Facing History’s US election resources were designed and curated to help students explore the role of elections, voting, and civic participation in creating and sustaining a just and healthy democracy.
Learning Goals
Examine the historical struggle for voting rights and the importance of ensuring that today’s elections are free and fair.
Consider the factors that shape our political decision making and the role of media literacy.
Explore the many ways that young people can, both current and future voters, make their voices heard and choose to participate during elections.
Teaching Resources for US Collection
This collection is made up of the following mini-lessons, explainers, and guides organized by the themes of what makes democracy work, media literacy, fostering civil discourse, and teaching strategies that support social emotional learning.
What Makes Democracy Work
This section includes resources that explore the meaning and importance of democracy; democratic processes like voting and elections; the choices and institutions that help democracy function; and the forces that strengthen or weaken democracy (e.g., extreme political polarization, free and fair elections, etc.).
This Explainer describes the standards that governments need to meet before, during, and after an election to ensure that the election is "free and fair."
This collection of 20-minute activities is designed to help students understand political polarization, reflect on its causes and consequences, and imagine potential solutions.
This mini-lesson provides students with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of democracy and a framework for making meaning of news stories about the tensions and conflicts in democracies today.
Explore this collection of lesson plans that cover a wide range of themes related to democracy, including citizen power and civic participation, the rule of law, the role of a free press, and more.
Use these activities to help students reflect on the themes in Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Day poem and consider how their unique experiences and voices can help America “forge a union with purpose.”
In this mini-lesson, students learn about the history of voting rights in the United States and consider how current voting laws in different states impact voters today.
This mini-lesson uses our Free and Fair Elections explainer to help students reflect on the importance of elections, define the phrase “free and fair elections,” and learn about electoral systems in their region.
In this mini-lesson, students sharpen their media literacy skills as they evaluate the impact of social media on their lives and question how we can manage social media’s harmful effects.
Reading “laterally” is a key media literacy strategy that helps students determine the quality of online sources. This mini-lesson trains students to use this technique to evaluate the credibility of the news they encounter on social media feeds or elsewhere online.
Fostering Civil Discourse
This section gives teachers the strategies and tools to create classrooms where students can speak openly, listen empathically, reflect, learn from each other, and navigate difficult conversations in safe and brave ways.
Teaching about Controversial Issues in Polarized Times
On-Demand
Virtual
This special conversation with Dr. Diana Hess detailed how educators can navigate the challenges of discussing polarizing civic topics in their classrooms.
Teaching Strategies That Support Socio-Emotional Learning
This section provides teachers with strategies that engage students in processing complex, divisive, or emotionally challenging topics.
This teaching strategy invites students to think about the “tools” they have access to that can help them take care of themselves and their community in the wake of traumatic news.
Use this quick way for students to demonstrate their engagement with a text, image, or video by having them identify what they find surprising, interesting, and troubling.
