Irving ISD Virtual Voting Lesson Plan – Pre‐K Standards Addressed Lesson Title or Topic VII.D.3 ‐ “The child engages in voting as a method for group decision‐
making.” Objectives Key Vocabulary vote, mock election, democrat, republican Materials voter registration card, computer, propaganda brought in by students (bulletin board), photos of the candidates Engage Review key vocabulary from previous lessons leading to this point. (The activities in this section capture the student’s attention, stimulate their thinking and help them access prior knowledge.) Explore (In this section students are given time to think, plan, investigate, and organize collected information). Review the surveys, choices. and votes that have been occurring in the classroom. Talk about how the decisions can be made and how it can be fair to everyone involved. Using the bulletin board materials (review propaganda) talk about the two candidates who are running for President of the United States. Explain (Students are now involved in an analysis of their exploration. Their understanding is clarified and modified because of reflective activities). Introduce the terms Democrat and Republican. Make the connection between the symbols (mascots) of the Donkey with the Democratic Party (background information ‐ http://www.history.com/this‐day‐in‐
history/first‐appearance‐of‐the‐democratic‐donkey) and the Elephant with the Republican Party (background information ‐ http://www.gop.com/our‐party/our‐history/). Be sure to have photos or images of the two symbols and Obama and Romney. Review the two names of the candidates running for President of the United States. Show which person is connected to each symbol ‐ Barack Obama and the Democratic Party Donkey and Mitt Romney and the Republican Party Elephant. [You can bring in the fact there are three other candidates in the election, if you would like, Gary Johnson ‐ Libertarian Party, Jill Stein ‐ Green Party, and Virgil Goode ‐ Constitution Party, but this might be overload for the students.] Explain to the students the official process of voting and the rules for being able to vote ‐ American citizen, registered voter, at least 18 years of age. Questions: 
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Have you heard the name Barack Obama? Who is he? Have you heard the name Mitt Romney? Who is he? What do these two men have in common? Why do we have a president? Would you like to be the President of the United States? Why or Why not? Why do you think Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney want to be the President of the United States. Will you be able to vote in the actual presidential election? Why or Why not? Would you like to be able to help make the decision for President of the United States? Explain the process of the Project Vote 2012 mock election. Explain we are going to be making our voice be heard through our vote for President, but our votes during this election will not count toward the actual election. We are voting for the experience and for gathering information. Explain to the children they will be making their choice for president on the computer by selecting the picture of the candidate they feel will be the President of the United States. Remind them this is THEIR choice and they do not have to select the person anyone else tells them to vote for at this time. Elaborate / Extend (This section gives students the opportunity to expand and solidify their understanding of the concept and apply it to a real world situation.) Go to the polling booth and allow the children to cast their vote. When the election results are announced for the school, compare the school results to the actual national votes. Did the same candidate win in school and / or Irving ISD as for the nation? [GT extensions ‐ distribution of electoral votes ‐ http://kids.usa.gov/president/index.shtml] If you feel your students have a strong understanding of the voting process, you might choose to explain that when people are casting their votes. they are actually voting for a group of people known as electors. This could be briefly explained, or discussed in more depth depending on your students grasp of the voting process Now that the election is over, who is the President of the United States? Explain to the children that even though the election is over the person who won the election will not be sworn in as President until January 21, 2013. Resoures Online: 
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BrainPop Jr. ‐ “President” (video) How to Become President of the United States poster (http://kids.usa.gov/president/index.shtml) Democracy Project http://pbskids.org/democracy/ o Create your very own campaign poster ‐ http://pbskids.org/democracy/posters/campaign‐
posters_blank‐template.pdf o Obama campaign poster ‐ o http://pbskids.org/democracy/posters/campaign‐
posters_obama_outline.pdf o Romney campaign poster ‐ o http://pbskids.org/democracy/posters/campaign‐
posters_romney_outline.pdf Books: Please do not limit your selection of a book(s) to this list. All books are available through the Irving ISD libraries. 
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America Votes : How Our President is Elected by Linda Granfield Arthur Meets the President by Marc Brown Arturo visita la Casa Blanca por Marc Brown Clifford for President by Acton Figueroa Duck for President by Doreen Cronin Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio I Want to be President by Dan Liebman If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier If I Were President by Catherine Stier If I Were the President by Thomas Kingsley Troupe Madame President by Lane Smith Max for President by Jarrett J. Krosoczka My Teacher for President by Kay Winters Otto Runs for President by Rosemary Wells Pato para presidente por Doreen Cronin President by Jacqueline Laks Gorman Quiero ser presidente by Dan Liebman So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George What Does the President Do? by Amanda Miller