The Great Cookie Election

I decided to keep the politics out of my classroom during the election, but I still wanted to show the process of the electoral college though, so I hosted the Great Cookie Election on Election day.  It was super simple, and I definitely want to remember this for the future.  

First up - I picked up two kinds of cookies from the store: 

Then I wrote out all 50 states on little slips of paper, and put them all on the back table in my classroom.  Each child chose a state they would represent and chose that ballot.  With the remaining ballots, I asked for volunteers and they were quickly picked up.  The students tasted both cookies and had to come to a decision for what cookie should win the vote.  

The kids wrote their choice on their ballot and turned them into the basket.  It was a secret ballot.  

I wanted the kids to understand how each state had a certain amount of points, we had a quick discussion about population (keeping it very simple), and I posted a google image map of the states and EC votes on my projector.  Then the kids got out their whiteboards or a piece of binder paper to do some math.  The goal was 270 points to win.  I also kept track on the board.  

I would reach into the basket, choose a state, the kids would consult the map and find the corresponding point value, and then I would tell them which cookie got the point.  They would add, and every so often I would ask for an update on my board.  Chips Ahoy won by a slight margin.  I really think the kids were able to then understand the election.  

Discussing the Election

This afternoon my class discussed the upcoming election.  
I took the advice and information that Kristin from iteach 1:1  shared the last Sunday.  
1.  We started with a brainstorm about what they already know about next Tuesday.  By just asking the question "What happens next Tuesday, November 6th?" I had half a dozen of different responses - everything from Halloween (really kids?), to Thanksgiving, to a dentist appt., to Veteran's Day... 
2.  Then I shared the Brainpop video that is specifically designed for the Presidential Election.  It discusses how the votes work, that each vote is important.  
4.  I passed out a paper similar to the ones that Kristin shared on her blog to list facts about the candidates, and we used the Elections for Kids website to fill in information about the candidates.  
With all the information available, they tended to keep focusing on their birthdays the most... who was the oldest, youngest, how close in age, etc... 
5.  After we discussed the facts, we turned our attention to another Brainpop video - the one that describes the difference between the parties.  They got a kick out of the animals in the video.
Tomorrow we are starting a brainstorm/roughdraft with the prompt, "If I was president..."  I hope to hear what they think is important to remember as a future president.  I know the prompt is supposed to be for President's Day, but it's rather appropriate this time of year as well - at least this year.  If you click the picture it will take you to the pin, and from there you can get to the real link.  

iTeach had so much other information available, and I hope to incorporate more of it this coming week.
Hope this helps!