Thank you for your interest in the Vote Early Day lesson plan! We’re thrilled that you’re taking this step to help your students make their voices heard in this very important election.
Vote Early Day is a nonpartisan holiday to empower Americans with the tools to cast their ballot early and make sure their voice is heard. We are excited to share our lesson plan as inspiration for how you can talk to your students about the importance of voting and help them make their plans for casting their ballot in the upcoming election. We encourage you to use this lesson in your classroom on Vote Early Day itself (Friday, October 28) to be part of this nationwide celebration.
We’ve consulted with numerous teachers across the country and aligned our lesson with the National Council for Social Studies learning standards to make this a valuable resource for your classroom. The activities in the lesson are also in line with best practices from social science research on voting:
- One of the most effective ways to ensure a person votes is to have them make a plan for casting their ballot. We make the creation of this plan the focus of the lesson.
- People are more likely to vote if they perceive it is a social norm (i.e. everyone else around them is also voting). By having a few students share their plans with the class, you will help establish that voting is the norm in your classroom, which will make your students feel more inclined to join in and vote.
If you’d like to extend this conversation…
- Have students take what they’ve learned beyond the classroom and share their plans to vote with their friends, family members, and any voters in their lives. Encourage them to be creative in how they share their plans—a student’s text message, infographic, or TikTok video can go a long way in influencing their peers!
- Consider integrating this lesson with the rest of your history- or civics-oriented curriculum. As students are discussing the importance of voting in the first part of the lesson, tie in other material you’re covering about citizenship, the Constitution, the principles of a democratic republic, or another related topic.
The Vote Early Day team welcomes your questions and feedback about this lesson plan. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].
About Vote Early Day
Vote Early Day is a nonpartisan movement of media companies, businesses, nonprofits, academics, election administrators, and creatives working to ensure all Americans have the tools to vote early. This holiday is a tentpole moment for partners of all stripes to engage with voters and urge them to cast their ballots.
Created in 2020, Vote Early Day has brought thousands of national and local partners together in celebration and activation to increase the number of people voting early. This collaborative, open-source model—similar to Giving Tuesday and National Voter Registration Day—ensures that millions more Americans take advantage of their options to vote early through on-the-ground activations, get-out-the-vote pushes, national communications on traditional and social media, and work to change the culture around voting.
Vote Early Day plays a unique role in the push to get voters to cast their ballot. We are a trusted, nonpartisan holiday with supporters on both sides of the aisle—a rarity in today’s partisan climate. We provide a central moment for a wide range of partners (many non-traditional to the civic space) to engage with voters and urge them to vote early. Our collaboration of thousands of diverse partners allows us to engage in places beyond where voters are used to seeing election messages. This allows us to break through the noise and meet voters where they are.
Learn more at www.VoteEarlyDay.org.
