Macdonough's Turkey Election

Paralleling the nation's Presidential Election, certainly the play on words was not an accident.  5th grade hosted its own "mock" Turkey Election in which students were asked to consider relevant campaigns that would speak to their wants and needs as students. 

  

 Both Candidates' Platforms were designed to include elements that would attract voters as well as elements that would repel voters.  This led to very meaningful discussion about how decisions about candidates are not cut and dry and include quite a bit of "gray area".  Students very quickly recognized that choosing a candidate is not as easy as they thought it might be. 

Campaigning and Advertising

In addition, 5th graders researched and discussed the 4 different types of ads that campaigns use: warm and fuzzy, negative, humorous, and creating fear.  We looked at real life campaign ads and discussed their perceived effectiveness.  In addition, 5th graders in Miss Weindruch's class created their own ads to campaign for Turkey A and Turkey B in which they either promoted themselves or exploited their opponent.  Here are just a few of their ads that attempted to sway student voters:

After a school-wide vote and many classroom discussions about the civic responsibility of voting... the winner of this year's Turkey Election is...

                                        

                                          TURKEY A!!!!!!