It’s almost Election Day! There’s no better way to teach our students about voting, than by hosting a mock election. Today, I am going to talk about 5 tips for hosting a mock election, plus, everything you need to teach about Election Day and voting!
1- Introduction to Voting
If you’re going to be teaching about Election Day, you will want to start with an introduction to voting! This BrainPop video has excellent, clear explanations of voting and elections. It is engaging and will get your kiddos excited about voting, the perfect starting point for a mock election!
2- Read Alouds for Your Lessons
Of course, I will always recommend read-alouds for effective lessons. There are several that I like to use before a mock election and you can find them in my other post: Election Day Read Alouds.
3- Informational Reading About Elections
Now, your students will need to read nonfiction information about Election Day and voting, too. Before they are ready to be involved in a mock election, they will need to know what voting is, how it works, what requirements there are for an election, etc. I would suggest starting with printable informational passages, online articles, or nonfiction texts about the topic.
After learning all about voting and elections, students should be able to show what they know! Printable comprehension questions, cut-and-paste activities, and writing prompts can be used to check for understanding.
4- Host a Mock Election in Your Class
Once your students have learned about elections and voting, you will be ready to host your own mock election, and here is how I would do it:
Younger grades-
- Decide what positions will be available for students to “run” for.
- Display a list of those positions and their requirements. You can even host an informal group discussion about the positions.
- Have students prepare a short speech and create campaign posters.
- Students may take notes during or after speeches for each position.
- Students will fill out a voter registration card in exchange for a ballot.
- Students will complete a ballot (for each position) and put it in your ballot box. (If there is more than one position, I would do these one at a time).
- The student with the most votes for each position wins.
- If there is a tie, have the top two students give another short speech or answer questions and take another vote.
Older grades-
- Decide what positions will be available for students to “run” for.
- Display a list of those positions and their requirements. You can even host an informal group discussion about the positions.
- Have students fill out an application to run for positions.
- Display a list of students running for each position.
- Have students who are running prepare and speech and create campaign posters. (They can even have campaign assistants help with this).
- Students will take notes during or after speeches for each position.
- You can have a “primary election” if there are more than 2-3 students running for each position. Students will vote after initial speeches, narrowing the candidates to 2 or 3.
- Students will create a list of questions about class issues for the candidates and you can host a “debate” or “press conference.”
- Students will fill out a voter registration card in exchange for a ballot.
- Students will complete a ballot (for each position) and put it in your ballot box. (If there is more than one position, I would do these one at a time).
- The student with the most votes for each position wins.
- If there is a tie, have the top two students give another short speech or answer questions and take another vote.
DIY Voting Booth
Link: Lucky Learning Mock Elections
Really get into the voting spirit with an election booth. This will show the students the importance of voting and help reinforce the notion of voter privacy. To make the booth, Use a large cardboard box and put slits at the top. Slide a yardstick through a curtain or wrap a bed sheet around it to. Put slits in the sides and insert another piece of a cardboard box for a stand to write on.
Grab Ready-to-Go Passages & Worksheets:
This resource is everything you need to teach about voting, Election day, and mock elections! This resource will come with reading passages, comprehension pages, graphic organizers, mock election resources like ballots, campaign posters, voter registration cards, and more!
