This lesson gives an overview of Trump’s victory in the 2024 Presidential Election, takes a brief look at his foreign policy, and includes a global impacts simulation group activity.
PDF version of a presentation I made on Canva, a comprehension made on Diffit included, and teacher notes included.
I encourage students to share their knowledge on Trump, the US elections, and his stance on foreign policy throughout the lesson.
I use the presentation to introduce Trump’s victory. I then use the map to explain how he stormed to victory as well as how the electoral college vote works.
After, I introduce the term ‘foreign policy’ - explaining what it is and introducing three main aspects of Trump’s foreign policy.
Following on from that, to introduce the group activity, I ask the students to share their thoughts and opinions on how Trump’s foreign policy might impact global relations and events. I give a brief overview of the potential impacts of his policy on the EU, Ukraine, and Palestine (teacher notes attached if required).
To facilitate the global impact simulation, divide the class into 5 groups and assign one country or region (the EU) to each group. Every group will need a show-me board, whiteboard marker, and sponge to wipe. Allow them 10-15 minutes to analyse the potential impacts of Trump’s foreign policy on their assigned region. Each group must then present their work to the class.
The lesson can be concluded with a walking debate or general discussion, using the debate prompts at the end of the comprehension or points that have come up during the lesson.
A quiz designed to help students understand their own political views. This quiz has four sections - social, cultural, political and economic. There is a guide to scoring answers at the back of the quiz, and a separate guide to interpreting the scores.
An example of scoring once points for each section are tallied -
Economic Issues: 18 points → Far Left
Social Issues: 14 points → Moderate Libertarian
Political Issues: 10 points → Centrist
Cultural Issues: 7 points → Traditional
All scoring is explained in the second attached document.
*These questions are designed to cover a broad range of topics, providing an initial understanding of different political beliefs and values. The answers can help students to reflect on where they stand on the political spectrum/compass.
To determine an overall political position, you can have students plot their results on a political compass grid (numeracy):
X-Axis (Economic): Left (-) to Right (+)
Y-Axis (Social): Libertarian (-) to Authoritarian (+)
For more nuanced results, you could consider averaging the scores across sections or using a weighted approach if certain issues are more important.
It is important to remind students that political beliefs can be complex.