Search
Ask the Presidents Grade Level: 3-6
Story Preview: Penny shows her lack of understanding of and knowledge about the presidency when she e-mails to her teacher a joke about the president. Her teacher's reaction spurs Penny to go online to learn more about what a president does. There, she discovers a Web site at which former presidents chat about their accomplishments, and learns what those men consider to be the important qualities of a president.
Roles: Narrator, Penny, Ms. Abbington (teacher), I_Like_Ike (Dwight Eisenhower), Honest_Abe (Abraham Lincoln), Gentleman_Farmer (George Washington), Monty_Cello (Thomas Jefferson), New_Deal (Franklin D. Roosevelt), Pillbox_Hat (Jacqueline Kennedy), PT_Boat_Commander (John F. Kennedy), Great_Communicator (Ronald Reagan)
|
Setting: present day, school and home
Theme: Presidents' Day
Vocabulary:
- dud: failure or misfit
- secede: withdraw from a group
- Confederacy: union of persons, parties, or states
- morals: values or beliefs
- virtues: good or admirable qualities
- executive branch: the branch of the U.S. government responsible for carrying out the laws; includes the President, Vice President, Cabinet members, and heads of some agencies.
- legacy: something received from a predecessor
- promote: contribute to the growth of
Props: none required
Follow-Up Questions:
- What are the full names of the presidents in the script?
- What is the full name of each of those president's first ladies?
- What branch of the U.S. government is the Supreme Court part of?
- What is the Declaration of Independence?
- Which presidents gave their lives for their office?
- Which president do you think had the most difficult term of office? Why?
- Do you agree that "courage, commitment, and communication" are the most important qualities of a President?
- Do you think Penny only dreamed about the chat room? Why or why not?
Follow-Up Activity:
Separate students into small groups and ask each group to research a president in this script: I_Like_Ike (Dwight Eisenhower); Honest_Abe (Abraham Lincoln); Gentleman_Farmer (George Washington); Monty_Cello (Thomas Jefferson); New_Deal (Franklin D. Roosevelt); Pillbox_Hat (Jacqueline Kennedy) and PT_Boat_Commander (John F. Kennedy); or Great_Communicator (Ronald Reagan). Have students look for information that explains the alias used by each speaker and comments he or she makes. (For example, why does John F. Kennedy call himself PT_Boat_Commander and the "man who accompanied Pillbox Hat to this chat"?) Next, have students create a profile for the speakers that includes the years that each president served, place of birth, and other key facts. Reconvene to share their findings as a class and put the presidents on a timeline based on the events they discuss and their years in office.
Click here for a printable script.
Article by Cara Bafile
Education World®
Copyright © 2006 Education World
02/10/2006
Updated 01/20/2010
| Â |
EW Lesson Plans
Submit your own lesson plan for a chance to receive a FREE $50 Classroom Supplies Gift Card!
> Learn more!
Chatter
Trending
February
Every-Day Edits
Use Every-Day Edits to build language skills, test scores, and cultural literacy. Be sure to see our tips for using Every-Day Edits in your classroom.
African American History MonthRosa ParksSpace Shuttle ColumbiaWoolworth's Sit-InGroundhog DayThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn PublishedSled Dogs Save NomeGrand Central TerminalThe Super Bowl"Hammerin' Hank" AaronPresident Ronald ReaganLaura Ingalls WilderSapporo Snow FestivalChinese New YearLucy Cousins and MaisyPresident Abraham LincolnArtist Grant WoodArizona, the 48th StateValentine's DayMatt GroeningSusan B. AnthonyMichael JordanPluto, the Dwarf PlanetFirst Woman DentistGeorge Frederick HandelKuwaitGrand Canyon National ParkUntethered Space WalkEdison’s First Movie SetSnow Ice CreamLeap Year
Looking for ideas for using Every-Day Edits in your classroom? See our idea file.
Run out of Every-Day Edit activities for the month of February? Check out our Xtra activities for any time of year.
Subject: ELA- Reading
Grade: 3
Lesson Objective: To ask and answer questions about a particular text
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Materials:
Printable Paragraph Student Handout
Starter:
Say:
Why do we ask questions? (Allow the students to answer.)
Main:
Say:
We ask questions to learn more about something. Sometimes we ask questions because we do not understand something and we need it to be explained more. And, sometimes we ask questions because we just want to know more!
Many times, when we are reading, we think of questions that we have about what we are reading. It might be a question about a word that we do not understand or a question about why something happened.
Raise your hand if you have ever asked a question out loud or to yourself when you were reading?
You are now going to read a paragraph about space. While you are reading, I want you to think about any questions that you might have. (Allow the students time to read the paragraph.)
Now that you have read about space, I want you to think about questions that you have about what you read. Raise your hand if you have a question. (Allow the students to share their questions. If the students cannot come up with any questions to ask, prompt them by asking them to think about questions using who, what, where, why and how.)
You came up with some really good questions! Now, you are going to answer questions about what you read.
You will write the answer on the line next to the questions. You will also need to underline the part of the paragraph that shows you where you got your answer.
Does anyone have any questions?
Feedback:
Say:
Who would like to share their answers? (Allow the students to share and go over the answers and where they came from.)
Written by Kimberly Greacen, Education World® Contributing Writer
Kimberly is an educator with extensive experience in curriculum writing and developing instructional materials to align with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy.
Copyright© 2019 Education World
Subject: ELA- Reading
Grade: 3
Lesson Objective: To sequence the steps of how to make chocolate chip cookies
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3 - Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
Materials:
Printable Paragraph Student Handout
Starter:
Say:
Do you think it is important to do something like following a recipe in order? Why or why not? (Allow the students to answer.)
Main:
Say:
When following directions to make a recipe or to put something together, it is important to following the steps in order.
If you do not follow directions in order, what could happen? (Allow the students to answer.)
Raise your hand if you have ever followed a recipe or put something together following directions.
When reading directions, it is important to start at the beginning and read everything. After you understand what the directions are telling you to do, you can start.
Today, you are going to read about how to make chocolate chip cookies. When you are reading the directions, make sure that you understand what the recipe is telling you. (Allow the students time to read the recipe.)
Raise your hand if you can tell me what the directions are telling you to do. (Allow the students to answer. Answers should refer to mixing ingredients together and baking.)
What is the first step? How do you get from step one to the last step? (Allow the students to answer.)
You are now going to sequence all of the steps. Under the recipe that you read are all of the steps, but they are not in order. You will put a number next to each step. The first step will have a number 1.
Does anyone have any questions?
Feedback:
Say:
Who would like to share their answers? (Allow the students to share and go over the sequence of steps.)
Written by Kimberly Greacen, Education World® Contributing Writer
Kimberly is an educator with extensive experience in curriculum writing and developing instructional materials to align with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy.
Copyright© 2019 Education World
Receive timely lesson ideas and PD tips
Sitemap
|
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and receive
top education news, lesson ideas, teaching tips and more!
COPYRIGHT 1996-2016 BY EDUCATION WORLD, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
COPYRIGHT 1996 - 2019 BY EDUCATION WORLD, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
75 Mill Street, Colchester, CT 06415
