By Christi E. Parker, M.A.Ed.
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Illustration Manager
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Interior Layout
Designer
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Publisher
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Shell Education
5301 Oceanus Drive
Huntington Beach, CA 92649
http://www.shelleducation.com
ISBN 978-1-4258-0355-1
© 2008 Shell Education
The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of materials in this book for classroom use only. The reproduction of any
part for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. No part of this publication may be transmitted, stored, or
recorded in any form without written permission from the publisher.
#50355—Elections
© Shell Education
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Campaign Trail
Research on the Importance of
Civic Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Race Is On!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Research-based Strategies for
Teaching Civics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Race Is On! Student
Reproducibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Correlation to Standards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Vote Is In!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
How to Use This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Vote Is In! Daily Lessons. . . . . . . . . . 122
The Race Is On! Daily Lessons. . . . . . . . . . 98
The Vote Is In! Student
Reproducibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Introduction to the Process
Political Parties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
After the Vote
Political Parties Daily Lessons . . . . . . . . . . 15
Political Parties Student Reproducibles. . . 20
The Electoral College. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
National Elections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Electoral College Daily Lessons. . . . 139
National Elections Daily Lessons. . . . . . . . 29
The Electoral College Student
Reproducibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
National Elections Student
Reproducibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Inauguration Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
State and Local Elections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Inauguration Day Daily Lessons. . . . . . . . 150
State and Local Elections Daily Lessons. . . 40
Inauguration Day Student
Reproducibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
State and Local Elections Student
Reproducibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Appendices
Getting on the Ballot
Appendix A: Research Resources. . . . . . . . . . 164
Tossing Your Hat into the Ring. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Appendix B: Teacher Resources. . . . . . . . . . . 167
Tossing Your Hat into the Ring
Daily Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Tossing Your Hat into the Ring Student
Reproducibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
The Primaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
The Primaries Daily Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . 69
The Primaries Student Reproducibles. . . . 75
The National Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
The National Convention
Daily Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
The National Convention Student
Reproducibles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
© Shell Education
#50355—Elections
Introduction to the Process
Political Parties
Standard
The Lesson—Day One
• Students will understand the role of political
parties (e.g., present issues).
1. Ask students to list important issues that
they face every day. Such issues might include
how much homework they have, dealing with
peer pressure, or fitting their extracurricular
activities into their days. Write these issues on
the board. Then, ask the class how they might
solve these issues. Record their solutions as
well.
Materials
• Political Parties Content-Area Vocabulary
(page 20); optional
• Party Time Background Information
(pages 21–22)
2. Choose a problem from the students’ list that
had two solutions. Ask those students who
agree with the first solution to stand on the
left side of the room. Those who agree with
the second solution should stand on the other
side of the room.
• Outlining the Political Parties of the Past
(page 23)
• Is Three a Crowd? graphic organizer
(pages 24–25)
3. While students are all still standing, discuss
how solving problems and having different
ideas relate to political parties by asking the
following questions: How could supporting
different solutions cause conflict? What if
an even less popular solution was suggested?
How could that affect the outcome of the
problem being solved? How is that related to
a three-party system in politics?
• Political Parties Primary Source Connection
(pages 26–27)
• Political Parties Comprehension Check
(page 28); optional
• Research materials about political parties,
current politics, and current news
• Poster boards and other art supplies
4. Discuss with students a two-party system
versus a three-party system by asking them
which system they think is better and why.
Allow students to share their thoughts.
Vocabulary Connection
• The Political Parties Content-Area Vocabulary
sheet (page 20) is an excellent way to build
your students’ background knowledge.
Complete the vocabulary extension ideas with
these lesson-specific words before beginning
the lesson. This step is especially important for
English language learners.
© Shell Education
60 min.
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#50355—Elections
Introduction to the Process
Political Parties
The Lesson—Day One
(cont.)
The Lesson—Day Two
(cont.)
1. Begin this day with a discussion of the graphic
organizer. Tell the students that you are going
to divide the class into political parties. Talk
about whether there should be two or three
parties. The decision should be based on what
they learned while completing the graphic
organizers.
5. Give each student copies of the Party Time
Background Information (pages 21–22) and
Outlining the Political Parties of the Past
(page 23). Read and discuss the information as
a class. Vocabulary words from the background
information are listed on page 20. You may
wish to discuss these terms with the class
prior to reading the information to ensure
students’ understanding of the text.
2. Once your students decide how many parties
to have, divide the class into that number of
political parties. You may decide how to divide
them, or you may allow students to divide
themselves based on how they would solve the
issues discussed on Day One.
Differentiation Idea
3. Ask the students to create their own political
party names. Allow them time to create
posters that announce these names.
English language learners may
need additional help while reading the
background information. While other
students are reading individually, English
language learners can work in small groups
with you. Work with these students to
help them understand and visualize the
vocabulary words.
4. Distribute copies of Political Parties Primary
Source Connection (pages 26–27). Discuss
the photograph and information with the
class. Have the students spend a few minutes
thinking about how they would answer the
questions on the page. Then, allow them to
share their thoughts with partners. Finally,
open the discussion up to the whole group and
discuss the primary source. As an extension,
ask them to do the primary source activity.
6. Distribute copies of the Is Three a Crowd?
graphic organizer (pages 24–25) to the
students. Allow students to work in small
groups to complete the graphic organizers,
listing the pros and cons of having just two
parties as well as the pros and cons of having
three parties. A completed graphic organizer is
due from each student on Day Two.
#50355—Elections
45 min.
5. The next step in forming political parties
is to have each group create its own party
symbol. They should add these symbols to
their posters. Have a spokesperson from
each group explain why the group chose its
particular symbol.
16
© Shell Education
Introduction to the Process
Political Parties
(cont.)
The Lesson—Day Four
Differentiation Ideas
1. Discuss with students what a political platform
is. Talk about how the beliefs of a party are
shared with others.
• As an extension, ask students to
complete the primary source extension
activity (page 27) described on the activity
sheet.
2. Have the students work in their new political
parties to create platforms. Their first step
is to brainstorm which four or five issues are
most important to them. They need to choose
the issues from Day Three’s list and decide
what viewpoint the group has about each issue.
• English language learners may benefit
from having specially chosen partners.
Place them with students who are strong
in English skills, as well as those who have
good historical understanding. The English
language learners can then benefit from
the other students’ knowledge as they
complete their primary source sheets and
the other activities throughout the lesson.
The Lesson—Day Three
60 min.
3. Divide the groups into smaller groups and
develop short written statements that describe
their points of view. They may find that their
homework from the night before helps them
with this activity.
4. Students should then figure out ways to
indicate their platform perspectives on
their posters.
60 min.
1. Brainstorm with the class some issues that
face presidents today. If you think students
might not be aware of these issues, bring in
newspapers, news magazines, or recorded
copies of news shows. Allow the groups time
to look through the materials and figure out
what the big issues are in the country today.
5. Have each group stand up and present its
finished poster to the rest of the class. Each
aspect or symbol on the poster should be
explained.
2. After you create a list, choose the top five to
seven issues. Regroup the students so that
there is one group of students per key issue.
Have each group spend 15 minutes preparing
a brief summary of its topic and the varying
viewpoints. Share the presentations.
3. For homework, have each student write a
one-page summary of the issue that is most
important to him or her personally.
© Shell Education
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#50355—Elections
Introduction to the Process
Political Parties
(cont.)
• “There are always too many Democratic
congressmen, too many Republican
congressmen, and never enough U.S.
congressmen.”
Differentiation Ideas
• Work with the English language
learners to ensure that the vocabulary
is clear to them. If necessary, look up
a few vocabulary words with them and
discuss the words in context. Academic
vocabulary, like the type found in news
articles or on the Internet, is very difficult
for students learning English. Therefore,
provide examples for them so that they
will better understand the new words.
—Author Unknown
• “How come we choose from just two people
to run for president and 50 for Miss America?”
—Author Unknown
Differentiation Idea
Discuss the quotations with English
language learners before they each
choose which one to draw. Make sure the
students have clear understandings of the
meanings of the quotations.
• If students are really excited about this
activity, allow them to take more than
one day and have each group create
a multimedia presentation. Allow the
groups to then share their issues with
the class.
Research Extension Idea
Extension Ideas
Have the students choose three political parties
from American history. They need to research the
party platforms as well as find out which (if any)
presidents belonged to those parties. Each student
can use this information to create a Political Parties
Handbook. The list from Outlining the Political
Parties of the Past (page 23) may be helpful to
those students who are struggling with which
political parties to research. However, remind
them that there are many more political parties
than those listed on that page.
Election Quotation Activity
Ask each student to choose one of the following
quotations. Then, have the students draw their own
political cartoons to explain the quotations. They
should be sure to write captions for their cartoons.
• “The old parties are husks, with no real soul
within either, divided on artificial lines, bossridden and privilege-controlled, each a jumble
of incongruous elements, and neither daring to
speak out wisely and fearlessly on what should
be said on the vital issues of the day.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
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© Shell Education
Introduction to the Process
Political Parties
Extension Ideas
(cont.)
Answer Key
(cont.)
Connecting Elections
Is Three a Crowd?
Graphic Organizer Questions
(page 25)
Strict adherence to the beliefs of one political
party can often be a problem on both the national
and state levels. When Congress or the state
legislatures are dominated by one political party,
but the president or governors are from another
party, the two branches often disagree. Have
students give reasons as to why this can be a
problem.
1. Students should review their lists and give
reasons as to why either the two-party or
three-party system is better than the other.
2. Each student should record his or her
strongest argument for a two-party system.
Comprehension Check
3. Each student should record his or her
strongest argument for a three-party system.
The Political Parties Comprehension Check
(page 28) uses differentiated activities based on
Bloom’s taxonomy to help you evaluate your
students’ comprehension of this lesson. See
page 13 for a few ideas on how to use this
assessment activity sheet with your students.
4. Answers may include: not as much money for
campaigns, not as well known, has different
views than most people, or people may be
afraid to “waste” their votes on a candidate
who has a lesser chance of winning.
5. Answers may include: raise more money for
campaigns to become more well-known, or
find and support issues important to many
people.
Political Parties
Primary Source Connection Questions
(page 27)
1. The animals shown are the elephant, giraffe,
donkey, owl, ostrich, unicorn, and fox. There
are also rabbits, geese, deer, and other animals.
2. The elephant represents the Republican vote.
3. Answers will vary, but students may discuss
how the elephant appears to be strong in this
photograph and that would make it a good
symbol.
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#50355—Elections
Introduction to the Process
Student Reproducible
Name
________________________________
Political Parties
Content-Area Vocabulary
advocate—to be in favor of something
Vocabulary Extension
Activities
campaign—an organized effort to achieve a
specific political goal
• Are political parties necessary? Ask
students to decide whether or not our
country should have political parties.
Then, have students write paragraphs
explaining their thoughts on the issue and
convincing others of their opinions. Have
them use at least five vocabulary words in
their paragraphs.
citizens—members of a nation or community by
birth or other ways
conservative—being resistant to reform or
change; avoiding excess
constitution—laws written to show how the
government will be formed
Democratic Party—the oldest political party in
the United States, formed in 1792; one of the
two main political parties today
• Ask students to create political picture
dictionaries for younger children. Their
dictionaries should include the vocabulary
words, the definitions, and colorful
pictures.
elections—the way voters select winners for
political offices
government—the system by which a nation or
state is run
liberal—broad-minded; having political ideas of
reform and progress
party platform—the ideas, goals, and principles
of a political party
political cartoonist—a person who draws
cartoons concerning politics
political parties—organizations or groups who
share similar ideas and hope to gain political
offices and power
Republican Party—one of the two main political
parties today; formed in 1854
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© Shell Education
Introduction to the Process
Student Reproducible
Name
________________________________
Party Time
Background Information
Political parties were first created in 1796. Our
country was just being formed. Many founding
fathers did not want to have such parties, but
parties still came into being. The parties were
concerned with how the new government would
be organized.
The Democratic Party website states that the
party is committed to keeping our nation safe
and expanding opportunities for every American.
Democrats support strong economic growth.
They work toward affordable health care for all
Americans. Democrats advocate improving the
Social Security system. And, they fight for honest
government and civil rights.
The first two parties were the Federalists and
the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists believed in a
strong central government. They felt chaos would
result if the government was not strong. The
Federalists supported the Constitution. They
wanted the government to control the building of
roads and canals, too.
The Republican Party was formed in 1854.
People who opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Bill
formed it. They did not want slavery to extend
into the new territories. Abraham Lincoln was a
member of this party. He was the first Republican
to be elected president. The Republican Party
is often referred to as the GOP or Grand Old
Party. The Republican’s party platform is more
conservative than the Democrats.
The Anti-Federalists, later called the DemocraticRepublican Party, had opposing views. They
supported state rights. They thought citizens
should watch over the people that controlled
government. They did not want these leaders to
get too much power. They also thought farmers
and craftsmen should help run the government. In
other words, they wanted the middle class to take
part in running the government, not just the rich.
The Republican National Committee has a
website. On this website is a description of what
Republicans believe. They believe that the strength
of our country lies with individuals. Each person’s
dignity, freedom, ability, and responsibility must
be honored. Republicans believe the government
needs to be very responsible with money. And, the
government should let workers keep more of the
money they earn. Government should only provide
services that cannot be performed by individuals or
private organizations. Americans should value and
preserve our national strength and pride. Finally,
Americans should extend peace, freedom, and
human rights throughout the world.
Party names and ideas have changed over the
years. In the 1830s, the Democratic and Whig
Parties were formed. Then in the mid-1800s, the
Liberty and Free Soil Parties came into being. The
two parties had different ideas about slavery. This
caused the parties to further split, thus forming
even more political parties.
The two major parties today are the Democratic
and Republican parties. The Democratic Party
is the oldest political party. It began as the
Democratic-Republican Party. Thomas Jefferson
created it in 1792. Democrats are often thought to
take liberal positions.
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#50355—Elections
Introduction to the Process
Student Reproducible
Name
________________________________
Party Time
Background Information
(cont.)
Both political parties have symbols to represent
them. The donkey has become the symbol of the
Democratic Party. This began in 1837. Andrew
Jackson was called a donkey by his opponents.
They said he was stubborn, like a donkey. Jackson
decided to use it to his advantage. He began using
the picture of a donkey on his campaign posters.
But, Thomas Nast is given credit for creating the
donkey symbol. He was a political cartoonist.
He used the donkey in an 1874 Harper’s Weekly
cartoon. The Democrats have not officially
adopted the donkey as their symbol. But, they use
it often on campaign advertisements and posters.
They see the donkey as humble, homely, smart, and
loveable.
Nast is given credit for creating the Republican
Party symbol, the elephant, too. This symbol was
also in Harper’s Weekly in 1874. Nast showed the
elephant as the Republican vote. The Republican
Party has adopted this symbol. They view the
elephant as having strength and intelligence.
There are only two main political parties that have
candidates who run for president. But, third-party
candidates may run as well. These parties have
ideas important to a lot of people. Third parties
give citizens more choices. This is very true when
they do not agree with the two main political
parties. These third-party candidates often do not
win enough votes to win elections. But, they do
bring attention to issues. For example, it was the
Prohibition and Socialist parties that felt women’s
rights were important in the 1800s. This led to
the Republican and Democratic parties’ support of
women’s rights by the early 1900s.
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© Shell Education
Introduction to the Process
Student Reproducible
Name
________________________________
Outlining the Political Parties
of the Past
The following are some of the political parties from the past. They are written in chronological order, from
when they first were formed. There are over 50 recognized political parties, though many are very small.
Therefore, this is just a small sampling of the political parties throughout America’s history.
Federalist Party (1789–1816)—supported a strong central government
Democratic-Republican Party (1792–1824)—opposed a strong central government; later
split into multiple parties, including the Whigs; tied to current Democratic Party
Democratic Party (1824–today)—supports liberal policies; one of two main political parties
active today
Whig Party (1832–1856)—believed the legislative branch should be more important than the
executive branch
Liberty Party (1840–1848)—supported the end of slavery in the United States; joined with
others to become the Free Soil Party
Free Soil Party (1848–1855)—believed in “Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, Free Men”
American Party (1854–1858)—also known as the “Know-Nothings”; wanted a lot of
changes in the United States; members often claimed to “know nothing” about the parties’
activities
Republican Party (1854–today)—broke away from the Whigs; supports conservative policies;
one of two main political parties active today
Greenback Party (1874–1884)—supported paper currency made only by the federal
government
Anti-Monopoly Party (1884)—opposed businesses becoming monopolies
Equal Rights Party (1880s)—supported equal rights for women; nominated the first female
candidate for president,Victoria Claflin Woodhull
Green Party (1984–today)—supports environmentalism, local control of government, and
liberal social policies
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#50355—Elections