Resources to Support Educators Around Elections
Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition (MCLC) member organizations have compiled the following open-access, nonpartisan resources to share with educators as they teach during local, state, and federal election seasons.
Teachers in all grades are encouraged to incorporate related, grade-appropriate lessons around elections.
Depending on the grade level, standards-aligned lessons may cover topics such as:
how elections work,
the purpose of elections in democratic government,
the history of enfranchisement and who can vote today,
the roles of elected officials at the local, state, and federal level,
responsibilities of each branch of government,
historical voting trends in your local area,
the role of political parties,
candidates' views and proposals on locally relevant issues,
political communication and disinformation.
Additionally, Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018 encourages high schools provide opportunities for students to register to vote. See here for high school voting resources.
Election-Related Instructional Resources
+ Center for Civic Education/MA Center for Civic Education/Revolutionary Spaces
+ Children’s Voting Colloquium
+ CIRCLE
+ Democratic Knowledge Project
Media Literacy Module (free login to DKP Curriculum Portal required to access)
+ Discovering Justice
Children Discovering Justice (CDJ) includes 4 election lessons per grade span in Grades K-5, including a lesson for discussing election results. Access the lessons through the CDJ Google Folder. Note that the election lessons are built around the 2024 presidential election, but may be used for teaching general election content. For additional resources, check out the K-5 Election Virtual Read Aloud Library and Civil Discourse Activity Template.
+ Education Development Center
+ Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Voting Rights Legislation Classroom Simulation (middle school/high school)
Electoral College Classroom Simulation (middle school/high school)
Campaign Poster Activity (elementary)
Considering Leadership Civic Art Project (middle school)
+ Facing History & Ourselves
“Teaching About Voting and Elections” Ideas This Week article, Aug. 13, 2024
+ Generation Citizen
+ iCivics
Election Headquarters, including:
Cast Your Vote, digital game (MS, HS)
Win the White House, digital game (MS, HS)
The Spectrum of State Election Laws and other infographics (MS, HS)
Candidate Evaluation (MS)
Digital Literacy Library, Verifying Social Media Posts, Lateral Reading and more (MS, HS)
Additional Resources
Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies
For access to weekly discussion sessions via Zoom on topics of relevance for K-12 Social Studies Educators, see the Teacher’s Guide to the Post-2024 Election.