Materials:

Time Required

The lesson is expected to take five to six class periods if all research, writing and presenting is done in class.  However, this may be broken up over time, and some of the work may be assigned as homework.

Initial Motivation

Tell students that Thomas Jefferson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Ronald Reagan were four remarkably different men who all had a major impact in forming the country in which we live today.  These men were influenced by their years prior to political life, and those experiences impacted the decisions they made while in office.  What would our country be like today if any one of these men had not been president?  One thing is obvious: Who and what we are today is due, in part, to each of them.

Inform students that they will be thoroughly scrutinizing each of these four men, analyzing their pasts, and dissecting their administrations and impact on life in America.  To get the class started, have students write down basic information that they know about the administration of each of the four presidents.  Ask students to discuss their knowledge in pairs or small groups before bringing their ideas to a discussion with the entire class.

Procedures

1. Show The American President video, "The American Way," or assign it when it airs on April 11, 2000 from The American President series.
2. Have students compare information gathered from the initial motivation discussion with information gathered from the video.
3. Ask students to select one of the four presidents (Jefferson, Coolidge, Hoover or Reagan) to be the focus of their assignment; alternatively, assign each student one of the presidents.
4. Instruct students to research their individual president, gathering information on his life and times, administration, and the outcomes of his presidency.  The American President website biographies will help students with facts on the presidents.
5. Students will then report the information they have gathered in the form of a first-person historical narrative.  Explain to students that a historical narrative is a lively account of a particular event, issue, or time period in history.  Historical narratives blend accurate facts with the passion and emotions of the writer.  This particular historical narrative must cover the following items:
    
1. The president's life prior to the presidency (2 items)
2. The president's greatest OR most infamous political achievements (3 items)
3. Life in America before, during and after his presidency (3 items for each)
4. Information on how our lives today are affected by his presidency (3 items)
    
6. This historical narrative must include an introduction that offers an overview of the president and his times.  The body of the narrative should be three paragraphs long (one for each item a, b and c). The conclusion should discuss how our lives today are affected by the president's administration (item d).
7. Direct students to the observation chart to help them quickly create a vivid picture of the time period. The chart should be filled in with bullets and phrases that quickly depict each of the categories.  This chart should then be used to add vivid language to the historical narrative.  Encourage students to incorporate as many of the terms and ideas from the observation chart as possible. 
8. Prior to writing, each student must decide to be a supporter or non-supporter of his or her "candidate."  This tone should be obvious and backed by facts throughout the narrative.
9. Using MLA style, students should each create a bibliography of references used.  References used must include, but are not limited to: the required video, one biography, two reference books and two Internet sites.
10. The finished written assignment will include a cover page, historical narrative and bibliography.
11. Have students use their historical narrative to present a speech for or against their candidate in front of the class. Note:  You may ask students to omit the president's name from the speech to enable those in the "audience" to determine whom the candidate is and if the speaker is for or against the candidate.  You may wish to create a ballot on which students mark how many speakers were for or against each candidate.
12. Hold a class discussion on the impact each president had on our nation and the possible results if any one of these men had not been president.

Assessment

Written work may be graded on a 5-point scale:

5 = Well researched, author's voice is displayed in the writing, the facts support the author's viewpoint, bibliography is complete and written in MLA style

4 = Adequate research, author's voice is present, the facts that are present support the author's viewpoint, bibliography is complete and written in MLA style

3 = Some research is evident, author's voice comes and goes, more facts are needed, bibliography is complete and written in MLA style

2 = More research is needed, author didn't take a definite view, bibliography is written in MLA style but does not contain all of the required sources

1 = Lacks research, author's voice is not evident, bibliography is incomplete or inaccurate

0 = No research evident, no voice evident, no bibliography

Additional Resources

The following websites may also be useful for completing this assignment: