The American Presidency

Activities

Preliminary Vote

On the first day of school the students will be given a ballot and asked to vote for Obama or Romney. The students will be asked to provide three reasons supporting their vote. The ballots will be individually sealed in an envelope with the student's name and date written on the outside. The envelopes will not be opened until the class period after the Presidential election. The purpose of this activity is to activate any prior knowledge. The students will not be restricted as to talking out their decisions with other classmates. I am giving them the opportunity to speak to see if they vote like the others at their table. My hypothesis is that they will confer with others and that they will have maybe one reason (if any at all) for their vote. After sealing the envelopes, we will have a class discussion as to choice and their decision–making strategies.

Reading the Constitution

The students will be given a copy of Article II of the U.S. Constitution. Article II will be printed in a columnar fashion on the left side of the paper leaving the right column blank. Reading a clause at a time, and working in small–groups, the students will write each clause in their own words. The purpose of this activity is multifold. The students will have to look at and discuss key words such as "vested" in Section 1, Clause 1, or "appoint" in Section 1, Clause 2 in order to comprehend and adequately summarize each clause. The length of each clause provides an excellent opportunity to practice chunking difficult material to derive meaning. This activity is foundational in nature. Journal topics and other reading and activities (such as presidential powers and electoral college) will derive directly from this activity.

Characteristics of an Effective President

As a whole group, the students will be asked to brainstorm the qualities they think a President of the United States should possess. We will create a class list. From the class list, a matrix will be created. The students will then be given some qualities of an unknown someone. In small–groups, the students will use the matrix to evaluate the qualities of the simulation. One student from each small–group will present their findings to group as a whole. A whole–group reflection will then ensue to discuss their findings.

Each student will then be given the names of two previous Presidents. The students will research the qualities of each president and complete the matrix. Each student will then create a poster sized matrix comparing the two assigned Presidents and how they fared using the matrix. I will then present to the class how each of their President's are rated throughout history as to their effectiveness. The class will then have a reflection as to the matrix. Does the matrix need some amendment? My hypothesis is that the students will initially generate a list of superficial qualities, however, after doing their own investigation and subsequent discussion they will see the need to amend their list of qualities. After making revisions to the matrix, the activity begins anew but using the new paradigm. Eventually the matrix will be applied to President Obama and candidate Romney.

I will continue to introduce elements into the discussion such as print and non–print propaganda materials. Each time, we will reflect upon our matrix and whether it truly exemplifies the characteristics we think constitute an effective President.

In addition, the students will use their matrix and interview three different family members and three different friends about their views about the characteristics that represent an effective president. The students will bring in their interview results and as a whole class we will aggregate the results and draw some inferences from the results. Discussion and journal writing will ensue based upon the results of the adult interviews with the intent of helping the students differentiate their opinion from those in their social network.

Unit Finale

On election day, the students will vote again. This time they will vote individually. The day after the election, the students will be given their first vote. They will be asked to compare the two votes and to draw some conclusions as to why their vote changed or did not change.