Engaging Young Voters
By:  John Green

Project at a Glance :

This project is designed in conjunction with the West Michigan Chapter of the League of Women Voters to engage young voters. This project will take approximately 2 weeks.  

Driving Questions:

How can we, as high school students, inform and inspire young people to become active, informed voters in our democracy? How do you win a swing state?

Standards:

• C6 Citizenship and Civic Participation in the United States of America
• 6.1 Citizenship in the United States of America
• 6.2 Rights and Responsibilities in Civic Society
• 6.3 Dispositions for Civic Participation
• 6.4 Civic Inquiry, Public Policy, Civic Action, and Public Discourse.
  • Students will know how voting works in Michigan and the United States (federalism, 10th Amendment).
  • Students will identify barriers to voting and how the right to vote has evolved over time.
  • Students will become aware of alternative voting models (ranked choice, etc.)
  • Students will know the electoral college.
• Employability Skills were also incorporated in this project (targeted campaigning, teamwork, and communication).

Team / Culture Building:

• Teams were created using a random selector so students get accustomed to working with everyone in the class. ​
• Other team building examples include: Group Assessments, Think-Pair-Share, and Mock debates/trials.

Entry Event:

• Students analyzed the electoral college by viewing a video, The Electoral College, explained. They also developed an understanding of swing states. 
• Other possibilities include: 
• Have a volunteer from the League of Women Voters come in to the class and find out what they are looking for.
• Look at a mock election
• Look at election turn out numbers and election barriers

Stakeholders:

• League of Women Voters
• Students
• Community members
• Politicians 

Empathy Building:​

• Empathy Map ​

• Build empathy maps for people who believe in the system and also those who don't
• In order to "win a swing state", students need to consider the needs of various voting blocs throughout a state (ex. rural voters vs. urban voters)

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Interview young people who didn't vote to find out why?
• What causes apathy?
• Look at voter apathy, political engagement, and political efficacy

Gaining Insights:

• Used AI to generate demographic reports about swing states based on the 2020 Census. This was used to develop a campaign strategy 
• Look for successful "get out and vote" campaigns in other countries

Incubation:

• Crazy 8"s​​

• Anti-Solution
• AI to generate ideas
• Storyboard​

​Checking in:

• Check-ins a few times each week with fast rubrics and exit tickets
• Critical Friends protocol
• Gallery Walk with Dot Voting

• The class used FAST (mini) rubrics to see if groups were running in the right direction.

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Solution Building:

• Questions were asked in order to help students develop solutions:
• What is the format and focus of your campaign?
• Who is your target audience?
• How will you utilize the skills/talents of your team to complete project?
• What media platforms will you use?
• What is the tone? (serious, humorous, data-driven, etc.)
• $100 Test and NUF Test were then used to narrow solutions​​

Critique and Revision: ​

• Critical Friends
• Adult volunteers and administration will provide critique on progress and offer suggestions for improvements
• Students practiced presentations prior to delivery day. They continued to watch video clips from professional campaigns like town hall meetings and media appearances.

Authentic Audience:

• League of Women Voters​
• Students/classmates
• Administrators

Solution Examples:

• Students presented a solution to an issue facing their assigned swing state.​

Swing state: Maryland

• Solution presentations included which blocs of the voting coalition would find it appealing​

• Social Media campaign solution was created to appeal to younger voters
• Another group's solution was a Newsletter. They tried to appeal to older voters

Click here for teacher's full plan.
Reflection and Feedback:

• Students will be evaluated with this rubric
• NUF Test will be used by the audience to give feedback
• Students will receive feedback from their community partner

Newsletter Campaign Solution

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:

​John Green teaches in the Humanities Department at Saugatuck High School. He spends most of his time teaching Civics, Economics, and Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics. He began teaching in the Chicago Public Schools in 1998 and has been at Saugatuck since 2006.

          "I love to see students engaged and coming up with unique solutions throughout the process of PBL."