Ten Election Day Resources

If your gut instinct is to protect your students from this year's deeply polarized election and ignore its existence, trust me, I get it. But, maybe, we don't have to. With the right resources we can approach this topic in a way that is developmentally appropriate for our students. 

Use these resources in your lessons leading up to election day. Or, if your district is going virtual just for the day like we are, perhaps you can hold a special event on November 3 to engage students in a whole day of learning about the government, elections, and voting. 

1. Epic Books and Videos

Check out my Voting and Elections collection (Ages 2-12). To find a book or video from this collection that is just right for your students check out this list to see the Age and Level ratings for each book.

2. PBS Kids peg + cat The Election Problem Interactive Book

Young students will love this math-infused read-to-me ebook. Peg and the Pig hold an election to decide who is going to be in charge of the chickens when the farmer is away. Click around on objects in the book to see what happens! Good for Grades K-2.

3. TIME for Kids

As I was clicking around I was surprised to find all of this content for free. TFK didn't even ask for an email. Provide a direct link for your students to read these articles or read them aloud to the group. 

• Grades K-1 Who Will Be President?
• Grade 2 Government: Meet the Candidates | Election 2020
• Grades 3-4 Election 2020
• Grades 5-6 Election 2020

4. Scholastic News

Scholastic has a great website of Election 2020 resources all for free. If you click on I am an Educator it will ask you for an email. If you click on I am a Student, no email is required. Their resources are great for a wide range of students. Read articles from kid reporters, meet the candidates (Trump | Biden), explore the issues (grades 3-6 or 7-12), read articles, take quizzes, play The Race to 270 game to predict the next president, and explore info on past presidents. Students can cast their vote here.

5. Newsela Election 2020

Sort through Newsela's articles by text level, reading skill, or grade band. On Newsela students monitor their comprehension and can self-adjust the lexile level of the article. 

6. We Are Teachers: 12 Great Videos to Teach Students About Elections & Voting

We Are Teachers curated an awesome list of videos and organized them by grade. I mean, Steve Carrell + Sesame Street? Yes, please! Their number 8 video from Brainpop is no longer available. If you subscribe to Brainpop you can access the video here.

7. iCivics Election Headquarters

This website of resources includes lesson plans, games, webquests, and a candidates guide that includes not only Donald Trump and Joe Biden, but also has information on Howie Hawkins and Jo Jorgensen. I would use their resources with 5th grade and up.

8. Studies Weekly Lessons and Every Kid Votes Mock Election

Choose from twelve K-3 lesson plans and six 4-5 lesson plans and join the Presidential Mock Election on October 28.

9. Seesaw Activities

• Election Day Read Alouds K-2
• If I Were President 1-3
• 2020 Election - Compare the Issues: Climate Change and Education 4-6

Tip: You can edit others' activities to tailor them to your students level and needs! For example, in the If I Were President activity you can give students the option to select how they would like to respond. Just change the directions to suit your needs!

10. Nearpod Lessons

Check out these premade interactive presentations. Be sure to test them out ahead of time to decide if you need to build background knowledge before engaging students in the lesson. You can always customize the lessons by adding or removing content. I recommend recording your voice to support students with low literacy levels, especially if they are going to use these in Student-Paced mode.

• Citizenship Match Pairs Practice & Review Grade 1+
• United States Leaders Match Pairs Practice & Review Grade 2+
• Branches of Government Match Pairs Practice & Review Grade 2+
• The Branches of American Government with ReadWorks Grades 3-4
• The Branches of American Government with ReadWorks optimized for Student-Paced mode Grades 3-4
• Three Branches of Government Grades 3-8
• The Executive Branch by Eric Shufflebarger Grades 4-6
• The Legislative Branch by Eric Shufflebarger Grades 4-6
• The Electoral College System by Eric Shufflebarger Grades 5-9
• The Voting Process by Rick Meyer Grades 5-8
• Making a President by Ryan Churchward Grades 5-12

Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels