Barack Obama and John McCain weren’t the only ones campaigning aggressively this fall. Students in Cindy Stinson’s fourth-grade Social Studies classes had an
election of their own.
“We learned about the origination of the Republican and Democratic parties, how they got their names, the purpose of the Electoral College, and many other facts about the voting process. Then, we held a mock election in which students ran for the position of junior director,” Stinson explained.
Students were split into groups of three or four, and each team was responsible for coming up with their own party name, slogan, campaign symbol, brochure, poster and platform. One member of each group presented a speech outlining the five planks of their party’s platform, and the entire class voted on which candidate should be the winner. In their speeches, candidates made promises such as less homework, more field trips, different uniform options, a greater number of ice cream days, longer breaks and more Tiger Days.
“The students listened to all the candidates and what they had to offer, and then decided who they wanted to vote for, just like in the real election,” Stinson said. “To make it fair, they couldn’t vote for someone in their own group.”
A winner was chosen in each of Stinson’s three Social Studies classes. These students were Anna Kate Cagle from the Together We Stand Party, Grayson Moss from the Terrific Tiger Party and Gianna Pieroni from The Smarties Party.
Along the same lines, the fourth grade also presented a play titled
“Vicki Gets the Vote” on Oct. 28. The play told the story of a fourth-grade class campaigning for a fellow student and the importance of taking your voting privileges seriously.
