New Classroom Resources from Discovery Education

The Chase the Race 2016 program brings you exciting curricula and other valuable classroom resources, pooling the vast experiential education experience of Envision and our program partners.

Engage Your Students in the Electoral Process
Today we are pleased to present you with the first in a four-part series of videos and activity plans from Discovery Education, in concert with Envision and our Chase the Race 2016 Student Reporters. These resources will help you make the 2016 U.S. presidential election relevant and approachable for your students, empowering them to become informed, involved members of their communities.

Classroom Activity: The Candidates, the Issues, the Process
Access the Activity Plan

Here is everything you need to introduce your students to the key components of the 2016 election: the candidates, the issues and the electoral process. In this activity, students work in small groups to share information about the presidential race, activating their prior knowledge and establishing a strong foundation for future activities – or perhaps future roles as leaders in their own community! They will research specific election-related information through a variety of news media and then present their findings to the class. The exercise culminates with students working collaboratively to build an informational website (e.g., wiki) about the election process. 

This custom-designed classroom activity is primarily intended for high school students, but is also suitable for middle school. It is compatible with several C3 framework standards for Social Studies.

Key objectives of this activity are to help your students:

• Formulate a list of major issues in the 2016 presidential race
• Identify the current presidential candidates and explain their platforms
• Research and describe important events in the electoral process
• Teach classmates about a specific aspect of primaries and caucuses
• Construct a website explaining the electoral process

All instructions and supporting materials for the activity are available for free download on the Discovery Education webpage.

Video: Student Reporter Margaret Pfohl Demystifies Election Events
View the Video

In this video, Chase the Race 2016 student reporter Margaret Pfohl joins Envision’s Chief Academic Officer, Andrew Potter, to help students sort out key components of the U.S. electoral process, including the primaries, the caucuses and Super Tuesday.

It’s likely that a startling percentage of American adults would have a hard time describing the exact difference between an election primary and a caucus. And how about the delegates that attend the national conventions? What is their role and how much power do they have?

Margaret and Andrew uncover the facts for your students in this engaging 3-minute video. With peers like Margaret helping to demystify the confusing aspects of the election, your students can more easily engage and enjoy the events as they unfold.

Other questions answered in the video:

• What’s so special about the New Hampshire Primary, the Iowa Caucus and Super Tuesday?
• If students are too young to vote this year, how can they be directly involved?

Let Your Voice Be Heard
We’d love to hear from you – and from your students! Visit the Chase the Race 2016 website for more details on how to get involved. And watch for new election-related resources for your classroom, coming soon.