Recently, President Barack Obama has been vilified for giving a speech to American school children. Their claims against the president are that he is attempting to indoctrinate their children into his socialist worldview. This has probably been the most asinine thing I have heard or read as of late. Regardless, of whether you agree with this political leader or not is a non-point to being just plain silly and saying this constitutes socialist indoctrination. We all indoctrinate children to a certain degree. If his indoctrination involves telling students to do EXACTLY what a great majority of our parents ever told us; work hard, stay in school, and the world can be your oyster, then I support this. I've included a video of his speech and a copy of the so-called "socialist" lesson plans that were distributed amongst students.
Here's a video of one of the crackpots.
Menu of Classroom Activities
President Obama's Address to Students Across America
(PreK‐6)
Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education
September 8, 2009
Before the Speech
- Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama. Teachers could motivate students by asking the following questions:
Who is the President of the United States?
What do you think it takes to be president?
To whom do you think the president is going to be speaking?
Why do you think he wants to speak to you?
What do you think he will say to you?
Teachers can ask students to imagine that they are delivering a speech to all of the students in the United States.
If you were the president, what would you tell students?
What can students do to help in our schools?
Teachers can chart ideas about what students would say.
Why is it important that we listen to the president and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?
During the Speech
- As the president speaks, teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful. Students could use a note‐taking graphic organizer such as a "cluster web;" or, students could record their thoughts on sticky notes. Younger children could draw pictures and write as appropriate. As students listen to the speech, they could think about the following:
What is the president trying to tell me?
What is the president asking me to do?
What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about?
Students could record important parts of the speech where the president is asking them to do something. Students might think about the following:
What specific job is he asking me to do?
Is he asking anything of anyone else?
Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people?
Students could record questions they have while he is speaking and then discuss them after the speech. Younger children may need to dictate their questions.
Menu of Classroom Activities (PreK‐6) President Obama's Address to Students Across America 2
After the Speech
- Teachers could ask students to share the ideas they recorded, exchange sticky notes, or place notes on a butcher‐paper poster in the classroom to discuss main ideas from the speech, such as citizenship, personal responsibility, and civic duty.
- Students could discuss their responses to the following questions:
What do you think the president wants us to do?
Does the speech make you want to do anything?
Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?
What would you like to tell the president?
Extension of the Speech
Teachers could extend learning by having students:
- Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants, puzzle pieces, or trails marked with the following labels: personal, academic, community, and country. Each area could be labeled with three steps for achieving goals in that area. It might make sense to focus first on personal and academic goals so that community and country goals can be more readily created.
- Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short‐term and long‐term education goals. Teachers would collect and redistribute these letters at an appropriate later date to enable students to monitor their progress.
- Write goals on colored index cards or precut designs to post around the classroom.
- Interview one another and share goals with the class to create a supportive community.
- Participate in school‐wide incentive programs or contests for those students who achieve their goals.
- Write about their goals in a variety of genres, such as poems, songs, and personal essays.
- Create artistic projects based on the themes of their goals.
- Graph individual progress toward goals.
Menu of Classroom Activities
President Obama's Address to Students Across America
(Grades 7‐12)
Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education
September 8, 2009
Before the Speech
- Conduct a "quick write" or "think/pair/share" activity with students. (In the latter activity, students spend a few minutes thinking and writing about the question. Next, each student is paired with another student to discuss. Finally, the students share their ideas with the class as a whole). Teachers may choose to ask the following questions:
- What ideas do we associate with the words "responsibility," "persistence," and "goals?"
- How would we define each term?
- Teachers then may choose to create a web diagram of student ideas for each of the words.
- Have students participate in a "quick write" or brainstorming activity. Teachers may ask students:
- What are your strengths?
- What do you think makes you successful as a student and as a person?
- Teachers may engage students in short readings. Teachers may post in large print around the classroom notable quotes excerpted from President Obama's speeches on education. Teachers might ask students to think alone, compare ideas with a partner, or share their thoughts with the class. Teachers could ask students to think about the following:
- What are our interpretations of these excerpts?
- Based on these excerpts, what can we infer that the president believes is important in order to be educationally successful?
- Create a "concept web." Teachers may ask students to think of the following:
- Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us?
- How will he challenge us?
- What might he say?
- Do you remember any other historic moments when the president spoke to the nation?
- What was the impact?
- After brainstorming answers to these questions, students could create a "cause‐and‐effect" graphic organizer.
Menu of Classroom Activities (Grades 7‐12) President Obama's Address to Students Across America
During the Speech
- Teachers might conduct a "listening with purpose" exercise based on the following ideas: personal responsibility, goals, and persistence. Teachers might ask pairs of students to create a word bank at the top of a notes page that has been divided into two columns. On the right‐hand side, students could take notes (trying to capture direct quotations or main ideas) while President Obama talks about personal responsibility, goals, or persistence. At the end of the speech, students could write the corresponding terms from the word bank in the left‐hand column, to increase retention and deepen their understanding of an important aspect of the speech.
- Teachers might conduct a "listening with purpose" exercise based on the themes of inspiration and challenges. Using a similar double‐column notes page as the one described above, teachers could focus students on quotations that either propose a specific challenge to them or that inspire them in some meaningful way. Students could do this activity individually, in pairs, or in groups.
Transition/Quick Review
- Teachers could ask students to look over their notes and collaborate in pairs or small groups. Teachers might circulate and ask students questions, such as:
- What more could we add to our notes?
- What are the most important words in the speech?
- What title would you give the speech?
- What is the thesis of the speech?
After the Speech
Guided Discussion:
- What resonated with you from President Obama's speech? What lines or phrases do you remember?
- Whom is President Obama addressing? How do you know? Describe his audience.
- We heard President Obama mention the importance of personal responsibility. In your life, who exemplifies this kind of responsibility? How? Give examples.
- How are the individuals in this classroom similar? How is each student different?
- Suppose President Obama were to give another speech about being educationally successful. To whom would he speak? Why? What would the president say?
- What are the three most important words in the speech? Rank them.
- Is President Obama inspiring you to do anything? Is he challenging you to do anything?
- What do you believe are the challenges of your generation?
- How can you be a part of addressing these challenges?
Video Project:
- Teachers could encourage students to participate in the U.S. Department of Education's "I Am What I Learn" video contest. On September 8, the Department of Education will invite students age 13 and older to submit a video no longer than two minutes in length, explaining why education is important and how education will help them achieve their dreams. Teachers are welcome to incorporate the same or a similar video project into a classroom assignment. More details will be released via www.ed.gov.
Menu of Classroom Activities (Grades 7‐12) President Obama's Address to Students Across America
Transition/Quick Review
- Teachers could introduce goal‐setting activities in the following way to make the most of extension activities:
"When you set a goal, you envision a target that you are going to reach over time. Goals are best when they are "Challenging," "Attainable," and "Needed" (CAN). For example, a good goal might be: 'I want to boost my average grade by one letter grade this year so I can show colleges that I am prepared.' But, every good goal also needs steps that guide the way. These steps keep you on track toward achieving your goal. For example, my first step might be improving in all of my subjects by one letter grade. My second step might be completing 100‐percent of my homework in all of my classes during the first week of school. My third step might be taking an extra hour to study for all of my tests during each marking period. My fourth step might be attending a tutoring session or getting an adult to help me whenever I do not understand something. My last step might be the most important: asking an adult in my life to check on me often to make sure that I am completing each of my steps. Your steps should add up to your goal. If they don't, that's okay; we fix them until they do!
Let's hear another example of an academic goal for the year and decide what steps would help to achieve that goal…
Now I want you to write your personal academic goal for this year and the steps that you will take to achieve it. We can revise our steps each marking period to make sure we are on track."
Extension of the Speech
Teachers could extend learning by having students:
- Create decorated goals and steps on material that is the size of an index card. The index cards could be formatted as an inviting graphic organizer with a space for the goal at the top and several steps in the remaining space. Cards could be hung in the classroom to create a culture of goal setting, persistence, and success, and for the purpose of periodic review. (See the "Example Handout" section.)
- Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants, puzzle pieces, or trails marked as steps. These also could be hung around the room, to be reviewed periodically and to create a classroom culture of goal setting and for the purpose of periodic review.
- Interview and share their goals with one another and the class, establishing community support for their goals.
- Create incentives or contests for achieving their personal goals.
- Write about goals and the steps to achieve them in a variety of genres such as poems, songs, or personal essays.
- Create artistic representations of goals and the steps to achieve them.
Menu of Classroom Activities (Grades 7‐12) President Obama's Address to Students Across America
Example Handout
Ok, so where is the indoctrination? I can't seemingly find it anywhere. Most of these two point bulletins seem to comprise of guides for the teachers and open ended questions for student to cultivate critical thinking. Yes, CRITICAL THINKING, a trait that seems to be evaporating in this country. We need more of this in schools. I think a philosophy, logic and reasoning, anthropology, and a history of science course should all be mandatory for every student to help instill a healthy level of skepticism and critical thinking in the future generations of Americans. I also think that all students starting from first grade on should be required to learn a foreign language and develop it to a level of fluency by high school. Languages that would be beneficial for America to be more competitive on the world stage are Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, and possibly French and Farsi.
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