Though a small percentage of your students may learn well from rote memorization, many need a more engaging lesson to help them retain facts, specific information, and comparisons among our American Presidents. Teaching Presidential Contributions to your middle school and high school students can move beyond boring memorization with the right teaching strategies and a sure-fire lesson plan! Perfect for a lesson before or after Presidents’ Day, or really any time of year, learning about the contributions of our Presidents can be engaging, fun, and even memorable.
With walking tours, centers and small group activities, matching games, an engaging Facebook–based research activity, and scavenger hunts, your Presidents’ Day lessons can break the monotony of everyday history. By traveling through the last three centuries, students can compare and contrast those who have held our highest governmental office – the Office of the President. They can also tie this knowledge to general civics education and US History content. These 5 tips for teaching Presidential Contributions allow you to take what works in your lesson plan, and leave what doesn’t!
1. Guide your students on a Walking Tour through history by actively exploring ten of our most famous presidents with centers on biographical and political information, their path to presidency, their most significant contributions, their daily life as president, and miscellaneous interesting facts!
2. Bring back the Matching Game of your students’ fondest childhood memories by timing them while they match biographical and political information with each president’s name and picture! Have your students MATCH OFF by seeing who can compete for the fastest time.
3. Allow your students a bit of social media time to ‘FRIEND’ our Presidents and ‘LIKE’ their About Me sections! Use this template to create fake Facebook profiles for the Presidents and then post them all together on the classroom Facebook Timeline.
4. Send your kids on a Scavenger Hunt as they search for answers to clue cards on the Presidents! Regroup and discuss or have students answer wrap-up questions to reflect on their findings.
5. Tie the information students have learned on the Presidents into our overall governmental framework with a Response Group Activity! Have them reflect on the responsibilities of the President, the qualifications of the office, and our most popular presidents to wrap up.
Using these 5 tips for teaching Presidential Contributions on Presidents’ Day, you’ll leave a lasting impression on your middle school and high school students. Best case scenario, they’ll spend their day off contemplating government, civics, and the contributions of our significant American Presidents. Well, a teacher can have lofty dreams, right?
Happy Teaching (and dreaming…)!
