Resources

Student Resources

• Methods of Election Handout

Teacher Resources

• Reflection questions

Anticipate

• Have students review the Electoral College Homework Help Video. This can be done as homework or as part of a warm-up.

Engage

• Pose the question, “Should today’s assignment be completed individually, in partners, in small groups, or as a whole class?”
• Scaffolding note: Use whatever means available to gather answers quickly and easily (technology, paper, or a show of hands).
• Transition: Ask students if they know what method or type of voting they just participated in. (Popular vote) “Today’s lesson will be a look into when the popular vote is used and when the country uses the Electoral College. We will be doing so by analyzing different excerpts about those methods of voting. Finally, you will have questions to answer to be sure we know the difference.”
• Glossary term(s) that may be explained during discussion:
  • “First past the post”
  • Winner take all
  • Plurality vs. majority
• If desired, illustrate an example of the Electoral College by taking the vote further (demonstrate how electors are chosen by their state, choose electors from the students in class, have the “electors” have the final say).

Explore

• Students will need a copy of the Methods of Election Handout.
• The first column contains excerpts from different sources related to either the Electoral College or popular vote.
• In the second column, students are asked to identify which method of election (Electoral College or popular vote) is being referenced.
• The third column asks students for an explanation, such as by rewording to demonstrate understanding. Instruct students to complete this section with as much detail as fits your class needs. “How do you know?” “What words or phrases helped you decide?” “Summarize the excerpt in your explanation” could be used as guiding questions to provide assistance if needed.
• Scaffolding note: Teachers can choose, or go with the Engage answer, for students to complete this individually, with partners, as small groups, or as a whole class.
• Review the handout with students and confirm that they are clear that congressional elections are conducted via the popular vote while presidential elections are conducted via the Electoral College, then have them move to the reflection questions.

Assess & Reflect

• Have students respond to the following reflection questions in writing or video:
  • Prior to the Seventeenth Amendment, senators were chosen by state legislatures; does that align more with the ideas of the popular vote or the Electoral College? Explain.
  • What is one strength and one weakness of each method (popular vote, Electoral College)?

  Scaffolding note: Teachers can adjust the number of strengths/weaknesses based on class discussions during completion of the handout.

• Student Handouts can be reviewed, assessed, or scored as desired.

Extend

• Students could investigate the presidential elections (2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, 1824) in which the popular vote winner did not align with the Electoral College winner. Applying their knowledge of the purpose of the Electoral College, do these elections show a strength or flaw in the system?
• Students could research existing debates for and against the Electoral College, all-or-nothing electoral votes, and their state’s rules on faithless electors before writing their own argument(s) on the topic(s).