Elections in Oregon Lessons for the 2023-2024 School Year

This mini-unit provides an extended lesson plan and several handouts for a class to conduct a town hall simulation about the importance of voting. Students write testimony and share their perspectives in front of the class. Debriefing and reflection opportunities are also provided.

This unit provides extensive resources and suggested activities around the history of voting rights in the United States, the expansion of voting rights to 16 year olds, the history of gerrymandering, and the curtailment of the right to vote in recent years. Two large activities are offered—the first, a Stuctured Academic Controversy (SAC) asks students to generate arguments in favor of and in opposition to lowering the voting age to 16. In the second, students participate in a simluated legislative hearing about responses to voter suppression.

This unit considers three questions in the context of the 2020 election: (a) What makes people want to vote?; (b) Why don't more people vote?; and (c) How can voters access quality information? Each lesson consists of several readings about the issues that include charts, maps, timelines, and analysis. The third lesson culminates in an interview role play scenario in which students take on the perspectives of different community members and interview one another about increasing voter turnout.

The introductory section to the 2020 Election Curriculum. This document provides an overview of the elections materials, an introductory survey for students to complete, Tips for Teaching in Polarized Times, a list of standards covered, and inspirational quotes about voting.

This unit frames the selection of the President of the United States around three questions: How do Americans hire a president? What are the qualities of a good president? How do we compare the candidates? Each overarching question leads into several activities with entry points for students in different grade levels and with varying learning styles. Highlights include an activity where students identify traits of an effective president and create a Help Wanted poster recruiting a new U.S. president. Includes unit vocabulary and three lesson plans with student handouts and worksheets.

This unit, about "other election issues" in 2020, consists of three in-depth lessons: the first examines how democratic the election of U.S. Senators is. Students read articles about the makeup of the Senate and compare current trends with the preamble to the Constitution. In the second lesson, students compare the legislative process and initiative/referendum/referral process to understand how laws are made in Oregon. As a culminating activity, students draft a ballot measure on a topic of interest to them. Finally, in the third lesson, students learn more about the four major initiatives on the Oregon ballot in 2020 and analyze the key components of these proposals.

This three-lesson unit focuses on how Americans "hire" a president, what qualities make an excellent presidential candidate, and what the best ways are for comparing different candidates. The unit includes a Pre-Unit Survey, an exercise the Constitution as a primary source, an actiivty that asks students to generate a "help wanted" ad for the next president, and tools to compare/contrast different candidates.

Published in 2020, this unit considers three questions about elections-related issues: How democratic is the United States Senate?, How does direct democracy work in Oregon?, and What proposed initiatives might you support? Readings, supplementary handouts, and activities are included for each lesson.

The third unit of the 2020 Elections materials focuses on Voter Rights. The packet includes a comprehensive historical timeline about voter rights, articles about felon voting rights and whether 16 year olds should have the right to vote, and materials about gerrymandering.

This unit explores the importance of voting and considers why some people do not vote in elections. Articles and activities take on the issue of voter participation from different perspectives, and a role-play activity engages students directly in questions about low voter turnout.

This unit challenges students to create a mock legislative hearing in which they deliver testimony around one of several questions about the upcoming election.