It's that time of year, and the year. Once again the race is on for the White House. It's important that young voters, and would-be voters, understand the process for becoming the United States President. Class members research the...

How much power should a president be allowed to exert? Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt exercised their power according to their interpretations of the United States Constitution, and these interpretations affected the...

Can a negative perception of a president's foreign policy harm his or her historical legacy? A project that winds the clock back to the date of Theodore Roosevelt's death puts students at the editorial desk of a fictional newspaper....

Was Bill Clinton a good president? Scholars set out to answer the question as they prepare for a class debate on the topic. They watch videos, review pros and cons, and read facts about the process of becoming a United States president....

Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Alexander Gardner's photograph of Abraham Lincoln. What do these works of art tell us about the character of these American Presidents? After examining the techniques the...

At 69 years old, Ronald Reagan was the oldest man ever to be elected president in the United States. After reviewing a thorough history of Reagan's presidency, pupils read the main pro and con arguments to determine if he was a good...

To begin a study of the Vietnam War, groups assume the role of a US president, examine primary source documents, and based on this limited information, must decide on the United States' actions during the Vietnam War.

What is a party caucus anyway? And what part do caucuses play in the primaries? Everything future voters need to know about the four stages in the presidential selection process is provided by this resource. The 2012 US...

Are executives as powerful as they sound? High schoolers find out about the US president and executive branch. A variety of activities include scaffolded reading sections, research assignments, and collaborative group work.

What are the job requirements for the office of president of the United States? What attributes should a candidate possess? Are the qualities needed to govern the same as those needed to win? What can an analysis of the...

Engage your class while learning about the US Constitution with this fun primary grade social studies lesson. After viewing a picture of the US Constitution, young learners piece together a US flag using stars and...

Every president of the United States must be a natural-born citizen, but the definition of natural-born is not as straightforward as it seems. Secondary scholars examine two points of view surrounding the constitutional requirement...

Uncle Sam wants you to integrate the military! The activity uses images and documents to help scholars understand the integration of African Americans into the mainstream military. Academics analyze a series of military photos and...

Examine the different perspectives on the future of United States Navy bombing exercises taking place on Vieques, Puerto Rico with this lesson from The New York Times. Here, young learners read "Islanders to Vote on Vieques Bomb Drills,"...

21st-century learners live in such a visual world that many are unused to letting their minds imagine the picture that words create. An excerpt from Carl Sagan's lecture, "The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,"...

Introduce young historians to the US Constitution with this upper-elementary social studies lesson plan. Beginning with a general discussion about the role of government in society, students go on to work in small...

Young historians explore the meaning of the Preamble to the US Constitution in this upper-elementary social studies instructional activity. Working with partners or in small groups, children discuss the purpose of government before...

Pupils research how and why a country elects to have an executive branch of the government. They study the office of the Presidency of the US.

In September we celebrate Constitution Day. Begin the celebration with a grand conversation about the US Constitution. Follow up the in-depth discussion with a learning game in which scholars match terms to images such as...

Using the Jigsaw protocol, scholars study chunks of text from a speech given by former US presidents following a devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. As they read the speech in small groups, they build background knowledge and share...

Elementary pupils are introduced to the Great Depression as a critical period of hardship in United States history. They engage in collaborative assignments researching the Dust Bowl, the New Deal, US presidents, and presidential libraries.

What are the essential differences between primaries and caucuses? As part of a study of the process by which Americans select their candidates for US president, class members examine the nominating process, the changes that have...

Can anyone grow up to be president of the United States? As part of their study of the 2020 election, groups research the constitutional requirements to become president. The class then brainstorms a list of qualifications beyond those...

An executive is not just a leader of a company; you can also use the term to describe the president of the United States. The ninth part of a 20-part unit teaches high schoolers about the importance of the executive branch and the...