Virtual Elections in Grade 5

Grade 5’s most recent goal? To elect a political leader in the Grade 5 elections!

Students in Grade 5 have been inquiring into different types of governments, leaders and leadership skills for the unit “How we organize ourselves.” The unit culminated in grade-wide elections, which were the perfect venue for students to synthesize their learning and put their political knowledge on display.

In small groups, students created their own political party with a leader and ministers. They wrote a manifesto and filmed a campaign video for their political party. The budding politicians prepared for their campaign videos with different activities, including:

• Analyzing debates and speeches
• Having debate lessons in language class
• Debate tug of wars on padlet
• Preparing presentations on world leaders and reflecting on their leadership style  
• Understanding how different types of government work

Grade 5 teachers supported their budding politicians every step of the campaign trail, utilizing padlet and Zoom sessions to provide students with ample time to prepare. Each political party worked in small groups, preparing campaign videos jointly. All four classes selected one party to represent them. Then, these four groups presented their campaigns to the entire grade over Zoom.

The election results were extremely close, and all of the presentations were fantastic! The group that received the most votes was FBL, or For Better Life, and was comprised of Beatriz, Maayan, Amelie and Selim. Our congratulations to this team, as well as all of the students in Grade 5. Make sure to watch their winning video, below!

For Better Life: Watch the campaign video