By Amy Frederick ED 417

United States Presidents Unit 2 nd Grade

Objectives: 1.Students will be able to explain the different jobs that the president must perform. 2.Students will be able to compose an informational paper about a past president. 3. Students will be able to create a presentation to show what they have learned about their chosen president. 4. Students will be able to create a mock election for the classroom. 5. Students will be able to compose a letter to the president about an issue.

In this activity, the students will complete a RAN chart. The class will fill out the columns labeled “What We Think We Know,” “Yes, We Were Right,” “New Information,” and “Wonderings.”

Materials Large paper for RAN chart Markers and pencils 3 different colors of Post-It notes Magnets or clips to hang RAN chart Book, The Presidency by Patricia Ryon Quiri

Procedure 1.Students will work in pairs at their seats to write down on Post-It notes what they think they know about what the President does. 2.After the students fill out their Post-It notes, they will stick them under the column “What We Think We Know” on the chart. 3.The class will come together to listen to the book The Presidency by Patricia Ryon Quiri. 4.Together, the class will decide what Post-It notes under the “What We Think We Know” column can be moved to the “Yes, We Were Right” column.

Procedure (cont’d.) 5. The students will go back to work with their partners to fill out different colored Post-It notes about what they learned to place under the “New Information” column. 6. A third colored Post-It note will be used to fill out what information the students still want to learn, which will be posted under the “Wonderings” column. 7. The students will place their Post-It notes in the correct column on the class chart. 8. The chart should be hung up in the room for at least the duration of the unit.

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In this activity, the students will learn more information about a few past presidents and make a presentation to share with the class.

Materials Paper Pencils Books about different presidents Internet access or print-outs of internet resources Crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc.

Procedure 1.In groups of two or three, students will choose a president to learn about. 2.Students will gather facts about the president they chose from books and internet resources. The teacher will provide guidelines for certain information that must be included. For example, the students should know the years that their president was in office, the years that the president was born and died, the vice president that served with that president, etc.

Procedure (cont’d.) 3. After finding the information needed and wanted for their presentation, each group will be given construction paper to write down their facts. 4. The group will create an illustration of their president to include in the presentation. 5. Each group will present their president to the class. 6. When all of the groups have finished, the teacher will bind the finished projects with rings, brads, or some other binding to have in the classroom.

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In this activity, students will extend the last activity to present their presidents to another audience.

Materials Written reports of studied presidents Props/ costumes Notecards Pencils Willing teachers who will let the class share with those teachers’ classes

Procedure 1.Students will study their reports as scripts for the class presentation. 2.The teacher and the students will collect props and costumes to assist with the presentations. Props can be available materials or made. These might include hats, beards, materials that are pertinent to a particular fact, etc. 3.The students may make notecards to write down what they need to say. 4.The students will travel to other classrooms to present their information to their peers.

In this activity, students will hold a mock election within the classroom to vote for a “class president.”

Materials Notecards Pencils Sheet and clothespins (for voting booth) Paper (for ballots) An open space to arrange chairs

Procedure 1.The students will choose three students in the class to be our presidential candidates for the class president. 2.The class will decide the important issues that they would like the candidates to address. For example, amount of recess, seating arrangements, etc. 3.The candidates will decide their positions on each issue. They should write this down in note format on notecards. 4.The candidates will present their positions to the class. The rest of the class will listen, then group in pairs and think of questions to ask the candidates. These will be used for a debate.

Procedure (cont’d.) 5. The candidates will stand in front of the class, who will be organized in rows in front of the candidates. The teacher should be to the side for support or mediation. The class will ask the candidates questions about why they are the best candidate and any other questions they have. 6. (This activity will probably be on a following day.) The teacher will create a “voting booth” in which the class will make their decision about who they want to be the class president. Each student will fill out a ballot and place it in a designated box for completed ballots. 7. After the teacher tallies the votes, the results should be posted. The teacher should then initiate a reflective discussion.

In this activity, students will learn about our current president and write a letter to the president about a national issue of their choice.

Materials Dry-erase board and markers/ large piece of paper and markers Paper Pencils Book, George W. Bush: Forty-Third President by Mike Venezia

Procedure 1.As a class, the children should be able to identify the name of our current president. 2.The teacher will read George W. Bush: Forty-Third President by Mike Venezia to the class. 3.The class will have a discussion about issues (poverty, relationships with other countries, rising prices of fuel, education, etc.- this should all be in terms that the children will understand) that they know about. The teacher should stimulate the discussion when necessary. The children should be invited to write their ideas down on a chart for everyone to refer to.

Procedure (cont’d.) 4. Students should return to their seats and choose an issue to write to the president about. They should all be informed that it is proper to address the president as President Bush in their letters. The letter must also include why they chose to write about that issue. It can be a letter that explains that the student is worried about a certain issue or thinks that the current status of the issue is good and should not be changed.

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