Virginia SOL CE.8.d
The Standard
examining the history of and requirements for voter registration
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science · The student will apply history and social science skills to examine the political process at the local, state, and national levels of government by
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how voting access changed through amendments, laws, and the removal of barriers such as poll taxes and literacy tests. They apply current Virginia eligibility rules to voter registration examples.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can sequence major voting rights changes, including the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments and the Voting Rights Act. They can decide whether someone may register in Virginia and cite the relevant requirements.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think registering means a person has already voted or that Virginia voters must register with a political party. They may also think past amendments ended discrimination immediately or that a felony conviction always prevents future registration.
How to Assess It
- Give this exit ticket: Jordan is 17, lives in Virginia, and will turn 18 before the next general election. Can Jordan register, and which rule supports your answer?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have students arrange amendment, law, poll tax, literacy test, and age requirement cards into a voting rights timeline.
Ask students to write how a residency requirement differs from a poll tax as a condition for voting.
Play Register or Not with voter profile cards, requiring teams to decide eligibility and name the rule they used.
Give students a Virginia voter registration application to inspect, then highlight fields that show citizenship, residency, age, and legal eligibility.
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Printable CE.8.d Worksheet
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Related Standards
- CE.10.b
evaluating voting responsibilities, voting dates, voting and processes in Virginia; and
- 2.2.a
identifying the benefits of being a U.S. citizen; and
- CE.10.c
explaining voter eligibility and requirements for registration.
- 2.2
The student will apply history and social science skills to understand citizenship by
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