Objectives  Identify the personal attributes, characteristics, and skills needed to

Teaching Guide
be President of the United States; living and working together in communities; identify
adjectives and their uses I Can Be President, Too!
Materials  notepads, blank paper, pencils, crayons or colored pencils

30 minutes, Days 1–3

Build Background
Activate Prior Knowledge  Tell children: Today, we are going to talk
about what it takes to be president. Our country has a president. Who is he/she? What
does he/she do? What skills do you think are important to be president? How should
a president behave? Can anyone be president? Encourage children to write down
their answers and discuss them as a class.

Introduce the Focus Skill: Adjectives  Explain that adjectives are

words that describe a person, place, or thing. For example: Roses are red.
Strawberries taste sweet. Cats feel furry. Ask children to write simple sentences
similiar to the ones mentioned above using adjectives. Ask children to
progressively add adjectives to their original sentences, i.e.: I love tomatoes. I
love red tomatoes. I love red, juicy tomatoes.

Acquire New Vocabulary  Introduce the 8 key adjectives in the book: respectful, determined, honest, organized,
friendly, generous, responsible, and fair. Read each word aloud and use it in a sentence, emphasizing each syllable in the
key word. For example, say: Jessica Woo is respectful. Hank Wellin is determined. Then propose a scenario to the class: Timmy
never interrupts the class. He always raises his hand when he wants to ask a question. What word would you use to describe Timmy, respectful or friendly?
(respectful). Repeat with other adjectives. Review proper pronunciation and spelling as a class.

Read and Respond  Display the book. Read the title and author name aloud as you track the print. After reading the book with
the class, have them look at the pictures without looking at the print below. Tell children to make inferences about what is happening in
the pictures. For example, turn to p. 11 and ask: What is going on in this picture? Who do you think the lady in the middle is? What is the boy doing?
What color is the girl’s shirt? Encourage children to use as many adjectives as possible to describe what they see.

60 minutes, Days 4–5

˛SOCIAL
Curricular Enrichment: Social Studies  Review the characteristics in the book that describe an ideal president
and why they are important. Then explain to children that presidents must be good leaders and that they often develop
STUDIES
programs to help communities. Divide the class into four teams. Explain to children that they will work together in teams on
a community project. Write a list of problems that exist in the local community on the board and ask each team to come up
with their own solutions to the problems. Examples of problems in the community may include: wasting electricity and/or
water, not recycling, pollution, traffic, helping local charities, etc. You may want to provide access to a computer for children
to conduct additional research on their community and humanitarian projects. Then distribute notepads, blank paper, pencils,
and crayons or colored pencils. Ask the children to write or draw possible solutions to the problems written on the board. For
example, a possible solution to wasting water could be: I always turn off the water when I brush my teeth. Students may propose
helping local charities by starting a food or clothing drive and donating canned goods, clothing, toys, and other miscellaneous
items. Children who have difficulty writing a full paragraph, can draw a picture of themselves helping out their community
and label it with a phrase. Discuss childrens’ ideas as a class and have them share their drawings with their classmates.

Home Connection  (Teacher, you may want to photocopy NATIONAL STANDARDS

this activity for children to complete with a family member.)
Ask your child to tell you why he/she would make a good
president. Ask about the community project he/she came up
with and why it shows that he/she would be a good president.
Encourage your child to use adjectives in his/her explanation.
For example: What skills do you need to be a good president? Why
would you make a good president? (I would make a good president because
I am helpful. I came up with an idea to help my community save money on
Language Arts: K-12.1—K-12.9, K-12.11, K-12.12
Mathematics: Numbers PK-2.1—PK-2.3; Algebra PK-2.1, PK-2.3, PK-2.4; Geometry PK-2.1—
PK-2.4; Measurement PK-2.1, PK-2.2; Data & Analysis PK-2.1—PK-2.3; Problem Solving
PK-12.1—PK-12.4; Reasoning and Proofing PK-12.1—12.4; Communication PK-12.1—PK-12.4;
Connections PK-12.1—PK-12.3; Representations PK-12.1—PK-12.3
Science: K-4.1—K-4.7
Social Studies: Civics: K-4.1—K-4.5; Economics: K-4.1—K-4.11, K-4.13—K.4.16, K.4.19;
Geography: K-12.1—K-12.6; U.S. History: K-4.1—K-4.4
Health: K-4.1—K-4.7
Physical Education: K-12.3—K-12.7
Visual Arts: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.3, K-4.5, K-4.6
Technology: K-12.1—K-12.6

paper. If we use both sides of the paper, it’ll last longer.)

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