There’s a lot of flexibility to tailor to your upcoming local election, students’ interests, and time constraints. This kit works year after year with any ballot proposition.

Highly scaffolded with critical thinking and source skill-building, a project like this is perfect leading up to the November election!

Multiple studies have proven that when teenagers participate in voting, even a mock election, they are more likely to vote as adults; additionally, their parents have a higher voter turnout in that year’s election. 

So this year, let’s leave the way-out-of-date textbook behind and take students straight to the front-page news of today with voter material research, a civil debate, a formal mock election, and submitting real letters to the editor.

This project can be done well in around two weeks.

Included in this PBL project kit:

Overview

• At-a-glance project overview and detailed lesson plans
• Conceptual note-taking sheet for your students to build their understanding of voting

5 Main Activities

• Proposition Podcast Notes: listen to an engaging podcast on their history and role in our democratic process
• Proposition Research: dive into voter and news media sources to develop informed positions on an upcoming ballot issue
• Class Discussion: share evidence, ask questions, and challenge civilly as students develop their position
• Letter to the Editor Project: brainstorm, craft, and submit a real letter to the editor of a local news publication
• Mock Election: host a vote and compare it with real election returns

This resource is 21 PDF pages, plus Google files. 

What grades is this intended for?
This was designed for a mixed-ability high school level. If you have strong middle schoolers and are willing to possibly tailor this a bit, if necessary, then it could work for lower grades. Please look over the description and preview closely to decide. 

Make sure to select a ballot proposition that is easy for your students to understand and debate.

What supports are included? How can I modify this?
Activities are built with multiple included supports to accommodate varying needs: clear overview of each project step, graphic organizers, sample letters, sentence starters, student-friendly rubrics, and how-to skill sheets, etc.  

Student materials come in editable Google file versions to allow you to modify activities by shortening, re-leveling, translating, or using text-to-speech software to support student needs. 

Can I use this in a homeschooling setting?

Sure! While this resource was designed for a traditional classroom setting, the bulk of this project can also be used in a solo or small-group setting. 

You can omit or modify the debate portion.

Is this editable? What file types does this resource come in?

The main resource is a secured, non-editable PDF file intended to be printed. Included are links to editable Google files of all the student materials.

What standards does this address?

Several! Standards vary, but this resource supports these from various states:

• Analyze various methods of participation in the political process at various levels to promote change
• Examine the role of ballot propositions in the election process and as a means for citizens to create political change
• Research, debate, and create a social studies product on a contemporary issue

What are the terms of use for this resource?

This resource, including all ancillary files, may be used as needed for regular, non-commercial single-classroom use between a teacher and their students. 

This includes printing copies and sharing digital files with students through a secure platform, like Google Classroom or Canvas, email, or a classroom-only shared drive.

The using and sharing of any part of this resource in any manner outside the above-mentioned capacity is strictly prohibited. Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to,

• posting files on the open internet or in a Facebook group
• emailing files to or sharing print copies with others (without purchasing additional licenses)
• uploading or storing files in a shared cloud drive accessible by anyone other than students
• including any part, or any derivative work, within any commercial endeavor like curriculum development, professional training, or for-profit teaching like Outschool, or selling this resource as your own in either print or digital formats

Doing so violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), copyright law, and these terms.

By downloading this resource from Let’s Cultivate Greatness, the original user has been granted one license for a single teacher (or number of teachers matching the number of licenses purchased) and their students at any one time. 

Let’s Cultivate Greatness retains the full copyright of this resource.

My students had a blast with this. Thanks for a great resource   – Angela W.