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Before:
- Ask students to respond to the following
question using Handout #1:
- What are important qualities that a president
should have? Students should be given some time to respond on their
handout, and then given the opportunity to share their ideas with one
another and then with the class.
- Teacher can list the ideas from the students
on the board, and then ask the students to rank the qualities as most to
least important for the president.
During :
- Teacher divides the class into 4 groups to
work in jigsaw manner, each group getting one of 4 excerpts from Article
II of the US Constitution (handouts #2 A-D). As the teacher passes out
copies of Handout #2, he or she should instruct students to re-write
each of the excepts in their own words.
Students should work for 10-15 minutes (more or less depending on the
level of the group) to complete this assignment. Students should then
share their descriptions with the rest of the class, and write their
interpretations on the board, chart paper, or a smart board for other
groups to see and write down.
- After the students share their interpretation
of Article II of the constitution, the teacher should pass out the
lyrics of the “Executive branch” section of the recording of the
Constitution, with a double entry section for students to respond as
they listen to the music (handout #3). Teacher will instruct the students
to pick out key responsibilities of the president as they listen.
- Once the students listen to the music, teacher
asks them what they noticed about the music, and how the music related
to what they were listening to. For example: why do you think that the
composer chose to have one person singing this piece, when the others
are with multiple singers? Why do you think that the composer chose this
kind of music to go along with the lyrics? What does this music make you
think about/remind you of?
- On Handout #4, students should re-write the
job responsibilities into a list, and then compare that list with the
qualities that the president should have. Ask students to work in pairs
to determine any qualities that are not included in the list, and ask
them if there are qualities that they chose that do not reflect a job
responsibility. Are there things that a president is responsible for
that are not listed in the constitution? Why might this be?
- Students should then rank the responsibilities
as most to least important.
After:
o Teacher should explain that the students would be
working to create a job description for the president of the US,
incorporating the qualities that they would like to have in a president, and
outlining the responsibilities of the president. Students should work in
pairs or groups of three to create their job descriptions, and then keep them
as they continue through the course to evaluate each president as they learn
about their administration.
o
Teacher should
pass out Handout #5 as a template for completing their job description. Once
students finish, each group can share its job description, and then compare
and contrast what they decided to include.
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