First, they joined a party. Second, they ran for their party in a primary or caucus. After the primary election, they went to the convention. Finally, they won the general election with help from the electoral college.     

The first step in becoming president is to join a party! What kind of party were the presidents apart of? Political parties are groups of people that come together based on their political beliefs. There are two main political parties: Republican Party and the Democratic Party.     

The Republican Party was founded in 1846. The symbol of the Republican Party is an elephant. Our last Republican president was George W. Bush.   

Some of the famous Republican presidents were George H. W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, and many more! Some of the famous Democrat presidents were Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and several more!    

After you join a party, it is time to run in primaries and caucuses! What is a primary? What is a caucus? A primary is an election in a state to select a political party’s candidate for the general election. A candidate is a person who is running for an elected position.     

For example, if you were running with the Republican Party, then other Republicans in the same state would vote for you in the primary to represent them. In other words, you would win the state!    

A caucus is a meeting of party members to choose candidates to run in an election. For example, if you were running with the Democratic Party and there was a caucus, then other Democrats in a state would come together and decide who should be their candidate for president.     

To become the Republican candidate, you would need to win 1,237 delegate votes. To become the Democratic candidate, you would need 2,383 delegate votes.     

But what is a delegate? Well a delegate is a person who is chosen to vote on other people’s behalf. In other words, the delegates vote for the candidates at their political party’s national convention based on what the people voted for in the state’s primary or caucus.     

 

This is a table that shows every state and the number of electoral votes each state gets!  

·      Candidate: a person who is running for an elected position

·      Caucus: a meeting of party members to choose candidates to run in an election

·      Convention: a large meeting of political party members to choose candidates and decide the party’s views on issues

·      Delegate: a person chosen to vote on other people’s behalf

·     Democratic Party: one of the two main political parties in the United States. It was founded in 1828. The symbol for the party is a donkey.

·      Election Day: the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. It is held every four years.

·      Electoral College: a group of elected people who come together to vote for the president

·     General Election: a contest on Election Day in November in which candidates are elected to office.

 ·      Political Party: a group of citizens with similar ideas on how the country should be run.

·      Primary: an election in a state to select a political party’s candidates for the general election.

·     Republican Party: one of the two main political parties in the United States. It was founded in 1846. The symbol for the party is an elephant. 

            

My digital storybook is entitled, “Presidential Elections for Kids!” Therefore, the book is a first-grade appropriate nonfiction narrative about the steps you would take in order to become president. The book discusses the primary election, winning states, the electoral college, the general election, and the two major political parties. Therefore, task 1 and 2 relate to the concepts of winning states and task 3 relates to creating a new party/campaign symbol. I have aligned these tasks with the Florida Math Standards for first grade.