How does anyone become President of the United States? An election for president of the United States happens every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your social studies mini spark recording page: #39: The Presidential Election Process

2. Watch this video to see the process explained from beginning to end.  Write a 6 question quiz about the content from the video. Use multiple choice questions, short answer, and true and false questions. Include an answer key.

3. What is the Electoral College? Watch this video.  Record the vocab words from the video with a short definition in your own words on your recording page.

• elector–a person who casts a vote in the Electoral College. Each state legislature decides how its electors are chosen.
• Electoral College–a group of people called electors who vote for president and vice president of the United States once every four years. Electors cast their votes on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December.
• electoral vote–the vote taken by the electors. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. A majority, or 270, of electoral votes is required to elect a president.
• electoral majority–at least one more than half of the total. A person must win a majority of the Electoral College votes (270 of 538) to become president.
• popular vote–the votes of all the citizens together. The popular vote for president is held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. However, states provide voters with other ways to vote if they cannot or choose not to vote in person on that date.

4.  Set your timer for 3 minutes. Study this infographic.  How does this infographic help you understand the electoral college? Be very specific and include 3-4 details.

5. What questions do you still have or what parts of this infographic are not clear. Share your suggestions and/or what parts are not easy to understand in 2+ sentences.

6. Share your social studies mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.