Our Fourth Class recently learned first-hand how the American election process works. Late last week, each student nominated a candidate for president from novels that he or she had already read this year. They each created a “Candidate Fact Sheet” explaining why their candidate should be chosen for president. The class narrowed it down to the top three candidates: Meriwether Lewis, Sacagawea and Seaman.
Polling places opened Tuesday morning. The students had previously filled out their “voter registration cards.” They had to present these upon their arrival to the polls. The students voted, cast their ballots, got their pictures taken and created their very own “I Voted” pin to wear all day!
After each child voted, Mrs. Reepmeyer and Miss Lammert counted the votes and informed the students that Seaman won the popular vote by a narrow margin. Sacagawea came in as a close second. The class took it a step further by conducting its own “Electoral College” using an interactive map showing which states were won by Lewis (blue states), Sacagawea (red states) and Seaman (gray states). The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and now have a strong grasp on how our voting process works!
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