Know Your Presidents

This teacher guide is adapted from a lesson by C-SPAN Champion Teacher Barry Davis who teaches U.S. History at McDowell Intermediate High School in Erie, PA. C-SPAN is provided to his area by TCI.

Goal: To familiarize students with the 41 men who have held the office of the President of the United States.

Objectives
The students will be able to:
1. Develop basic knowledge and understanding of all 41 presidents through reading and research.

2. Identify all 41 presidents visually and characteristically, and place each one in chronological order.

3. Match each president with interesting facts.

Materials & Tools

• Pictures of all 41 presidents
  
• Maps showing the territory of the United States at various times
  
• Handouts for each president with blank spaces for name, home state, date of presidency, political party, and major accomplishments. (If possible include a picture of each president on the handout)
  
• C-SPAN's American Presidents programming & web site

  
  Time
  Three class periods

  
  Procedure
  

  1. Introduction names and faces of all 41 presidents.
  You may want to ask the students if they know the names of the presidents as you hold pictures up to the class. Involve students in asking questions about individual presidents which they may find interesting. For example: Which of these presidents were fathers of the Constitution? Which president was called "Old Hickory"? Who were the only two presidents to be impeached? As you review each picture with the class, read the president's name and why they are primarily remembered, for example: Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence. (20 min.)

  2. Small group research and presentations
  Divide the class into small groups (2-3) and assign each group a few presidents to research. If computers with Internet capabilities are available, encourage students to conduct research using the World Wide Web including the C-SPAN American Presidents web site . Teachers can also provide students with videotapes of C-SPAN's American Presidents series to be used for research.

  Then as a group, present basic biographical information to the class. As each presentation is given, other students should take notes on a handout (one described above) for that particular president. (45 minutes plus presentation time)

  3. Review
  Briefly discuss and review the 41 presidents again, quizzing the students with questions and answers that can be found in their notes. Instruct students to quiz one another.

  4. Chronology
  Place the 41 pictures of the presidents over the board in random order. As a class, arrange the pictures in chronological order. (10 minutes)

  
  Additional Activities
  1. For a geography lesson, match various maps of the United States at different time periods with pictures of the presidents. Identify the timing and source of major land acquisitions.

  2. If time allows, assign an additional project where each student gives a presentation on an assigned president which involves dramatizing a particular moment in that president’s administration. Students should use primary documents, such as presidential speeches and writings, as source material.

  For example, a student could deliver a portion of the inaugural speech of Theodore Roosevelt, and dramatize President Roosevelt’s analysis of how well the speech was received by the public. This activity will give students an opportunity to become familiar with the writing style of the presidents and the time periods in which they lived.