Our Newly Elected President Lesson Plan

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Academic Standards

 

Reading Objective:

Children will examine the different jobs the president does.

 

Social Studies Focus:

the President of the United States

 

ELA Skills:

key details, main idea and details, writing, text features, vocabulary

 

Page 4 Skill:

read a map

 

Vocabulary:

president, inauguration, laws, armed forces, diverse

 

CCSS:

RI.2.1, RI.2.2, RI.2.4, RI.2.5, RI.2.10, L.2.1, W.2.8, SL.2.3 

 

Guided Reading Level:

L

 

Lexile Level: 

570L

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Provide students with some background on the president and where he lives.

Build background knowledge (10 min.)

Watch our video "The White House." After children have finished watching the video, discuss the following questions:

  • Who lives and works in the White House? (the President of the United States)
  • Where is the White House? (Washington, D.C.)
  • What part of the White House would you most like to see? (Answers will vary.)

Preview vocabulary (3 min.)

Next, play the online vocabulary slideshow. This issue’s featured words are president, inauguration, laws, armed forces, and diverse.

Set a purpose for reading (5 min.)

  • Pass out the issue, and discuss the cover. Do students recognize the house and the person who will live in it?
  • Next, read the As You Read prompt on page 2: “Think about the different jobs the president has.” Encourage children to think about this prompt as they read.

Read together (20 min.)

Pass out the Read and Think printable. Use it to check comprehension as you read the issue together, pausing to ask the questions. 

  • The Make an Article game is a fun way for students to practice nonfiction text features. They read an article about presidential trivia and then choose the most appropriate headings, captions, and so on.

You can use our printable worksheets to focus on important ELA skills. Here’s how.

ELA Focus: Vocabulary (15 min.)

  • Use the Word Work printable to deepen students’ understanding of the words president, inauguration, and laws.

Editor’s Pick: Main Idea (15 min.)

  • The Main Idea and Details skill sheet gives children practice in parsing out the three presidential jobs outlined in the article. It’s the perfect challenge for this time of year as the article is running text— no headings for clues!

ELA Focus: Vocabulary (15 min.)

  • The Taking the Oath skill sheet is a clever way to help students understand the oath of office Biden will take at the inauguration ceremony. By gluing simplified words and phrases on top of the more formal ones, students will see that “fancy” language really does make sense!

Assessment: Reading Checkpoint

  • Pass out the Reading Checkpoint to review key concepts from the issue and assess students’ proficiency on key nonfiction reading skills.

Here are two past issues you can use to tell stories about past presidents:

  • Lincoln’s Beard, February 2019. This issue tells the story of how one little girl, Grace Biddell, convinced Abe Lincoln to grow his famous whiskers.
  • George’s Secret Trip, February 2020. This issue tells the exciting story of George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River.?

You can find a higher-Lexile-level and a lower-Lexile-level version of the article online here:

  • Higher Lexile level: 650L
  • Lower Lexile level: 460L