Justice Sandra Day O’Connor famously said, “the practice of democracy is not passed down through the gene pool. It must be taught and learned anew by each generation of citizens.” As Democrats and Republicans circle each other in the run up to the general election in November, helping students make sense of such an exciting political cycle can seem daunting. So, we’re here to help.

PBS LearningMedia has excellent guides for understanding the debates with a toolkit and curriculum guide. Their dynamic Election Central site hosts interactive electoral maps, guides to the election process, and lessons to help students become more familiar with the anatomy of political campaigns. Their 50 for 50 contest encourages students to write a letter to a presidential candidate about issues that are most important in their lives. Two lucky students will win a trip to Las Vegas for the final presidential debate! PBS Newshour also has a series of lessons about the upcoming election for middle school and up. Our own video series On the Campaign Trail has followed the primaries as they turned towards November and includes printable individual tasks for students, guides for the debates, along with class activities.

For a more playful and interactive style of instruction, iCivics has amassed a series of games and lessons that cover the entirety of the 2016 election. And for younger learners, Scholastic’s resources help students familiarize themselves with the vocabulary of elections and engage them with a mock election and also by creating a fictional campaign.

For older learners, C-SPAN’s comprehensive Road to the White House offers video, live tweeting and bios from the candidates, as well as campaign news coverage and election results. Additionally, the New York Times' Election 2016 Homepage hosts a blog, lessons, and activities for what the paper has called “the most surreal presidential campaign in modern times.” If you haven’t checked out the great work happening over at Crash Course, their Youtube series on government and politics provides great background for an instructor or even advanced videos on how our government and elections work, as well as how the organs inside of our system operate.

If you are a pure creature of elections and politics, a great site for advanced content is at The Living Room Candidate, which streams an archive of campaign commercials dating back to the 1950s along with lessons from the Museum of the Moving Image. My favorite? The infamous “Daisy” ad from 1964; a true classic!