Living Through a Civics Lesson
As a U.S. history and social studies educator, teaching about the federal government, how it works, and why elections matter is a critical part of my curriculum. When teaching a group of 8th graders about civic engagement, I have to ensure they know and understand the key components of our federal government — the Bill of Rights, the amendment process, the three branches of government and the roles of each, how our system of checks and balances works, and the seven principles of government. For students to really understand these concepts, they have to ingest a lot of technical vocabulary and detail. This is especially true in an election year when they are living through an actual civics lesson and, inevitably, bringing questions to class. If you teach long enough you will find yourself teaching during an election year. Fortunately, there are some up sides. The questions students bring to class mean they are engaged and that gives you the chance to breathe more life into the usual vocabulary, making the lessons more relevant.
I recently had an opportunity to think about how to structure those lessons during an election year to push students to think critically about what they were learning. As social studies teachers we have the duty and honor to teach civic responsibility, something our students will continue to use and be involved in for their rest of their lives. Therefore, I consider this content to be extremely important. Working closely with KERA, a PBS member station in Dallas-Fort Worth, I put together an Election Toolkit that includes a series of lessons to help and students learn about the election process.
The toolkit covers four key areas: Electoral College, Primary Elections and Caucuses, Political Parties, and Presidential Campaigns and Debates.
Electoral College
When engaging in election conversations with my students, this area is normally one of the most difficult to explain and teach. In this particular lesson focused on the Electoral College,we have students define what the Electoral College is, learn arguments for the pros and cons of keeping it or replacing it with another method, and allow students the ability to interact with an interactive Electoral College map. This particular resource also builds students' background knowledge which then allows them the ability to predict election outcomes. The PBS Election Decoder on PBS LearningMedia is an interactive tool that can be used to create and guide conversations with other classrooms and teachers in their own buildings, across their districts, or even across the country. It teaches about the electoral map in a very hands-on way that encourages students to explore past presidential elections through an interactive, fact-filled timeline. The Presidential Predictor allows students to apply all they've learned to the current candidate match up to predict possible election outcomes. You can even share your class' prediction on social media to further spark discussion.
Primary Elections and Caucuses
In a national presidential election year, it is important to teach students the process that leads up to choosing presidential candidates. In this resourceon PBS LearningMedia, students will learn about the differences between caucuses and primaries and learn about the significance of Super Tuesday and Texas’ participation. This lesson includes great external resources from PBS LearningMedia and Khan Academy.
Political Parties
A couple of areas I often focus on to help build student knowledge around the political parties is the history behind the foundation of the parties and allowing students to research the political stances of both parties. This resource provides an opportunity for students to reflect about similarities and differences within the two party system through a Venn Diagram. I also always encourage students to learn about third parties by asking critical questions such as, "Third Parties often don't win elections. Why?"
Presidential Campaigns and Debates
Summer has now passed, we are entering the height of campaign season and the conversations around debates have been trending. I find this is a great learning tool to introduce a concept that is being widely discussed. In this particular lesson, students learn about the history of presidential debates and decide if they are an effective way to choose a candidate. It is important to note one of the activities for this lesson is for students to analyze a debate — this can be a potential upcoming debate or a number of previous presidential debates.
Other Resources
I’d encourage educators to explore free resources likeiCivics.org, an organization founded by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and which now includes Justice Sonia Sotomayor on its Board of Directors. One highlight from iCivics is its collection of civics-focused games that engage students in the political process as they learn the essentials of how the government works.
Crucial Importance
As social studies teachers and educators, we have the duty and honor to teach civic responsibility, something our students will continue to use and be involved in for their rest of their lives. Therefore, I consider this content to be extremely important. We are educating the next generation of leaders, activists, and politicians. There are studies that show that students who learn about civic engagement are more likely to be more politically and civically engaged throughout their life, show increased literacy skills, and even increased community engagement through activities such as volunteer work. As we are in the midst of the election season, there is no better time to teach our students the importance of civic engagement and the history of our political process.
