The Perfect President

Colter, Appleton, Homan, Newell: Technology Lesson Plan

The Perfect President

Author(s): Exploredc.org
Grade Level:4th or 5th grade
Timeframe: 4-6 fifty minute class periods

Lesson Description or Explanation
Students will do research on the U.S. Presidents. After they finish doing research they will brainstorm what the “perfect president’ would be like. After they have an image in their mind they will create a job description or newspaper article to advertise the position.

Indiana Curricular Standards
Writing: Standard 4:
4.4.6 Locate information in reference texts by using organizational features, such as prefaces and appendixes.
4.4.8 Understand the organization of almanacs, newspapers, and periodicals and how to use those print materials.
Reading: Standard 2:
5.2.5 Distinguish among facts, supported inferences, evidence, and opinions in text.
5.2.3 Recognize main ideas presented in texts, identifying and assessing evidence that supports those ideas.
History: Standard 9
Students will conduct historical research that includes forming research questions, developing a thesis, investigating a variety of primary and secondary sources, and presenting their findings with documentation.

ISTE Standards

Standard 3. Technology productivity tools:
Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.
Standard 5. Technology research tools:
Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
Students use technology tools to process data and report results.
Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for specific tasks.

Assessments
Formative/Summative

Formative Assessment: At the beginning of the lesson students will be assessed on their prior knowledge so that growth over time can be assessed. Students will be assessed by making a concept map using their knowledge of past presidents and presidents in general.
There will also be ample assessment throughout the process via class discussions, small group discussions, one on one conversation, and through their research notes.

Summative Assessment: Students will be graded at the completion of the lesson based on their final product. Students will be graded as Excellent, Good, or Poor:
Excellent: Research has been completed and contains complete sentences in a very well-developed way. There is substantial information. The brochure is very organized, contains accurate facts and cleverly presented insightful opinions. All work is neat, original and completed on time.
Good: Research has been completed. It may lack some development, but contains accurate information that is presented in a fairly logical manner. The brochure is organized, contains facts and presents some clever opinions. All work is completed on time.
Poor: Some research has been completed. Information presented is fair. Information may be lacking clarity or may not be accurate. The brochure is not organized, contains inaccurate facts, or lacks some opinions. Work is either poor quality or not completed on time.


Prior Knowledge

Curricular Knowledge or Skills: We discovered that the students were really interested in learning more about past presidents through their writing journals. We posed a question to the students about what it would take to become a president. Many of the students had no idea, while others listed a few details. The students did write in their journal on what they would do as a U.S. President. Also, earlier in the year the students applied for certain jobs in the classroom and had to explain why they might like to perform that job sometime during the year. It was because of this we posed another question to the students. What would a job description look like for a president. Since the students weren’t for sure, we wanted them to create one.
Technology Knowledge: Our students have had plenty of computer time in the lab. They should be able to easily perform internet searches on U.S. Presidents. They have had some exposure to job descriptions, so we will give them plenty of examples of what a job description might look at or might entail. Students are also used to working together when it comes to technology, so they should be able to help one another if a problem occurs. The students have also had experience in Microsoft word and PowerPoint from their previous works of writing throughout the school year.

Technology


Internet Resources: (please list URLs)

President for the day :http://pbskids.org/democracy/presforaday/index.html

Constitution: http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html

White House Historical Association:http://www.whitehousehistory.org.

The American President:http://www.americanpresident.org.

The White House:http://www.whitehouse.gov.

American President: Life Portraits: http://www.americanpresidents.org/.

Hardware: Computers

Software: Microsoft Word
Microsoft Publisher

Procedure

Day One/Monday: Ask for a show of hands: how many students would want to be president when they reached adulthood? What would be the best part of being president? What would be the worst part? Explain to students that they're about to learn more about the daily duties of the President of the United States. Next the students will visit the online game, "President for the Day." Here students can gather information about the responsibilities and daily life of the president.
Day Two/Tuesday: Cut poster board to make puzzle pieces. Cut the same amount of puzzle pieces as you have students. Be sure to mark the wrong side for ease in putting the puzzle together. Give students a puzzle piece and instructions to draw or paste pictures on it that represent the presidency. When everyone is finished, the students will put the puzzle together and staple their pieces in the correct position on the bulletin board. The bulletin board might be entitled "Fitting Together Presidential Pieces."
Day Three/Wednesday: The students will create a job description for a president. Students will outline legal requirements, personality traits and preferred previous job experience. Begin by reviewing the legal requirements for the presidency contained in the Constitution. Then, brainstorm traits and skills that would help a presidential candidate succeed in office. What previous work experience might help him or her? What personality traits are important? Sample job description formats may be obtained from human resources departments in local businesses.
Days Four and Five/Thursday and Friday: Students will create a newspaper article detailing the perfect president. Students could do this with or without the use of a computer. The articles could then form the border of the bulletin board, be displayed on a school hallway bulletin board or be displayed at a local city business. Students could possibly visit and read these aloud at a local civic organization meeting.
Day Six/Monday: Students will take a look at some past presidents and compare them to the students' job description and newspaper article to see how they measures up. Helpful Web sites include: White House Historical Association The American President The White House American Presidents: Life Portraits

Differentiated Instruction

ESL
All the students should be working together, so native English students can help guide ESL students when doing research on the internet or in books. A translator can be provided if needed. When writing the online keyboard or sound sentry option can be turned on to help the student type or hear the language read to them. As teachers, we will also try to find books or websites on U.S. Presidents that are available in the students’ primary language in order to support or help that individual. ENL students may also write in their native language. We can use the website below to help translate the students’ writing.
http://translation2.paralink.com/

Challenge/Extend

The students can create their own constitution and using Microsoft Publisher. In addition, the students can create a fictional piece titled “When I was president” and then post them in a discussion forum. After that I would extend the activity to include the other branches of the United States government.

Special Needs

In order to make the lesson plan accessible for all students there are many modifications that can be made. If a student has a vision disability there are programs on the computer that will allow students to have the text read to them. Students with learning disabilities will be able to do research with texts that are at a respectable level for them. Students who have disabilities writing either with a pencil or typing on computer will be given other options to get their ideas on to paper. This can include working with a buddy or using assistive technology. There are many different disabilities that this lesson plan can be modified around. These are only a small sample of modifications. This lesson plan has the ability to be modified in many ways in order to allow success for each and every student.