Lesson Plan - Who Will Win?

Watch the Video
Play the video “Newsie’s Challenge: What It Takes to Be President” and pause to have students discuss each game show-style question. After watching, ask: When you are old enough, would you want to run for president? Why or why not?

Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.

• candidates
• political parties

Set a Purpose for Reading
As students read, have them think about how people running for president might try to win support from voters.

1. Why does the article say that both main candidates for president “have a chance to make history”?
According to the article, both main candidates for president “have a chance to make history.” The article explains that if Harris wins, she’ll be the first woman to serve as president. It also states that “if Trump wins, he’ll be the first president since 1892 to be elected twice but not in back-to-back elections.”
^{(RI.3.1 Text Evidence)}

2. Based on the article, what are some ways that candidates for president try to convince people to vote for them?
Candidates try to get people to vote for them by participating in debates to share their ideas about how to solve the nation’s problems, holding rallies, giving speeches, using social media to connect with voters, and running ads on TV and online. 
^{(RI.3.2 Key Details)}

3. Share three facts you can learn from the sidebar “Every Vote Counts!”
Sample response: From the sidebar “Every Vote Counts!,” you can learn that about 240 million Americans are allowed to vote, that the U.S. elected its first president in 1789, and that a ballot is a form that lists all the candidates people can vote for.
^{(RI.3.5 Text Features)}

FEATURED SKILL: Main Idea and Key Details
Distribute the skill builder “What’s the Main Idea?” and have students use the graphic organizer to record the main idea and three key details from the article.
^{(RI.3.2 Main Idea and Key Details)}