their next leaders and representatives.
Teach your students more about the history of our electoral process and introduce them to some key candidates from elections past with these interactive Election Day activities:
Election document and court case activities
Do your students know that some of our government’s founding documents contain language, clauses, and information about our electoral processes? Do they know that the Supreme Court has heard cases related to issues like voting rights?
Each document and court case has a paired activity from the shared Formative Library to engage students and make your Election Day lesson planning easier. You can customize the activity templates by adjusting settings like awarding partial credit for specific questions, randomizing the question order, and tagging questions to additional standards.
The Constitution of the United States of America
The Constitution of the United States details our government's structure and each branch's powers. Its amendments also address election issues, like who has the right to vote.
Marbury v. Madison
Before John Adams finished his presidency, he commissioned William Marbury as a justice of the peace. The new Secretary of State (and future president), James Madison, refused to uphold the commission. Marbury sued to take his post.
This ruling established the principle of judicial review—or the power of a court to decide if a government decision is constitutional—which is important for checks and balances to prevent one branch of government from gaining too much power.
Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz.
The Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona Supreme Court case focused on Arizona’s voter registration requirements and the National Voter Registration Act. In 2012, in a 7-2 decision, the Court ruled that Arizona’s current voter registration requirements were unlawful because they contradicted federal voting laws.
Presidential and vice presidential address and speech activities
Presidential and vice presidential candidates often give speeches on the campaign trail, at their party’s convention, and when they enter and leave office. Introduce students to some of these speeches with interactive activities:
George Washington’s first inaugural address
On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office as the United States' first president. Following the oath, he gave an inaugural address, which became standard practice for presidents who came after him.
George Washington’s farewell address
In 1796, President George Washington chose not to seek re-election for a third term. Though many in the country felt he could provide valuable leadership for another four years, Washington declined. In his farewell address, he explained his reasons for rejecting a third term and what issues the country may face in the coming years.
Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address
When Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861, the conflict over slavery in the country was at an all-time high. The month before he accepted the nomination, 11 states seceded from the Union. Lincoln gave his inaugural address in Washington, D.C., a little over a month before the Civil War began.
Barack Obama’s Democratic Convention address
The Democratic and Republican parties hold conventions every four years to nominate their presidential and vice-president candidates in the upcoming elections. At these conventions, it’s common for other politicians and leaders to speak on the party’s issues and endorse the newly nominated candidate. In 2004, then-senator Barack Obama gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) endorsing John Kerry for president.
Barack Obama’s election night victory speech
Four years after his speech endorsing Kerry at the DNC, it was Obama’s turn to accept his party’s nomination. In November 2004, he became the first Black person to win a presidential election in United States history.
Kamala Harris’ vice president-elect acceptance speech
Vice-presidential candidates also make acceptance speeches when they’re elected to office. In 2020, Kamala Harris became the first woman, Black woman, and woman of Indian heritage to be elected vice president.
New to Formative?
Sign up for Formative Bronze to create engaging formative and common assessments that get you the data you need—for free!
President-elect Joe Biden’s victory speech
President-elect Joe Biden, Harris’ running mate, also gave a speech on the night of their 2020 election victory. He previously served as President Obama’s vice president from 2008 to 2016 before running for election in 2020.
Election commentary activities
Since the founding of the United States, members of government and the people they represent have had thoughts and opinions about election issues like how we vote and who can vote. Explore some of these diverse perspectives with the following lessons:
Anti-Federalist Papers: Brutus 1
In the days before we had the United States Constitution, there were two ideas of how our government should function. Federalists believed in a strong central government that handled affairs for all states. Anti-Federalists believed in putting more power in the hands of state leaders and officials.
Representatives for each group wrote collections of letters and essays to argue their points. We now call these collections the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers. The first installment in the Anti-Federalist papers, published in 1787, argued that the Constitution would give too much power to the centralized government and take away individual states' rights.
Federalist Papers No. 10
In counterargument to the Anti-Federalist Papers, the Federalist Papers explored why a strong central government would benefit the states and their people. In James Madison’s first installment, he argued how the new Constitution would form a republic in which elected leaders would act on their citizens’ behalf to ensure everyone’s voice was heard.
James Madison’s notes from the Constitutional Convention of 1787
Before the first state ratified the Constitution in September 1787, delegates from all states except Rhode Island met in Philadelphia in May to address problems with the country’s weak central government. At the convention, delegates presented two national constitution and government structure proposals: James Madison’s Virginia Plan and William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan. The eventual compromise between the two, the Connecticut Plan, also emerged from this convention.
Federalist Papers No. 51
In another pro-central-government essay in 1788, Madison and other Federalists addressed the new government structure proposed in the Constitution. They discussed dividing power among different branches of government and introducing checks and balances so that no branch could become too powerful.
“Women’s Rights to the Suffrage”
Although United States citizens had been voting and electing officials for nearly 100 years by the late 1800s, women weren’t part of that group. Susan B. Anthony was one of the activists fighting for women’s suffrage, or their right to vote.
In 1872, she voted illegally in the presidential election and received a hefty fine. Following her indictment, Anthony gave a speech arguing why denying women the right to vote was unconstitutional.
Gertrude Weil’s letters on women’s suffrage
In 1920, United States lawmakers passed the 19th Amendment, which granted white women the right to vote. While Congress ratified the Amendment in August of that year, each state still had to ratify it to give that state’s citizens voting rights. Gertrude Weil, a North Carolina suffragist, was upset when her state refused to ratify the amendment after it passed Congress.
She wrote two letters, one in 1920, regarding the dismissal of ratification and another in 1971, when the North Carolina General Assembly officially ratified the 19th Amendment.
Election practices sets
Encourage students to learn more about elections, policy, and the branches of government during their independent practice sessions. Our election-themed practice sets are perfect for individual and small group work, independent practice centers, or students who finish other work early. Let them choose from topics like:
Election vocabulary: Includes terms like “electoral college,” “incumbent,” and “swing state.”
Branches of government: Includes terms like “cabinet,” “checks and balances,” and “separation of powers.”
Judicial branch: Includes terms like “Supreme Court,” “Writ of Certiorari,” and “appellate court.”
Executive branch: Includes terms like “impeachment,” “pardon,” and “executive orders.”
Legislative branch: Includes terms like “bicameral,” “filibuster,” and “veto.”
Policy issues: Includes terms like “foreign policy,” “policy analysis,” and “regulatory policy.”
Public policy: Includes terms like “lobbying,” “public opinion,” and “interest groups.”
Students can also choose their favorite way to practice with one of four modes:
Flashcards: Practice the traditional way by flipping over digital cards.
Match: Pair up the correct questions and answers.
Quiz: Receive multiple-choice answer options for each question.
Write: Fill in the blank for the answer choices.
Get students election-ready with Formative activities
The Formative Library has a variety of free, pre-made activities developed by our curriculum experts and educators like you. You can use these templates as-is or customize them to fit your instructional needs. Use the library’s sort filters to browse content by subject and grade level to find what you want.
Create your own if you don’t see a template that matches your instructional needs! Log into your Formative account and choose how to customize your lesson or assessment. You can create new slides with various multimedia, including audio and video, import content from Google, or enhance a PDF or existing document.
Don’t have a Formative account yet? Sign up for Formative Bronze for free today to start creating activities for Election Day and beyond!