The teacher will introduce the procedures for electing a class president. The procedures will include having caucuses, selecting important issues and choosing a candidate to support. The teacher will then divide the class into three parties.
In their party caucuses the students will discuss the important issues for their party and decide on a party candidate to support. The teacher can assign areas for each party to caucus with its own groups. In the caucuses the parties can choose their candidates by listening to and voting for students who want to be the party's candidate. The student in each party with the most votes will become the party's candidate.
The parties will campaign for their candidates. Each group will make posters and signs showing its candidate's name and its party's issues using markers, construction paper and tongue depressors or small sticks. Each person in the group will also write a one- or two-paragraph speech for the candidate on his party's issues. The candidate from each caucus with the help of the teacher will select the speech that best describes her party's issues in the most detailed and exciting way. Grades three through six may also want to have video interviews for each candidate.
The whole class will come together to hear each candidate's speech, then each member of the class will vote for the candidate of his choice in the class "voting booth." The teacher can hang a sheet or sheets for privacy. The voting booth can be made using a desk with ballots containing the names of the candidates and pencils to check the box for the candidate of each student's choice. The students will then give their marked ballot to the voting official(s). After the votes are counted the class president will be announced. On Inauguration Day the class president will give an "oath of office," for example, "I promise that I will faithfully execute the office of class president for room ____ and will to the best of my ability work to make our class the best class possible." The class president can give a thank-you speech, and there can even be a class party to celebrate everyone's hard work.