Civic education is an important aspect of teaching social studies, and right now during the 2024 election season is a great opportunity to teach your students about democratic processes and procedures. In this post, I'm going to share how I've gone about holding a mock election in my elementary classroom. You can find all of the mock election materials I discuss in this ready-to-go Mock Election Kit.
What is a Mock Election?
A mock election is a simulation or demonstration of how the voting process works. Studies show that a proven practice of a high-quality civics learning experience is through the use of simulations. By holding a voting simulation or mock election in your classroom, your students learn about the voting process and procedures in a tangible way.
While I believe holding a mock election in your classroom can make a big impact during an election season, you can teach the election process any time of year. And while we often think of "off-years" to an election cycle, there are still local elections that are just as important.
Where Should I Start?
First, determine your goal. Maybe your goal is for your students to understand that in the United States, our leaders are chosen by the people through a process called an election. You might also want your students to understand that everyone can participate in democracy. For example, here are a few things kids can do: they can talk to their parents about the importance of voting; they can share their knowledge of voting with others; they can write letters and advocate for change; they can participate in a cause.
Use Mentor Texts
There are a lot of great picture books that you can find at your local library or online that are all about elections, the voting process, and the history of voting. You can find a collection of 12 picture book recommendations in one of my previous blog posts. One thing to keep in mind with mentor texts is that you don't have to read the entire book all at once, or even read all of the book. For example, Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote is a picture book that can be easily read in small chunks, focusing on learning about one woman each day. Some books such as Lilian's Right to Vote have beautiful story development, so you might choose to read the book in its entirety.
Choose Kid-Friendly Candidates
In my elementary classroom, I've had elections where we voted on our favorite ice cream flavor and had an ice cream party with the winning flavor. You could also consider having your students vote for their favorite snack or favorite candy. Whatever you choose, just make sure you consider allergies. With older students, you might be electing a class or grade level president or representative. There are lots of options.
Determine the Level of Understanding
If it's an election season, your students may have heard adults or people around them discussing the election. They likely have seen road signs or heard political commercials on the radio or have seen ads on tv. I like to start with a KWL chart to gauge my students' prior knowledge or schema and then build on this as we move through the simulation. In a KWL chart, under the letter K, you will record what your students Know. Under the W, you will record what your students Want to know. Usually, this is in the form of questions. Then you will fill out the L, or what students Learned at the end of your mock election.
Build Vocabulary
Your students will need to understand the election process and key terms. Using mentor texts are a great way to weave in key terms such as election, voting, ballot, campaign, and canvassing. Picture cards are a great way to add visuals to these terms. In my ready-to-go election kit, I include a variety of vocabulary picture cards.
Incorporate Multiple Perspectives
It is critical that our students understand the history and importance of casting a vote. Using picture books such as Equality's Call or What's the Big Deal About Elections are great options for teaching the barriers to voting, and the importance of participating in the election process.
Register to Vote
Have your students go through one of the important steps in the voting process--registering to vote. Students fill out their voter registration card. Now, with younger students, I talk about voter eligibility and keep it very simple. I discuss how the voting age is 18 because most 18-year-olds have finished high school, hold jobs, and may live on their own. They are considered an adult. In the mock election, my students get to pretend to be 18 and eligible to vote. Most of my young students find this to be so exciting. I also have them put their voter registration card in a safe place in their desk. This is a great opportunity to practice responsibility.
Campaign Process
Once you have chosen your candidates, you will want to talk about the campaign process. Mentor texts are a great way to do this. To keep it simple, I explain that campaigning is a way of promoting or convincing others to make a certain choice. I have my students create a campaign poster that includes a slogan. Most students are not familiar with the concept of a slogan so in my election kit, I have several examples to help them get started.
Making an Informed Decision
One thing I always quickly notice is there's usually one choice or candidate that is less popular. Students may want to pick a choice because their best friend likes that choice. This happens in real life in our election process. A person may be influenced by their family, upbringing, or friends. I try to focus on helping my students understand that they are making a choice for a specific reason. They are making a choice based on what is important or significant to them. For example, maybe they like the texture of chocolate best; maybe vanilla ice cream goes better with pie, or strawberries are their favorite fruit. Either way, students should make an informed decision.
Small Group Campaign Poster Sharing
I like to have time for my students to present their posters to their classmates. You could do this in small groups so students have an opportunity to practice their speaking skills with their peers.
Conduct a Poll or Survey
Next, we conduct a classroom poll or survey. I explain that after listening to their friends present, they may have changed their mind about their candidate choice, and that is ok. In fact, they may be undecided at this point. That is part of the election process and making an informed decision. After conducting the class survey, we graph the results and discuss which candidate is the “front-runner.”
Election Day
I choose a specific date as “election day.” You can have your students create posters reminding everyone to vote and list the election day on their poster. If you are holding a mock election that aligns with an election cycle, you can make your election the same day as the actual election day. For my classroom election, students presented their voter registration card. I set up booths using privacy folders so that students can vote independently. Each student gets a turn to cast their vote.
Tally the Votes
I typically tally the votes and announce the winner later in the day. Just like in our own democratic process, the results are usually not immediate. You could even tally half the votes and share an update.
Facing Disappointment
You will have students who are happy with the outcome, and some who are disappointed. That is real life, and that is part of the election process. The crucial part is that students understand that their vote was important. I let my students know before I share election results that it is ok to be sad if the outcome is not what they had hoped. We talk about what it means to be a good winner and loser. One helpful book to consider reading is Cheetah Can't Lose by Bob Shea.
Reflection & Action
I like to wrap up with a discussion about how even though my students might be too young to cast their vote in a real election, they can still exercise their voice in other ways. They can write a letter to their city mayor or council member; they can raise money for a cause, or they can volunteer in their community. There are plenty of ways that they can participate in civics outside of voting. The picture book, What Can a Citizen Do? is an excellent option for helping students understand ways they can get involved in democracy.
If you are interested in holding your own in-class election without having to reinvent the wheel, I've got all of the materials you need in my election kit which you can find here: Mock Election Voting Simulation
Teachers are Saying About this Election Kit
"This was a great, neutral overview that I used with my students around election day. They were really engaged and loved campaigning for their candidates!" Mia C.
"So much fun for Election Day! Love doing this each year." Miss. Turner
"The perfect addition to our mock election! We used this resource when campaigning for the best candy bar!" Erica B.
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