Making of a United States President

I. What Information do we want to know?

Students generated possible questions as a group; they were listed on the overhead and later made into a handout for the students to choose from. Since this was a 7th grade multi-categorical classroom with varied ability levels the teacher selected each group so that a non-reader was placed with 2 readers - non-readers were given the role of ěpicture selector.

Our List of Questions:

1. When was he President?
2. Which president was he? What number?
3. Where was he born? What state?
4, When was he born?
5. When did he die?
6. What did he do for a living before he was President?
7. What is he most famous for?
8. Did he marry? Is so, what was her name?
9. Did he have any children?
10. Where did he go to school?
11. Who were his parents?
12. Where is he buried?
13. What religion was he?
14. Did he have any special interests or hobbies?
15. How old was he when he was elected President?
16. How old was he when he died?
17. What caused his death?
18. What was his family like growing up?
19. Are there special places honoring him?
20. What did he do after being President?

II. Students were divided in groups of 3 (with a paraprofessional or teacher available for assistance). Each group was then asked to choose a President from the wall chart in our classroom. After the Presidents were selected, each group was given a copy of the list of questions we had generated. The class read the rubric together and discussed what each section meant and what was necessary to achieve the rating of Excellent, Acceptable, or Not Acceptable.

Click here for the rubric.

III. As a group, we discussed where we could find the answers to these questions. Numerous suggestions were offered such as a biography of the chosen President, a dictionary, or an encyclopedia. When someone suggested using a computer and the internet, we focused our search in this area. The teacher gave each group the following three sites: Yahoo, Information Please, and Searchopolis. With assistance from the teacher or a paraprofessional, each group began the search. (Since every student attends the Core Skills class and has experienced the computer component the teams needed little guidance.)

When the desired information was found, teams printed off copies and used a highlighter to note answers to specific questions. Pictures were cut out and mounted in the agreed upon manner. Copies of historical documents were also selected. Team members took turns using the word processor to write questions and answers. Font and type size were decided upon by the team. The manner in which they chose to display their project was voted on by the team members. When the project was completed, the team assessed their work using the rubric provided by the teacher and included it with the finished work.

During this project the students focused on Investigation, Problem Solving Skills, Communication, Cooperative Learning and Self-Assessment.