| Standards Compliance |
NCSS
Strand 2
Time, Continuity, and Change
|
NCSS
Strand 3
People, Places, and Environments
|
NCSS
Strand 6
Power, Authority, and Governance
|
NCSS
Strand 10
Civic Ideals and Practices
|
NCTE
Standard 3
Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts.
|
NCTE
Standard 5
Students use a wide range of strategies and elements to write to communicate with different audiences and for purposes.
|
NCTE
Standard 7
Students conduct research by generating ideas, questions, and problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data.
|
ISTE
Standard 5
Technology research tools
|
|
Introduction:
Frances Folsom Cleveland was the youngest First Lady. She was just 21 years of age when she married Grover Cleveland, who was already the President of the United States. Many First Ladies have interesting “firsts,” some happy, some sad, and some just peculiar. Do you know who had the most children? Who was the oldest when she became First Lady? Who was the first First Lady from Texas? Which state produced the most First Ladies? Let’s find out!
Objectives:
The purpose of this lesson is to acquaint students with the women who became First Ladies of the United States, through the process of researching their lives and creating a way of sharing their findings.
Materials Required:
Access to the Internet
Access to print materials
Paper, art supplies
Procedures:
1. Using the websites listed below, as well as other websites, and such printed materials as is available, students should research the lives of the First Ladies, looking for special information about each one. This information could have to do with:
- Something they did while their husbands were in office
- Something about themselves (age, education, state where they were born, number of children, etc.)
- Something that was the first thing a First Lady ever did, e.g., Edith Wilson was the first First Lady to ride to her husband’s inauguration in an automobile.
- Any other interesting fact about a First Lady
2. Short biographies of each First Lady can be found on the first two websites, below. Students can look up each First Lady on other websites, or in books.
3. Since there are currently 44 First Ladies, divide the class into several groups and assign five or six First Ladies to each group. When students have accumulated sufficient information about the First Ladies, bring them back together to discuss what they will do with their findings. Some possibilities include:
- Creating a set of quizzes
- Creating a Jeopardy game
- Making Question cards (from 3x5 cards) that have a picture of the First Lady and a question on the front, and the answer on the back (this could be accompanied by a game board, something like the boards for Trivial Pursuit)
4. When the findings about the First Ladies have been made into one of the above, encourage students to play the game or take the quizzes for fun.
Extending the Lesson:
This lesson could be extended by making posters of each (or some) First Ladies, with specific information about them on the poster.
Sources & Resources:
Books:
Gormley, Beatrice. First Ladies: The Women Who Called The White House Home. Scholastic, 1997.
Kramer, Sydelle. The Look-It-Up Book of First Ladies.New York: Random House, 2001.
Warner, Sally, Buller, Jon (Illustrator), Schade, Susan (Illustrator), Regan, Dana (Illustrator), and Weber, Jill (Illustrator). Smart About the First Ladies: Smart About History. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 2004.
Websites:
The White House First Ladies Gallery
The National First Ladies Library
Jeopardy Game
First Ladies Trivia
White House Facts
First Lady Challenge
First Lady Statistics
First Ladies' Quiz
All the Presidents' Children
Credits:
This lesson was developed by Averil McClelland, Kent State University.
|