Free Lesson Plans, Teacher Resources and Student Activities on Presidential Inauguration

As the historic Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama approaches, Thinkfinity.org is featuring a rich collection of free lesson plans, teacher resources and student activities highlighting many facets of the Inauguration and its significance, and some of the key issues the new president will face.

The educational resources featured on the Thinkfinity.org homepage provide teachers with a wealth of classroom activities on everything from stories of children who grew up in the White House, to an online activity that allows students to determine what priorities they would set as president, to a recording of Barack Obama's 2004 speech that launched him into the national spotlight.

Thinkfinity.org is the Verizon Foundation's comprehensive Web site containing more than 55,000 educational resources, including standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans, online educational games and videos for teachers, students and parents.

Among the free lesson plans, teacher resources and student activities on the presidential inauguration featured on the Thinkfinity.org home page are:

Presidential Inaugurations: A Capital Parade on a Cold Winter's Day -- This resource from the National Endowment for the Humanities EdSITEment will provide an overview of the history of the Inauguration including information on the first Inauguration, the oath of office and inaugural balls. The resource also includes links to several other related resources. http://edsitement.neh.gov/spotlight.asp?id=154

All the Presidents' Children -- In this online interactive from Smithsonian's History Explorer, students learn about the lives of many of the children who grew up in the White House, such as who received a dog as a gift from a Soviet premier, and who was nicknamed "Dynamo." http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/5a2b.html

If I Were President -- In this online activity from the Council for Economic Education's EconEdLink, students decide how they would structure the federal government's budget if they were president, determining how much to spend on schools, hospitals, roads, the military and the environment. The activity, along with a complimentary lesson plan, can be found at: http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lesson=EM375&page=teacher

Barack Obama President-elect and Author -- In this resource from the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English's ReadWriteThink.org, students review the works of Barack Obama, specifically focusing on his experiences with media messages and his understanding of his identity. Students are asked to examine the way people of different ages, race and gender are portrayed in the media. http://readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=726

Science at the White House -- In this activity from the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Science NetLinks, students view a video of President-elect Obama discussing plans to hold White House events on such topics as space exploration and physics to raise awareness of the importance of science and inspire a sense of discovery. Students then participate in an online poll to offer topic suggestions. http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/politics/index.cfm

Say it Plain: A Century of Great African-American Speeches -- In this partner-reviewed resource, students can read and listen to the keynote speech that Barack Obama gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and that launched him into the national spotlight. Students can also review speeches of 11 other prominent African-American leaders including Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. and Clarence Thomas. http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/sayitplain/index.html