For Teachers

State Department of Education and New Jersey PTA Endorsements

The New Jersey State Department of Education and the New Jersey Parent Teacher Association have endorsed and support the Mock Election. The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards that are related to the Mock Election are offered as a link on the front page of this website. Please read their inspiring and patriotic endorsement letters.

Curriculum Materials

Several websites that offer free curriculum materials are posted on this website and in the toolkit on this page.

Questions You May Have

The Frequently Asked Questions page of this website attempts to answer many of the questions teachers may have about the Mock Election. Those questions include:

- I Am a Teacher. What Would I Be Responsible For?
- What Do I Have to Do With My Class on October 30?
- Do I have to print or copy a ballot for every student in my class?
- Is There a Charge for My Class to Participate in the Mock Election?
- Where Can I Get A Ballot for My Class to Vote?
- Does My Class Have to Vote on October 30?
- Can I Create My Own Ballot for My Class?
- What If My Students Want to Vote Only for the Presidential Candidates?
- Who Prints the Ballots for My Class?
- Do All Students in My Class Have to Vote in the Mock Election?
- Can I Choose What Parts of the Ballot My Students Will Vote For?
- What Can Parents Do to Help With the Mock Election?
- What if a Newspaper Wants to Send a Photographer to My Class to Cover the Mock Election?

The Mock Election Can Be Adapted for YOUR Class and YOUR Lesson Plans

You, the teacher, can decide how the Mock Election fits into your course of study and lesson plans during the weeks leading up to October 29, Mock Election Day.

The special teacher's guide for the Mock Election is available now on this website.

The Frequently Asked Questions, such as those listed above, illustrate how flexible the Mock Election is and how much control you have over the way the project is handled in your class.

The scope of the project can be as large or as small as you choose to make it. For instance, you can simply offer ballots to your class to vote. Or ... you can assign homework exercises, outside reading, essays, class debates and any other imaginative activities you can develop to give students a thorough knowledge of the voting process and an appreciation for the importance of voting in America.

Parental Involvement

This is one of the most important elements to the Mock Election because it could involve parents in the homework and other activities you assign your students. That includes having students ask their parents for help in finding election news stories in newspapers, magazines and on websites.

Also, you may want to invite parents to your classroom on Mock Election Day to assist with the voting process. Parents are eligible to vote, too, and their votes will be counted along with the votes of their children. Before you do that, however, be sure to clear the idea with your principal and the front office.

We have prepared a sample letter you may choose to send home with your students. The letter encourages parents ... especially those with primary and elementary students ... to become involved with their children as they study the issues and the candidates.

Feel free to use all or part of the following sample letter and send it home with your students well before Mock Election Day:

Dear Parent:

One of the most important lessons your child will learn this school year is the importance of voting. This year's Presidential Election offers an outstanding learning opportunity for all schoolchildren.

Our school will participate in the National Student/Parent Mock Election on October 29, in which students at _________ (name of the school) will vote for candidates for the Governor of New Jersey.

I will be assigning students in my class several homework exercises leading up to the Mock Election, in order to prepare them to examine the issues and the candidates beyond what they may read, see and hear on commercials and advertisements paid for by the candidates and the political parties.

Please help your children as they do their homework assignments. You can do that by helping them find news stories in newspapers, magazines and on the Web. And you can help them distinguish differences among factual presentations, opinions and propaganda that are already prominent on the airwaves and in the printed media.

Finally, I invite you to come to school at ____ (a.m. or p.m.) on October XX and be with our class as they vote in the Mock Election. You will be able to cast a vote too, and it will be counted along with all of the other votes cast in school that day.

If you have questions or want to be involved in the Mock Election, please contact me at _______ (E-mail address, phone number, etc.).

Sincerely yours,