12 Election Terms for Middle & High School- Vocabulary Strategies

The 17-page resource, 12 Essential Election Terms for Middle and High School-Vocabulary Strategies

provides students with opportunities to explore essential vocabulary so that they can begin to build their knowledge as they delve more deeply into the election. The resource includes an inventive road signs metaphor to help students identify their level of familiarity with various election terms. It establishes a knowledge base from which they can dive into nuanced meanings of these words. The unique K.I.M Vocabulary strategy is used to explore different aspects of each word, including word families, roots, etc., further strengthening students’ understanding.

The resource includes the following:

• About this Resource: a handy guide to orient teachers to the Essential Question, Guiding questions, standards, objectives, and learning targets, list of resources, preparation and time frame, and includes a link to a force copy for the Google Doc which makes the resource editable.

• Understanding Essential Election Vocabulary (Road Signs to Understanding Vocabulary)

• K.I.M. Vocabulary for Essential Election Terms and Key

• K.I.M. Vocabulary for Essential Election Terms Key

• Essential Election Vocabulary Quiz and Key

The 12 words are: ballot, candidate, democracy, election, government, political parties, politics, propaganda, proposition, representative democracy, and vote. Once students have a clear understanding of the terms, teachers can assess their understanding through the quiz. The quiz includes 2 parts: a matching the definition with the word and answering questions about the words that will allow them to show their understanding.

The Essential Question: "How do key election terms shape our understanding of democratic processes, and what strategies can we employ to navigate and utilize them effectively?" and the 3 Guiding Questions: "How do citizens engage with the democratic process through terms like "ballot," "candidate," and "vote," and what role do these terms play in ensuring representative governance?" "What strategies can individuals employ to critically evaluate the influence of "propaganda" and "political parties" in elections, and how do these terms impact the formation of informed civic choices?" "In what ways do concepts like "representative democracy" and "citizen" shape our understanding of government structures and the responsibilities of individuals within a democratic society?" encourages students to critically think about both the meaning and the impact of these words, not just on themselves, but also on our election cycle and our electoral system.

Every four years, citizens of our nation get to choose our next president.  Middle School and High School students are at the age where they begin to think of themselves as members of this country.  Many of them witness their relatives voting, but many do not, either because their relatives are not citizens or because their relatives are disengaged from the electoral process.  It is our duty as Social Studies teachers to engage our students in the electoral process so that they understand how our electoral system works and so that they see the value in participating in our democracy through voting.