Student Resources: 

• Homework Help video: Citizens United v. FEC 
• Graphic Organizer: Campaign Finance
• PACs and SuperPACs Handout
• Students may also need access to the internet or textbook, depending on teacher choice/availability 

Facilitation Notes 

• This lesson focuses on campaign finance not campaign organization and strategies. 

Engage

• Depending on the grade level and prior knowledge of your students, select from the following questions to get students started:
  • Who contributes money to candidates?
  • Why do campaign contribution laws exist? Why might those laws be controversial?
• Answers will vary but guide the discussion around how much money is spent on campaigns, and how the people running for office need and want others to help fund their campaigns. Worries about economic inequality and the amount of money poured into political campaigns have led to questions about whether regulations are important. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that contributing money to campaigns is a form of protected speech, there has been tremendous controversy about this.
• Let students know that today they will be looking into campaign finance decisions, which include federal legislation and Supreme Court decisions. Remind students that running for office, especially at the federal level, can be quite expensive. (Considerations include if a candidate is running for the first time, running against a popular incumbent, or running unopposed, all of which affect the cost of campaigns.) Political action committees (PACs) are responsible for a lot, but not all, of the funds that go into campaigning.
• If teaching the lesson around the time of a highly contested congressional or presidential election, teachers may choose to discuss the money spent on that specific election to illustrate the substantial amounts of money involved in campaigns.

Explore

• Play the Homework Help Video Citizens United v. FEC video while students complete the first section of the Campaign Finance: Legislation and Supreme Court Decisions Graphic Organizer.
• Scaffolding note:
  • Choose what works best for the class when watching the video and completing the graphic organizer. It can be completed as a whole group, in small groups, or individually, as pausing, rewatching, and captioning might be necessary.
• Display, print, or post for students the PACs and super PACs reading to complete the second section of the graphic organizer.

Assess & Reflect

• Assessment can focus on the following:
  • Graphic Organizers can be collected, reviewed, and assessed as preferred.
  • Class discussion: be sure to call on members of each group, depending on how the groups are divided.
  • The guiding questions may be asked of students during the lesson or as an “exit slip” per teacher preference.

Extend

• If desired:
  • Have students research public support or opposition of PACs, a specific PAC or superPAC that is politically active in their geographic area, or one they feel strongly about.