My First Presidential Election Fun and games to help elementary school kids learn about the 2012 election

Transcription

1 y First residential lection Fun and games to help elementary school kids learn about the 2012 election

2 o you want to vote for our next president? You have to register before you can vote! tart by filling out your voter registration card. First name: iddle name: ast name: treet address: ity: tate: Zip code: ate of birth onth: ay: Year: elephone number: ignature: X ( ) -

3 he presidential election Fill in the blanks to complete this story about the 2012 presidential election using words from the word bank. (int: heck the glossary at the end to learn what each word means.) [ ballot campaign electoral college popular vote vote exit poll president campaign slogans speeches nauguration ay debate political ads White ouse [ t s finally here! oday is the day the merican people choose the next leader of the nited tates: the. hat s what want to be when grow up! ots of adults (including my mom and dad!) line up at the polls to. he election season starts with candidates holding events, like speeches and fundraisers, as part of their. When ad drives me to school, see volunteers holding signs that say, Be the best with West, in support of Wendy West, one of the candidates for president. atchy phrases like this are called. o learn more about the people running for president, my parents and watch a on V, where the candidates answer questions about their ideas to improve our country. Wendy West says her opponent created V commercials, or, that make fun of her. Who knew politics could be so mean? t the polling place, my parents get the official paper they use to vote, called a. fter voting, my parents get colorful voted stickers.

4 he presidential election, continued man outside the polling station asks my mom who she voted for and why. y dad tells me the man is doing an to try to predict the winner. y dad says just because a candidate wins the most individual votes in a presidential election, it doesn t mean that person automatically wins. What guarantees a victory? etting at least 270 electoral votes. emember, he says, the determines who wins, not the. nce the votes are counted and the winner identified (we stay up way past my bedtime!), candidates make to celebrate their victory or concede to the winner. y family listens to both sides. oes yours? ee you on January 20, 2013, when visit Washington, to see the president officially sworn in on. aybe ll get a picture of the president s kids entering their home you know, the! [ ballot campaign electoral college popular vote vote exit poll president campaign slogans speeches nauguration ay debate political ads White ouse [

5 f were president... What would you do as president? sk a friend or family member to help you complete this ad ibs-style speech and then read your speech aloud! f were your next president, the first thing would do is solve. a big problem in the world ext, would celebrate by. would drive a person you know verb ending with -ing me around in my to a where type of vehicle some type of event would gather to. would tell everyone to type of leaders verb call me. a nickname For my first presidential party, d invite to come to the a famous person White ouse for. We would eat,, and some type of meal type of food type of food, and then we would. We would end the evening verb type of food by. something people do on special occasions But my presidency isn t all about. o, believe in. will plural noun plural noun always stand up for people. nd no matter what, when others give up, adjective will continue to. promise that after being president for, length of time verb will again. will be an extremely leader. t least, will try verb adjective to be. nd that s why you should vote for me! hank you!

6 y campaign poster ow can you convince people to vote for you? raw a poster for your campaign! emember to include: Your name he office you re running for he year you re running (int: You have to be at least 35 years old to to run for president!)

7 apping the election t s an election scavenger hunt! nswer the questions and follow the directions on this page to color, label, and decorate the map of the.. on the next page. cavenger hunt items: ut out the picture of the White ouse below, then glue it onto the map near where it belongs. What state is resident bama from? Find that state on the map, write the state s name, and color that state green. ut out the picture of resident bama below, then paste it by the state he s from. What state is presidential candidate itt omney from? Find that state on the map, write the state s name, and color that state yellow. ut out the picture of itt omney below, then paste it by the state he s from. What state is vice presidential candidate aul yan from? Find that state on the map, write the state s name, and color that state purple. ut out the picture of aul yan below, then paste it by the state he s from. What state is Vice resident Joe Biden from? Find that state on the map, write the state s name, and color that state orange. ut out the picture of Vice resident Joe Biden below, then paste it by the state he s from. B: ook up when and where the 2012 epublican ational onvention was held. Find that state on the map, write the state s name, and color that state brown. B: ook up when and where the 2012 emocratic ational onvention was held. Find that state on the map, write the state s name, and color that state tan.

8 apping the election, continued

9 lection word find an you find the following words? ballot, campaign, campaign slogan, candidate, debate, lection ay, electoral college, exit poll, First Family, nauguration ay, incumbent, political ads, political party, popular vote, president, speeches, vice president, vote, White ouse Z X Y Q V F F Y F V J K X B V B X W Q J K W Y Z B B Q Q W V Y Y V B W B V W Y Y K Q Q

10 olitical ads n political ads, candidates want to influence you and get your vote so you have to pay close attention. an you spot the positive, negative, and exaggerated political ads about ice cream? (Yum!) positive ad says nice things about the candidate. negative ad says bad things about the opposing candidate. n exaggeration bends or stretches the truth. ircle the positive ad y opponent secretly hates ice cream. raw a? over the exaggerated ad ross out the negative ad like ice cream and support people eating it. ce cream has calcium, just like milk. hat s why we should all eat ice cream more often, maybe even every day! ost doctors agree with me.

11 f lived at the White ouse... he White ouse is where the president lives and works. Below are some important and interesting areas in the house at 1600 ennsylvania venue. val ffice his is the president s office. t s shaped like an oval. West Wing - his is where the president s cabinet meets and works. xecutive residence his is where the president s family lives. White ouse bowling alley he White ouse has a bowling alley in the basement! White ouse family theater he White ouse has a theater in the ast Wing that seats 40 where the president can practice speeches and watch movies! s president, what would you add to the White ouse - a chocolate river, a skating rink, a giant play structure? raw your two dream additions below.

12 y turn to vote! lection ay ballot: ast your vote for president below! o vote, draw a line connecting the arrow's head to its tail next to your selection. emember, you can only vote for one candidate. X: J ndependent W X ocialist Y J ibertarian BK B emocrat ndependent Y epublican id you cast your vote? ow it's time to let everyone know you participated in the democratic process. ut out this badge that says, voted! voted

13 lection glossary hese terms will help you understand the presidential election and they ll help you complete the activities in this booklet! Ballot What a voter uses to vote in an election. n some places, it s a piece of paper; in others, it s a touch screen. ampaign ll the activities designed to get a candidate elected, including speeches, debates, and political ads. ampaign slogan atchy phrases that help voters remember a candidate s name and ideas, like Be the best with West. andidate person running for elected office (like the presidency) ebate n event where opposing candidates answer questions about their ideas and accomplishments. lection ay he first uesday after the first onday in ovember. lectoral college o win the presidential election, a candidate must get at least 270 electoral votes. ach state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on the number of senators and congressmen/congresswomen it has. For example, alifornia has two senators and 53 congressmen/congresswomen, so alifornia gets 55 electoral votes. n lection ay, the candidate who gets the most popular votes in each state (except aine and ebraska) gets all of that state s electoral votes. xit poll fter you vote, a survey worker right outside the polling place may ask how you voted and what issues influenced your vote. hese answers are used to predict who won and why. First Family he family of the president of the nited tates.

14 lection glossary, continued nauguration ay he day when the president is sworn into office, typically on January 20. ncumbent he person who already holds a political office and who is running for the same job again. olitical ads hese commercials aren t much different from the ones you see for cereal, shoes, and toys: the creators want to influence you and get your support. n this case, your support means voting for a certain candidate or law. olitical party political party doesn t require an invitation. t s a group of people who have similar visions for the country. hey nominate candidates and work to get them elected. he two major parties in the.. are emocrats and epublicans. here are other parties often called third parties, such as the ndependent arty, rogressive arty, reen arty, ibertarian arty, and onstitution arty. opular vote he votes by individual people for each candidate in an election. n a presidential race, the person with the most popular votes does not necessarily win! (see electoral college) resident he president is the leader of our country. ome of the president s responsibilities include signing or vetoing laws, keeping the merican people informed, and commanding the military. residents must be born in the.. or the child of parents born in the.., at least 35 years old, and a resident in the.. for at least 14 years. peeches uring a campaign, candidates speak to many people about their vision for the country and make promises about what they ll do if they win. When the election is over, the losing candidate makes a concession speech thanking supporters but admitting they lost the election. he winning candidate makes a victory speech thanking voters and outlining plans for office.

15 lection glossary, continued Vice president he vice president is the president of the.. enate and is first in line to replace the president in case of an emergency. Vote o officially express your opinion by choosing a candidate or supporting or not supporting a proposed law. White ouse he house where the president of the nited tates lives and works. lso, the president s family lives here and the president s staff works here.