Using Primary Sources:
Letters from the Presidents

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Subjects

Arts & Humanities
Language Arts
Educational Technology
Social Studies
Civics, U.S. History, World History

Grades
6-8, 9-12

Brief Description

This lesson introduces students to the minds and thoughts of presidents through their actual letters.

Objectives

Students

learn about the personal lives of presidents.
learn about presidents' personal and familial relationships.
learn about the character and personalities of presidents.
learn about how presidents reacted to the historic events in which they participated.

Keywords

biography, diary, journal, letter, president

Materials Needed

paper and pencils

Internet access (Ideally, the activity should be completed using the Internet resources that are noted; however, creative teachers and students will have just as much success using other library resources as an alternative to Web sites.)

Lesson Plan

This lesson by seventh-grade teacher Steven Vetter comes from American Presidents: Life Portraits, a companion Web site to C-SPAN's 20th Anniversary Television Series American Presidents: Life Portraits. In the activity, students learn about the presidents by touring the American Presidents Web site. Then they choose one president and read a letter written by him. They use the letter to respond in writing to a set of questions that deal with its components and what it reveals about the writer. As a wrap-up to the activity, students create essays in response to one of five assignments.

See the complete lesson at Using Primary Sources: Letters from the Presidents. There Vetter shares his rationale for the lesson and for using primary source documents in Using Letters of the Presidents in the Classroom.

Assessment

Evaluate students' written compositions.

Lesson Plan Source

American Presidents

Submitted By

Cara Bafile

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-12.5 Communication Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills

SOCIAL SCIENCES: Civics

GRADES 5 - 8
NSS-C.5-8.1 Civic Life, Politics, and Government

GRADES 9 - 12
NSS-C.9-12.1 Civic Life, Politics, and Government

SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History

GRADES 5 - 12
NSS-USH.5-12.3 Era 3: Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)
NSS-USH.5-12.4 Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
NSS-USH.5-12.5 Era 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
NSS-USH.5-12.6 Era 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
NSS-USH.5-12.7 Era 7: The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
NSS-USH.5-12.8 Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
NSS-USH.5-12.9 Era 9: Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)
NSS-USH.5-12.10 Era 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the Present)