Brief Description

Students research one of the American Presidents. Their objective is to formulate a conclusion as to the effectiveness of the President and be able agree or disagree with several of the national ranking surveys that have been conducted over the past 50 years. The students are to present their information and findings in a PowerPoint presentation.  The presentation begins with a brief biography of their president. This is to be followed by an analysis of the President’s effectiveness in domestic affairs and foreign affairs. Included in the analysis is his public image and power of persuasion. Concluding the presentation will be a capsulation of his legacy and the student’s agreement or disagreement with these rankings. Evidence of primary source documentation must be given to validate the student’s conclusion.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

• 3T-E2. Use a variety of technology tools for data collection and analysis
• 3T-E3. Publish and present information using technology tools.
• 4T-E2. Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication and activities to create curricular related products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.
• 5T-E1. Locate information from electronic resources.
• 5T-E2. Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness and bias of electronic information sources.

• 1SS-E1. Understand and apply the basic tools of historical research, including chronology and how to collect, interpret, and employ information from historical materials.
• 1SS-E7. Describe the causes, key individuals, an consequences of the American Revolution
• 1SS-E8. Demonstrate and apply the basic tools of historical research, including how to construct timelines, frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research, and analyze and evaluate historical materials offering varied perspectives
• 1SS-E17. Describe the aspirations, ideals, and events that served as the foundation for the creation of a new national government
• 1SS-E18. Describe the actions taken to build one nation from thirteen states
• 1SS-E21. Explain how sectionalism caused the Civil War
• 1SS-E22. Explain the course and consequences of the Civil War and how it divided the American people
• 1SS-E23. Analyze the character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction
• LS-E1 Prepare and deliver an organized speech and effectively convey the message through verbal and nonverbal communications with a specific audience
• LS-E2Prepare and deliver an oral report in a content area and effectively convey the information through verbal and nonverbal communications with a specific audience
• LS-E3 Interpret and respond to questions and evaluate responses both as interviewer and interviewee
• LS-E4 Predict, clarify, analyze and critique a speaker’s information and point of view
• VP-E1 Analyze visual media for language, subject matter and visual techniques used to influence opinions, decision making and cultural perceptions
• VP-E2 Plan, develop and produce a visual presentation, using a variety of media such as videos, films, newspapers, magazines and computer images
• VP-E3 Compare, contrast and establish criteria to evaluate visual media for purpose and effectiveness

Academic

• In an oral presentation using PowerPoint, the student will present their findings on a selected American President.
• The student will select the major events in the life of their American president and present this in one bulleted slide as a condensed biography.
• The student will identify and classify the major contributions and/or failings of their American president in the area of domestic affairs and present this in one bulleted slide.
• The student will identify and classify the major contributions and/or failings of their American president in the area of foreign affairs and present this in one bulleted slide.
• The student will choose evidence from historical documents to assess the public image and power of persuasion of their American president. This information will be presented in one bulleted slide.
• The student will identify the president’s achievements and/or failings and report findings on his legacy. This will be presented in one bulleted slide.
• The student will compare the results of at least three presidential ranking surveys on their American president in one bulleted slide.
• The student will document at least three primary sources to validate their own ranking of their American president. This will be presented in one bulleted slide.
• The student will compare and contrast their ranking with the survey rankings and present this in one bulleted slide.

• The student will create and format a ten slide presentation using the PowerPoint program for an oral presentation of an American president.
• The student will perform an Internet search of primary and secondary source material to assemble their PowerPoint presentation of an American president.

• Students must be able to perform an electronic search on the Internet to locate primary and secondary historical source material.
• Students need a beginning understanding of the use of PowerPoint.
• Students must be able to save work to disk.
• Students must be able to use a computer and classroom screen or LCD projector for a formal presentation

• Each student will need a floppy disk or CD-Rom.
• Each student will need a minimum access of five hours computer time.
• Students will need access to a printer to print research documents.
• The classroom needs a computer connected to a classroom screen or LCD projector for the final student presentations.

Gifted students will be required to provide an additional slide for the categories of presidential biography, domestic affairs, foreign affairs, legacy, public image and power of persuasion. Each of these slides must contain a primary source reference.  Gifted students, also, must submit three-page essay on their American presidential findings validating their conclusions. The essay must contain five cited references and a reference page.

A research and planning guide will be made for special needs students. The guide will contain specific information the students are to include in their presentation. Research sites and the specific information to be provided can either be bookmarked or the URL addresses can be provided. The students will be required to present slides for the presidential biography, domestic affairs, foreign affairs, legacy and national survey only. Presidents will be assigned that are easily managed for this type of presentation.

Procedures

Step #1: In class pre-assign presidents to special needs students to match the prepared research and planning guide. Next, either assign the remaining presidents to the class or have them selected by individual preference. A presidential facts game can be constructed to determine the selection order.

Step #2: Take students to the computer lab for their research. Introduce presidential and primary source sites:
Suggested sites:

• “American Presidents” http://www.americanpresidents.org/
• “The American Presidency” http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/preshome.html
• “The Internet Public Library” http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/
• “American Experience” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/indexjs.html
• “Presidents of the United States” http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/
•  http://www.presidentsusa.net/index.html
• (Link to Presidential libraries) http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/liblinks.html

• http://www.americanpresidents.org/survey/historians/overall.asp
• http://wcuvax1.wcu.edu/~gknotts/ranking.html
• http://franklaughter.tripod.com/cgi-bin/history/rankings.html

I. Slide One--

a. Name of Project
b. Student Name & Photo

a. Name & Photo of President

a. Presidential Biography

i. List main points

a. Domestic Affairs

i. List main points

a. Foreign Affairs

i. List main points

a. Power of Persuasion & Public Image

i. List main points

a. Legacy

i. List main points

a. Comparisons of Presidential Ranking by National Surveys

i. List at least three rankings

a. Student Ranking with source documentation

i. Use “primary source"

a. Compare & contrast student ranking & national rankings

Step #4: Have students develop bulleted items for each slide and detailed copy to be place in the notes section of each slide.

Step # 5: Allow students to assemble their presentation in the PowerPoint software presentation.

Step #6: Have students practice their presentations by delivering it to each other in pairs.

Step # 7: Schedule student presentations. (Each presentation should be delivered in a 10 to 15 minute segment. Allow 5 to 10 minutes between presentations for setup of the next presenter).

Step # 8: Provide time and require students to load disc or open student folders with their presentations the day before their presentation to insure there are no glitches with the technology.

Step# 9: As an option, students may be allowed to print a notes section to be copied and distributed to each member of the class to take personal notes during the presentation.

Step# 10: Complete student presentations in class. Depending on the class schedule, the teacher may want to schedule two to three presentations per day over a two to four week time period.

Step# 11: Use rubric grading during the presentation to give immediate feedback and score to the student.

Assessment

Assessment will be based using the three rubrics for general, gifted, and special needs students.

Teacher Name: Don Dickinson
Site: Coronado K-8
Date Submitted: January 21, 2003