Standards-Aligned Activities @ ProQuest

Our January activities address the following Georgia Standards:

• ELA10W3 -- The student uses research and technology to support writing.
• SS5CG4 -- The student will explain the meaning of "e pluribus unum" and the reason it is the motto of the United States.
• SS5CG3 -- The student will explain how amendments to the U.S. Constitution have maintained a representative democracy.
• SSCG8 -- The student will demonstrate knowledge of local, state, and national elections.
• SSUSH25 -- The student will describe changes in national politics since 1968.

SIRS Knowledge Source & SIRS Researcher
Martin Luther King Day & Inauguration Day

Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday is a national holiday that will be celebrated on January 19th. The following day, President-Elect Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the first African American President in history. Perhaps the words of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech that he delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963 will be dramatically and symbolically realized at this historic inauguration.

Here are some excerpts from what most historians declare as one of the greatest speeches in American history:

• "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
• "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
• "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."
• "Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring--when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children--black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics--will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

What will be the major issues that the Obama administration focuses on in the first year? How will any new policies adopted reflect a more progressive attitude toward minorities than in the past?

Teachers should assign or have students select one of the issues from the list below. After selecting the issue, students should take the Pro or Con position that they think the Obama administration will support.

Students should be assigned a written report of at least 150 words or a PowerPoint presentation of at least two minutes and seven slides that cites at least three resources. Students should use the Leading Issues template models for (a) mini-research report, or (b) the PowerPoint presentation.

Pathfinder for report templates:
Click More Issues in the Pro vs. Con box > Scroll down to the bottom right for links to download student guides

Here is the list of possible issues from which to make a selection:

• Abortion
• Alternative Energy Sources
• Church and State
• Economic Policy, U.S.
• Health Care Reform
• Immigration
• Stem Cells
• Taxation
• Unemployment

Students will use My Analysis to defend the Obama position. (It may also be their position). This unique five-step research and reporting process is integrated within each of these issues. This process guides the student to organize, analyze, synthesize, and report their reasoned opinion on the issue selected.

Each issue supports your school's goal of developing student critical-thinking skills through activities that integrate 21st Century Skills, state standards, and relevant real-world academic content into engaging learning activities.

SIRS Discoverer Activity
Enduring Issues Facing President Obama

Students should choose one topic/issue from among the following that will generally be in the news during the first year of the Obama administration:

• 2009 Recession
• Alternative Energy
• Government and Religion
• Tax Cuts
• Bailouts for Wall Street
• Health Care Reform
• Illegal Immigration
• Education Reform

Students should prepare a two-minute oral report (or PowerPoint) that cites information from at least two resources. Teachers may also want to consider a written report of at least 100 words. Oral reports are an opportunity for students to practice presentation skills and to share their new knowledge and ideas with each other.

Each report should address the following essential questions for critical thinking:

• Why did you select this issue?
• What do you think President Obama will do about this issue and why?
• What would you do about this issue if you were President and why?

Pathfinder for resources on this assignment:
Select the Subject Headings search option > Type Campaign Issues in the Search box

Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

SIRS Interactive Citizenship
Presidential Campaign Issues

Teachers should assign students to choose a current issue related to the recent presidential campaigns of each party. Learners can choose from the following list:

• Ethics
• Environment
• Health Care
• Education
• Business
• National Defense
• Foreign Policy

Pathfinder for these topics:
Part II--Problems of Government > Click a selected topic

As students select a topic/issue, they can access articles on that issue from the additional pathfinder links included with the article.

Students should create PowerPoint report of at least two minutes or written report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources. The report should address these essential questions for critical thinking:

• Why is this issue most important to you and why?
• What is the Republican view on this issue?
• What is President Obama's and the Democratic view on this issue?
• What is your view on this issue and why?

As suggested earlier, consider using our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

SIRS Decades Activity
The Clinton Presidency

SIRS Decades Activity: President Obama's election may have been due, in part, to the failed policies of the current President, George W. Bush, and his administration.

Students can learn about how similar political forces led to the election of the last Democratic President of the United States, Bill Clinton in 1992. Clinton's successful campaign was spearheaded by pointing to the failed policies of the previous President George H. W. Bush, the father of the current President.

Student should address the following essential questions for critical thinking in a written report of at least 150 words or a PowerPoint oral report of at least two minutes. Students should cite at least three resources.

Use this pathfinder:
Click the Decades icon 1990s: Diversity in America

• What are three of the issues during this era that are similar to today's issues?
• How did President Clinton address these issues and was he successful?
• What would you recommend that President Obama do to address these issues and why?

Again, consider using our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.