Election season brings on tons of excitement and it’s often inevitable that students will be exposed to the process in one way or another. As their questions roll in, you can prepare an engaging and informative lesson on presidential elections that both inspires and deepens their understanding of civic responsibility, democracy, and voting!
It is never too early to learn about the election process and these election activities and books will have students dreaming about what it could mean to be president one day.
Disclosure: Affiliate links have been used in this post, but I only share items I use and enjoy!
Picture books serve many different purposes in the classroom. When approaching a new topic, an engaging picture book can really set the stage for little learners. The picture book Grace for President by Kelly DiPuccio introduces the concept of presidential elections in a relatable and easy-to-understand way for students.
This story follows Grace, a young girl who decides to run for president of her class. The illustrations and compelling narrative turn a very difficult idea into a clear message.
It can be difficult to explain presidential duties and even more so difficult for kids to visualize what a president does all day. Having an informational reader that dives deep into the president’s roles and responsibilities will help better define a “day in the life of the president” in a kid-friendly way!
And it provides essential background knowledge as students try to understand what elections are all about.
Using Grace for President as the focus read-aloud for the week, you can carve in activities to tackle some crucial comprehension skills. Comprehending what the text teaches them about elections is important, so you can have students focus on summarizing.
First, students answer, “Did Grace deserve to win?” Students will cite text evidence to support the answer that they chose. Then, students will practice writing a summary using the SWBST framework.
They will write the summary on a Future Voter Ribbon to provide structure for their summary and keep students on track! Plus, it reinforces the nature of the lesson beyond reading comprehension skills.
Now that we’ve read about elections and discussed the role of the President, it’s time for students to take part in the voting process. Make it fun by holding a mock election with Oreos! You can go all out with decorations, like these fun election finds from Amazon, or keep it simple.
Provide students with either two or three flavors of Oreos. Students will silently taste each Oreo and then cast a vote for their favorite. Food will always enhance a lesson and hook students.
To make it even more realistic, students can create voter registration cards. Students must show their cards before casting their votes. Once they have voted, students receive an “I Voted” sticker to wear.
All of these components will bring voting to life in the classroom! Afterward, tally up the votes by using a classroom graph. Students can discuss the data to integrate a mix of math, reading, and social studies!
Tap into students’ creativity with activities for imagining themselves as future leaders! Students can envision being a future presidential candidate and create a portrait of themselves as president.
To drive the idea home, have students design campaign posters. Encourage them to think about their best qualities and how they will help others.
As I mentioned before, the right book will help anchor your lesson and provide aid as you teach students about the election process. Grace for President is just one of my favorite books for election season, check out some of my other recommendations below, or find the full list here!
Hey, y’all! My name is Amy Lemons and I am passionate about providing students with both engaging and effective standards-based Math and ELA lessons.
Sample a day of Rooted in Reading with these lesson plans and activities for Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar!
