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Subjects

• Arts & Humanities
  --Art History
  --Language Arts
• Social Studies
  --Civics
  --Government
  --History
  ----U.S. History

Grade

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12

Brief Description

Use resources from the White House Web site and other library or Internet resources to create a "Meet Our Presidents" bulletin board.

Objectives

Students

• follow instructions for creating a report about the president. (See “Writing About Presidents Across the Grades” below.)

Keywords

presidents

Materials Needed

• access to library and/or Internet resources about the U.S. presidents
• Presidents Coloring Pages (optional)

Lesson Plan

This activity makes use of the Presidents Coloring Pages on the official White House Kids Web site.

Older students might attach a presidential portrait to their reports instead of the using the coloring pages. You will find some nice portrait resources at Portraits of the Presidents, The Presidents of the United States (on the official White House Web site), or American Presidents Portrait Gallery.

Begin the activity by placing all of the U.S. presidents' names in a bag. Or you might print out each of the coloring pages (or portraits) and have students draw one from the stack. Students will be responsible for learning more about that president and writing a report about him, then coloring the picture. Post each student's coloring page and written report about a president on the "Meet Our Presidents" bulletin board display.

Writing About the Presidents Across the Grades
The format of the students' written reports will vary from grade to grade.

• Primary grade students might learn some very basic facts about the president to write a simple report that might look like this:

GeorgeWashington was the first president of the United States. He was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732.

• Elementary grade students might create reports that include a listing of specific facts of the teacher's choice (for example, the president's name, his place and date of birth, the years he served as president, his age at the time he took the oath of office, and so on. Students might conclude their research by writing a paragraph that highlights two or three of the president's greatest accomplishments.
• Middle and high school students' reports will reflect great depth and understanding of the president's life, the most important events of his tenure, and his place in history.

Assessment

Develop a simple rubric based on your expectations. Students will use the rubric as a guide to successfully completing the project. You might refer to some sample rubrics -- such as this one for primary grade students or this one for older students -- as a guide for creating your own.

Lesson Plan Source

EducationWorld.com

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

SOCIAL SCIENCES: Civics
GRADES K - 4
NSS-C.K-4.1 What Is Government?
NSS-C.K-4.2 Values and Principles of Democracy
GRADES 5 - 8
NSS-C.5-8.1 Civic Life, Politics, and Government
NSS-C.5-8.2 Foundations of the American Political System
NSS-C.5-8.3 Principles of Democracy
GRADES 9 - 12
NSS-C.9-12.1 Civic Life, Politics, and Government
NSS-C.9-12.2 Foundations of the Political System
NSS-C.9-12.3 Principles of Democracy

SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History
GRADES K - 4
NSS-USH.K-4.3 The History of the United States: Democratic Principles and Values and the People from Many Cultures Who Contributed to Its Cultural, Economic, and Political Heritage
GRADES 5 - 12
NSS-USH.5-12All Eras

See more Lesson Plans of the Day in our Lesson Plan of the Day Archive. (There you can search for lessons by subject too.)

For additional history lesson plans, see these Education World resources:

• Lesson Planning: History
• History Subject Center
• Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans: History
• Work Sheets from Teacher Created Materials: History

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Copyright© 2008 Education World

Originally published 02/10/2006
Last updated 12/09/2008