U.S. Presidential Elections - Vocabulary, Reading, Writing & Speaking Activities

This resource consists of 8 activities (88 pages of student material) that are all about how an American president is elected. Students will learn how the U.S. president is chosen and about the presidential election process in general. All the activities revolve around 24 election-themed vocabulary words. If you are teaching about elections in America, this resource will help your students understand the procedure for electing the president.

✓ Please note:

-- You can also purchase many of these resources individually but you'll save almost 20% and receive activities that aren't available separately when buy them all together in this product. Please click on the links below if you prefer to buy the individual resources:

* The 3 Vocabulary resources are HERE

* The 2 Discussion and Writing resources are HERE

* The Word Searches and Crossword Puzzles are HERE

The reading passage is not available separately.

-- A Google Drive™ version of the Vocabulary, Reading, and Writing resources is available HERE. The material has been reformatted to Google Slides. The reading passage and accompanying questions is included in this product.

Resource at a Glance:

★ What will students learn?

* How a U.S. president is elected.

* 24 vocabulary words about electing an American president and the U.S. elections process in general. (Please see the More Info section below for a list of the words.)

★ Who is it for?

* All students, including English Language Learners who don’t know how presidents in the U.S. are elected or about elections in America.

★ How does it help teachers?

* Use it to explain how U.S. presidents are elected and what is involved in an election in America.

* Task cards/flash cards explain important vocabulary words about U.S. elections and the pictures help students comprehend the concepts.

* Use the larger-sized vocabulary words as a word wall when teaching about elections and/or the Three Branches of Government.

* The reading passage lets students demonstrate their understanding of the process of electing an American president.

* The vocabulary games help reinforce the meanings of the words for students.

* The discussion prompts give students practice in talking about elections and how an American president is elected.

* Use the writing prompts to see how well students can express themselves when writing about elections in the U.S.

* The word search and crossword puzzles are differentiated and also help students learn the meanings of words related to electing a president of the U.S. and elections in general.

* Answer keys for the word search and crossword puzzles are included to save you time.

* The variety of activities offers you flexibility in teaching because many can be done in multiple ways, such as individually, in pairs, and/or in small groups.

* The variety of activities means they can be used in class, for homework, in centers, as fillers, and/or for early finishers.

What educators who have used this resource say about it:

♥ "Loved the writing prompts." -- Linda S.

♥ "Great resource! Thanks!" -- Joe C.

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What you get in this product:

★ Table of contents for quick reference (1 page)

★ A Notes to the Teacher section with explanatory information (1 page)

★ A list of the ELA Common Core standards addressed by this product (1 page)

★ 24 vocabulary flash cards about U.S presidential elections, 4 words per page, plus a cover page with 13 suggestions for use (7 pages)

★ 24 words and images (the same words as those on the flash cards) for a word wall, 2 words per page, plus a cover page with 8 suggestions for use (13 pages)

★ 1 reading passage about how an American president is elected, with 5 comprehension questions and an answer key, in color and black-and-white versions, plus a cover page with 8 suggestions for use (5 pages)

★ 24 vocabulary cards, 4 per page, for a Concentration-style word & definition matching game, plus a cover page with instructions on how to prepare the cards and how to play the game with 3 suggestions for use (15 pages)

★ 16 discussion topics about elections, 4 topics per page, with images and key words and phrases included plus a cover page with 5 suggestions for use (5 pages)

★ 16 writing topics about elections (same topics as the discussion topics), a 1-page rubric you can use to assess students' work, 1 lined page for students who need more space for their responses, plus a cover page with 5 suggestions for use (18 pages)

★ 3 word search puzzles with 3 levels of difficulty each, answer keys, plus a cover page with 5 suggestions for use (19 pages)

★ 3 different crossword puzzles with answer keys, plus a 1-page word bank with all 24 words on it for students who need extra support and a cover page with 6 suggestions for use (14 pages)

More Info:

The 24 vocabulary words in this resource are: ballot, candidate, caucus, Congress, convention, delegate, Democrat, election, Electoral College, inauguration, independent, platform, political party, polling place, president, primary, register, Republican, representative, senator, Supreme Court, vote, Washington, D.C., White House.

All the 24 vocabulary flash cards/task card words are related to U.S. elections. Every card includes: the word, its definition, 1 or 2 images to illustrate the word, its part of speech, 1-3 facts about the vocabulary word, and related words and phrases (when applicable).

The reading passage explains how a president is elected in the United States. On a separate page, there are 5 comprehension questions for students. An answer key is provided for your convenience. All these pages are in both color and black-and-white versions. There is also a cover page with 8 suggestions for use.

The 24 vocabulary cards for a word-definition matching game use the same 24 words and definitions about presidential elections as the flash card and word wall words. There is 1 page that says WORD and 1 page that says DEFINITION which you can photocopy on the the back of the Word and Definition cards if you wish. The cover page provides instructions for how to play the game and offers 3 ways to play it.

There are 16 discussion topics about U.S elections on task cards. Each task card includes an image plus key words and phrases about the target vocabulary word. on individual pages for use as writing tasks

The same 16 topics are also configured for use as writing prompts. Each prompt is on 1 page and includes an image with key words and phrases included. In addition, a lined page is provided for students who need more space to write their responses. A rubric you can use to assess your students' work is also included.

Another activity is word search puzzles. There are 3 word searches at 3 levels of difficulty each, for a total of 9 puzzles: 1 puzzle includes all 24 words, 1 puzzle includes 12 words about people and places associated with presidential elections, 1 puzzle includes 12 other words related to voting. Answer keys for all the word searches are provided following all the puzzles. A cover page with 5 suggestions for use is also included.

The final activity consists of crossword puzzles. There are 3 different crossword puzzles with answer keys and an accompanying word bank for students who need some extra support. Each puzzle includes 1 page for the actual puzzle, 1 page with the clues, 1 page with the puzzle filled in with the answers, and 1 page with the answers next to the clues. The puzzles are divided into the same 3 topics as the word searches: 1 puzzle uses all 24 words, 1 puzzle uses 12 words about people and places, 1 puzzle uses 12 words about voting. Definitions for all the vocabulary words as well as the reading passage are written in easy-to-understand language so English Language Learners and students reading below grade level can understand them. Several suggestions for doing each activity are also provided.

English Language Learners and other students who are unfamiliar with American elections or how a U.S. president is elected will find these resources informative and useful. For native English-speaking students and ELLs who already have a general idea of the election process, you can use these resources as supplemental classroom activities, in centers, or for fun homework assignments. Laminate the materials and you can use them whenever there is an election in your area or nationally.

This resource helps address some ELA Common Core writing standards and speaking and listening standards -- a page listing those particular standards is provided for your convenience.

After using the activities in this resources, your students will surely have a better understanding of American elections and, in particular, how a president in the United States is elected.

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