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John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Analyzing the Inaugural Address
Get high school historians to step outside their own shoes by responding to JFK's inaugural address from the perspective of a civil rights activist, a soviet diplomat, or a Cuban exile. After a class discussion about the address,...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Analyzing the Rhetoric of JFK’s Inaugural Address
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your. country.” Did you know that John Kenneth Galbraith, Adlai Stevenson, and Theodore Sorensen helped John F. Kennedy craft his 1961...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You
Ask not what the lesson here can do for you, but what you can do with the lesson. The answer is quite a lot! Young scholars revisit JFK's famous inaugural address with a focus on his plea for civic engagement. There's a...
Curated OER
Digital Dreams
Students write a speech. In this dreams instructional activity, students define the word dreams and list their own dreams. Students read and discuss Langston Hughes work, read and discuss excerpts from speeches by JFK and...
University of Maryland
Voices of Democracy: John Fitzgerald Kennedy, "Inaugural Address" January 1961
John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech is one of the most famous speeches in American history. Teachers can use this activity to teach Language Arts standards, as well as Social Studies standards. This lesson plan includes pre-reading ideas,...