Election Day Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan for Grades 3-8

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Lesson 1: Tracking Results

Duration: about 15 minutes of classtime on the first day to explain the take-home activity. 50 minutes (one class) the next day to discuss results of the Presidential Election.

Objective: Students will be able to follow Election Day results as they come in on the night of Election Day. They will learn about the electoral college.

Materials: Election Day Countdown (PDF)

Set Up and Prepare: Print out and make copies of the Election Day Countdown (PDF) for this lesson.

Directions:
1. Explain that presidential candidates who win the majority of a vote in one state, win all of that state's electoral college votes (with the exception of two small states).  
    
2. Explain how they can follow the results on TV as polls close, starting on the East Coast and moving West. Also, while they may not be able to stay up until all the polls have closed, they can complete their map the next day.
 
3. The next day have students complete the maps and total up the number of electoral college votes that each candidate received. Who won? How close was the election and why is that significant? You can also discuss the historic implications of the election. There will either be an African-American President or female Vice President for the first time in history.

Extra credit: Write a letter to the new President. Students can use these template letters (PDFs) to formulate their thoughts to send ideas for how to help this country , and what qualities they believe make a good leader to the new President.

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