This mini-episode provides an overview of a new site that Brett Levy designed to help educators teach about the election: www.teachingelections.org
The site includes downloadable lesson plans, research articles, and links to various other resources, with new content added every few days until Election Day.
The lesson plans featured on the site were designed to be interactive, engaging, inquiry-oriented, and content-rich. For example, one lesson is framed with the simple but important question – Which Candidate Should We Elect and Why? – and has students explore their own political identities, the candidates’ positions on issues, and then which candidate better matches their own issue preferences. The site also contains a set of inquiry-based lessons related to the financing of political campaigns and a brand new lesson on how to have a fair election during a period of social distancing.
In addition to these lessons, the site has a page full of links to other great materials for learning about elections, including online election games from iCivics, lessons on voting rights from Generation Citizen, guidance on how to maintain a positive classroom environment during discussions of controversial issues, and an interactive electoral college map from the New York Times.
And for those who love research, the site also has a page containing free, downloadable papers on what researchers have learned about teaching elections.
This is all available for free at www.teachingelections.org
Young people are hearing all sorts of things about the election, and this site provides materials to help them explore the facts in an engaging way. If you’re an educator, please check it out, and if you like what you see, remember to share it with a colleague. The election's right around the corner, and this is a great time to generate young people's interest in public issues. Thanks!