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Alexander Hamilton and the Roots of Federalism
Explore the origin of political parties in the United States. Learners work in groups to read and analyze copies of the "Report on Manufactures" written by Alexander Hamilton. Then, they complete a worksheet comparing the Federalists to...
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Graphic Organizing: Early American History
In collaborative groups, young US historians sort cards (each labeled with a single early American event or issue) according to which of the first four presidents was leading the country at the time. Learners copy the events onto a...
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Republican and Democrat Symbols
For this social studies and art worksheet, students examine a picture of the donkey and elephant symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties. Students color the picture.
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Who Could Have Been Who
Can word choice affect a candidate's likeability? Use a New York Times lesson to explore how a presidential candidate's likeability factor can fluctuate in public opinion polls. Young readers choose a presidential election from...
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Speech! Speech!
Critical thinkers consider how word choice in speeches impacts the meaning and effectiveness of the message being presented. They examine and respond to some of the speeches made at the 2004 Republican and Democratic National...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Election of 1912
The Election of 1912: an election with four competitive opponents. Pupils get to know the candidates with informative reading passages that provide context to the election. Then, the class engages in a debate and answers questions as one...
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Security and Savings for All?
Students act as either Democrats or Republicans to debate plans to alter Social Security. For homework, they consider whether Social Security has become too politicized and propose their own solutions.
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Power, Persuasion & Propaganda: Exploring Multiple Motives
Students recognize different motives even in non-commercial media. They analyze the role of media in a democratic society and wrestle with ethical issues concerning media and the public good. They create a media message with one or more...
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Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate Curriculum
How do you affirm and negate a statement of value? What is refutation? Interested in debate? Introduce your class to the format of the Lincoln Douglas debate with 14 lessons, designed to be used in order, so that debaters learn the logic...
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Election Day Make-A-Word
In this election day make-a-word learning exercise, students color the pictures of the donkey and the elephant, then make words from the letters of Democrat and Republican.
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The Political is Personal
Students examine their own political party affiliations and political beliefs. After reading an article, they discuss how students at Duke define their political philosophies. They brainstorm events, people and experiences that have...
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Westward Expansion
Students explore the Westward Expansion Movement of U.S. history. For this Westward movement lesson, students use primary and secondary source documents research personal accounts of those who travelled west during the era....
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March 2, 1877: Hayes Declared Winner in Disputed Presidential Election
After reading an interesting article comparing the disputed presidential election of 1877 to a similar event in the year 2000, kids blog a response. They read the article, check out the embedded links, then respond to four related...
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Sentence Completion 17
These words are tough! Very advanced English language learners or native speakers will still be befuddled by some of these vocabulary words. For each of the six sentences provided, learners must choose the correct word to complete the...
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The 44th and 45th USA Presidents
The transition of power between former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump may be the first political process that your students have followed. Fill out the details between these two leaders with a set of vocabulary...
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Presidential Election Alphabet Activity
In this presidential election activity worksheet, students examine 16 election-related terms and then put those terms into alphabetical order.
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Red, Undecided, and Blue
Students analyze voter preferences in past elections, and then write letters to a presidential candidate, recommending winning strategies drawn from their research.
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Similes, Metaphors, and Symbols
Here is an outline of a lesson in which learners examine the use of similes, metaphors, and symbols in poetry. They define similes, metaphors, and symbols, complete a handout, and create a poem using types of figurative language.
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Introducing Elections Unit
Students discover the political parties of our country by participating in a role playing activity. In this U.S. Government lesson, students visit several different classrooms that each represent one of the political parties in the...
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Presidential Election Word Search
For this word search worksheet, students study the terms related to a presidential election. Students locate the 16 words within the word search puzzle.
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ESL: American Presidents
In this ESL American Presidents activity, students read a table of information about the presidents, their vice presidents and party, then answer a set of 20 questions.
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Story of Arnold Schwarzenegger
In this ESL worksheet, students listen to a reading about Arnold Schwarzenegger. Students answer 10 multiple-choice questions about the information given.
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Primary Elections & Caucuses
For this online interactive primary elections and caucuses worksheet, students respond to 10 fill in the blank, true or false, and multiple choice questions regarding the information included in the provided paragraphs.
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Oil Production Examining History - Finding the Truth
In this oil production worksheet, students click on the links to read about oil production and then answer short answer questions. Students also write a persuasive essay about what they think should be done.