Time Required

This lesson will take between one and a half and two and a half weeks.

Materials Needed

Initial Motivation

Ask students to define 'legacy.'  Provide the definition if students can't give one, i.e., a legacy is what you are remembered for most.  Ask students what they would want their legacy to be.  Explain that all presidents want their legacies to be viewed positively. You may want to ask them what they think President Clinton's legacy will be. (This initial motivation discussion should take about ten minutes.)

Procedures

I.   Viewing "The World Stage" Video

1. Tell students that for the next week or two, they will be working to create their own news shows in class.  These shows will focus on the legacies of different presidents.  By the end of this lesson, they will judge the legacy of a given president.
2. Have a short discussion about the legacy of some presidents.  Examples could include FDR (New Deal, WWII), Lincoln (freeing the slaves, Gettysburg Address), Washington (guiding the country through its early years), and Kennedy (social programs, Peace Corps). 
3. Show "The World Stage" video, instructing students to take notes while viewing the episode.
4. Assign students into groups of four.  Each person in the group should be assigned one of the four presidents (Monroe, McKinley, Wilson or Bush) in the video. 

II. Writing Presidential News Stories

1. Have students prepare a news story on how foreign policy affected their assigned presidencies.  Encourage students to use the Internet, textbooks on U.S. history or presidents, encyclopedias, biographies, etc.  The American President website biographies will help students with facts on the presidents they are researching.
2. Each group will put together a brief news program (about 15-20 minutes in length) about the four presidents.  To facilitate this project, provide the following parameters to students:  
    
1. Each news show should have stories about people and events.
2. The stories tell what happened and why.
3. Each story should be about the role foreign policy played in affecting the given president's term in office.
    
3. After students have done their research, they should write their reports/scripts in either narrative or story form.  Tell students that their reports should analyze the foreign policy of their assigned president.  Questions to consider include:
    
1. What major events in foreign policy happened during that president's time in office?
2. How did the president handle each event?
    
4. The reports should also focus on how foreign policy defined the president's term in office. Questions to consider include:
    
1. Do people view this president as a successful president?
2. What role did foreign policy play in determining this assessment of the president?
    
5. Each group should come up with some final remarks for the end of the show.  These remarks will be given by the host/hostess and include the following:
    
1. A summary of the show's content.
2. Some conclusions about the role foreign policy plays in determining a president's legacy.

III.  Commercials and Show Format

1. Because there also are commercials in a news program, students should develop commercials about products and issues that existed during their president's term in office.  There may be one or two commercials per news show.  Students may want to act out the commercials and use props. A helpful hint would be to encourage students to use humor in the commercials. For example, for Wilson, there could be a commercial about travel by boat.  For Bush, there could be a commercial about travel by airplane.  For Monroe and McKinley, their commercial could be about travel by horse or moving to the West.  (This activity should take one to two class periods.)
2. The format for the show should include the following components: (20-30 minutes per show, including set up)
    
1. A host/hostess selected from the group will open the show by explaining that it is a news program examining the foreign policy of four presidents (Monroe, McKinley, Wilson, and Bush).  Each person in the group will be introduced by the host/hostess.
2. After the introductions, the student assigned to Monroe will do his/her report.  This student will then introduce the McKinley reporter.  This will be followed by McKinley's report.  There will be a commercial after McKinley's report.
3. The host/hostess will introduce the Wilson reporter.  This person will give the report on Wilson. When done, the Wilson reporter will introduce the Bush reporter, who then will give his/her report.
4. If there is a second commercial, it should come at this point.
5. The host/hostess will then close the news program with some final remarks.  These should include a summary of the show's content and some conclusions about the role foreign policy plays in determining a president's legacy.
6. A few other questions for the groups to consider as they develop their shows:
• What kind of props will the group need?
• Will the students need to make decorations for their set?
• Will audiovisual materials be needed?
• Will their news program have a name?

IV. Editorial Critique of Peer Stories

1. Before the news programs begin, assign each student another student's story, which they will critique.  Explain the following to the class:
    
1. Since critiques offer opinions on what somebody else has said or written, they should look for accuracy of content and conclusions.
2. They should cite specific examples to support their analysis and conclusion. Their notes from the video and research should be used to decide the accuracy of the report. 
3. They are critiquing the analysis of another student's conclusions on the role foreign policy played in affecting a president's term in office.
    
2. For homework, have students write up their assigned critiques in the form of an editorial.  Each letter-to-the-editor should be written as a persuasive essay that takes no longer than two minutes to present to the class. These will be shared after all groups have presented their news shows. 

Assessment

The grade on this project should be based on several factors:

News Story of the Student (40%)

• Story answers questions about foreign policy and the president (10 points)
• Facts of the story are accurate (10 points)
• Report is clearly communicated (10 points)
• Research and preparation are evident (10 points)

Group News Show (40%)

• News show has flow to it (10 points)
• Group has introduction and conclusion (10 points)
• Commercial reflects time period/product of one of the presidents (10 points)
• News show is informative (10 points)

Editorial (20%)

• Editorial states the opinion of the writer (10 points)
• Evidence is provided to support the opinion (10 points)

Interdisciplinary Connections

This project could be completed in conjunction with a speech and debate class, media class, or English class.