What's a vote? Cooper doesn't know, but he knows what a walk is. This ready-to-teach packet turns a gentle, funny story into three nonpartisan lessons on neighbors, community, making choices together and waiting patiently.
In Cooper and the Very Important Vote, Mr. Bradford is going to vote. Cooper, a curious little miniature schnauzer, comes along for the errand. He meets Ms. June, watches a very busy door and waits (and waits) on a bench until Mr. Bradford comes back with a sticker. "My vote is counted along with other people's votes. We each get to make our own choice."
What's inside (22-page printable PDF):
3 sessions of 25–35 minutes each: Cooper's Errand, Neighbors and Community, and We Each Get a Choice
Pause points with timestamps for the video
Story Map, Story in Order (with scene cards from the video) and a Word Match for the story's 7 vocabulary words
My Neighborhood and Who Helps Our Community?
A class vote with a page of 8 cut-apart ballots and a tally page
Waiting Is Watching (patience), Design a Sticker and 6 exit tickets
Standards: C3 Framework D2.Civ.2, D2.Civ.6, D2.Civ.8 and D2.Civ.11 (K–2); Common Core RL.K.3, RL.1.2, L.K.5c and SL.1.1; CASEL Self-management
Notes on keeping it nonpartisan, key vocabulary, differentiation, a family page, an answer key and source links
The story and the packet never name a candidate, party or issue. The class vote uses kid-sized choices, such as a book or a game.
Works with the free video on Teach Between the Lines TV (about 4½ minutes).
License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please do not share, post publicly or resell.