Material includes:

- slides for presentation (a slide for each lesson step)

- link to recap kahoot about US election

- slide with possible lesson plan

Possible lesson plan:

Step 1: Assign Political Profiles (5 minutes)

• Objective: Students will take on roles representing different voter profiles. You’ll create a set of cards or slips, each containing a brief description of a specific voter persona (e.g., a young college student, a factory worker in a Rust Belt state, an immigrant business owner, a retiree concerned with healthcare, etc.).
• Each student draws a card, taking on the role of that voter. This helps ensure they don't just vote based on their personal opinions but rather think about the broader electorate.

Step 2: Group Discussion – What Would "Your Voter" Want? (5 minutes)

• Activity: Break students into small groups based on similar or contrasting voter profiles. Let them discuss what their voter’s priorities and concerns might be in the election.
  • For instance, a college student may care about student loan debt and climate change, while a retiree might prioritize healthcare and pensions.
  • Encourage students to think about issues like immigration, healthcare, the economy, education, and gun control. How do these issues affect their assigned voter profile?

Step 3: Voter Argumentation (5 minutes)

• Activity: In pairs or small groups, have students briefly argue why their assigned voter would support a specific candidate (either Biden or Trump). They must base this on the issues relevant to their voter persona. Each student or group should prepare a few sentences about:
  • Who their voter is (e.g., "I represent a 22-year-old university student from Florida.")
  • What issues are most important to that voter.
  • Why this voter would support a specific candidate, based on those issues.
• Let each pair or group present their reasoning to the class briefly (about 1 minute each).

Step 4: The Vote (5 minutes)

• Activity: Once everyone has presented their argument, conduct a mock election. You can use physical ballots (printed slips of paper) or a digital polling tool (like Mentimeter or Poll Everywhere) to let students cast their votes based on the voter persona they represented.

Step 5: Result Analysis (3-5 minutes)

• Activity: After the vote, reveal the results to the class and lead a quick reflection. Compare the class's mock election results to current polling data. Ask questions like:
  • Were the results what they expected?
  • Did their voter persona sway them toward a different choice than they would have made personally?
  • What issues seemed to have the most influence on their voting decisions?