The study of our nation’s presidents has been part of school curricula in various grade levels for many years. Naturally this topic gets more attention during election years, but creative lessons that go beyond the “presidential biography report” can be an important part of curricula at all times. Students, with an eye toward inquiry, can create exciting projects based on a study of the lives and works of United States Presidents and the historical time periods in which they served.

Events surrounding the presidency and elected officials are constantly in the news and in the public eye year-round. Balanced collections of books and other materials, such as newspaper databases and websites, can ensure that students have enough information to check authority and accuracy. Specifically, books geared to children and teens can provide young people with enough factual information and political spin to help them form their own opinions.

Biographical and contextual materials can provide important tools to locate historical debates as well as humanize the presidents’ interests and preferences outside of work. By modeling new ways of looking at these materials, we can help even the youngest students see many of the optimistic and positive aspects of politics instead of hearing only the current negativity.

In addition, materials at the appropriate developmental level, accompanied by guided instruction from a librarian, can help students understand past and present political climates in their historical contexts. Books and stories can provide students with a sense of engagement and involvement in the democratic process that is not just about casting a vote or choosing a party. Close examination of different types of presidential materials can help school librarians create a “children’s presidential library” that promotes understanding about the office of the president and his/her road toward this elected position.

Specifically, our efforts will focus not just on building a “biography section,” but also on providing a balanced set of materials exploring multiple connections to presidential biographies. Students, parents, and teachers can effectively use inquiry to see how presidents’ early lives influenced their knowledge, skills, and abilities.

AVAILABILITY OF MULTIPLE VIEWPOINTS

Students certainly have the right to learn about the system of democracy, regardless of the political views of their teachers or parents. Librarians, therefore, have a right and a responsibility to help students understand the democratic process, its benefits, and its flaws. In order to do this well, school libraries need to have resources geared to the students’ developmental and reading levels.

Books, videos, magazines, article databases, and selected websites need to be readily available at all times, not just for class projects or homework, but for browsing and individual discovery. Sources of information on political parties or candidates, including unreliable sources, can help students identify and analyze through contrast and comparison. It is advisable to look at a “good” source first and explain its features before practicing comparison and contrast with other sources.

Similarly, materials must represent various viewpoints on the potential candidates, both the winners and losers, and the roles of the president and government leaders in general. Items that discuss life during the time period, hobbies or interests of past generations, or even the states in which former presidents have lived are all useful resources. Other interesting items can include the presidents’ favorite book titles from their childhoods, and even fashion or career information.

Selecting and ordering books may require a bit of advance planning, because doing so too early or too late may result in loss of access to the best titles available, especially during election times. Having a variety of viewpoints on hand can help students understand election issues and the candidates better.

Decision-making, character education, and information literacy are all easily addressed in any lesson or unit on the presidents. Here are a few examples of possible lessons covering these concepts:

• Civics, Ethics, Political Science, or Current Events: Students might look at certain decisions that presidents have had to make in crisis situations, and then have a debate about whether or not they would have made the same decision(s).
• History and Text-to-Self Comparison: Students could discuss the classical curriculum that many of the early presidents studied in school and how it shaped them, and then compare that curriculum with their own, as well as categorize influences or commonalities, which various leaders shared.
• Information Literacy, Technology: Students can search for online resources about a president of their choice and evaluate the information they find for accuracy and authority, perhaps also offering “bad” examples of information that could not be verified or trusted. Social media excerpts may be studied also.

ENCOURAGING INQUIRY ABOUT THE PRESIDENCY

Projects about the presidents do not have to be only biographical book reports. Students can look at presidential lives and work in creative ways. For example, some presidents have authored books specifically for children and teens, which lends an interesting twist to research.

Other materials demonstrate to children that the presidents have been multi-faceted and multi-talented people, with interests and creative impulses beyond just the job and its duties. Making this type of information available also helps young people see that their current and future contributions to society are important, and they usually have an advocate in the White House.

Both children and adults sometimes have a tendency to idolize or idealize the position, believing that the office of the presidency is magical. Yet, good-quality library materials indicate that regardless of personal foibles or setbacks some incumbents have faced while in office, it is indeed real work.

It can be healthy, and even democratically sound, to help students see the presidents as human beings with great potential as well as flaws. There are a lot of opportunities to discuss the meaning of responsibility and honor, and librarians can partner in many different ways to explore these themes using creative writing projects, speech and debate events, discussions, or role playing.

Additionally, students can make curricular connections to their own lives by researching how, when, or why a candidate decided to run for president: Why (or why not) dream of being President one day? What aspects of a president’s life prepared him for this role? A career unit or a creative writing unit could also encourage students in healthy identity development. If students can imagine themselves with a successful future, and possibly see themselves as future leaders, then mapping a path to get there can draw on resources from both the past and present.

SHAPING A PRESIDENTIAL COLLECTION FOR CHILDREN

The first step in determining if your school or public library collection can support a variety of lessons about the presidency is to have an up-to-date inventory and category notes or labels for easy access. Think creatively about whether an existing item in the collection could fit into the “presidential study” category, because it is often easier to obtain funding if there is a small collection to build upon rather than starting from scratch.

Also, depending on your location, it may be beneficial to focus on a specific president. For example, if your school or public library is in a suburb of Boston, working in partnership with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to support and supplement the collection would make sense.

Once you have a clear idea of your current holdings, you can start creating a “wish list” of the resources you want to add to it. Again, be creative! Knowing that a president learned from classic novels or particular authors may influence young readers to look at items they may not have noticed initially. Armed with the titles of books and materials you wish to include in your new Children’s Presidential Library, start applying for grants or awards from Friends groups, ALA, the Freedom to Read Foundation, or local civic or nonprofit funding sources interested in promoting democratic ideals to young people.

Request funds to build on initial purchases and maintain an up-to-date collection; maintaining a collection not only includes the purchase of books about new presidents, but it also includes works written by previous presidents, about political life, or even a refreshed yearly list of primary sources in appropriate formats. Librarians who turn to the community for financial support may want to obtain assurances that they will be able to select materials without undue influence of the donors so that the integrity of the collection remains intact.

With a bit of inspiration from the Presidents themselves, unique ideas for engaging students with these materials may indeed inspire our next generation of leaders!

RESOURCE LIST: SUGGESTED CHILDREN’S PRESIDENT TITLES

Many of the children’s books listed here make for great entertainment—they’re just plain funny! Even though, some of them are not entirely factual, they still have important literary concepts such as satire and exaggeration. And aren’t we always trying to instill in students the importance of checking one’s sources for reliable facts? Even the youngest of students can generate his or her own questions about president’s motives, feelings, or experiences.

Brown, Don. Dolley Madison Saves George Washington. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2007. ISBN-10:0618411992

Brown, Don. Teedie: The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009. ISBN-10:0618179992

Carolan, Terry, and Joanna Carolan. A President from Hawai'i. Banana Patch Press, 2009. ISBN-13:0980006309

Carter, Jimmy. Always a Reckoning and Other Poems. Crown Archetype, 1994. ISBN-10:0812924347

Carter, Jimmy. An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood. Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN-10:0743211995

Carter, Jimmy. Talking Peace: A Vision for the Next Generation. Dutton's Children's Books, 1995. ISBN-10:014037440X

Carter, Jimmy. The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer. Random House, 1995. ISBN-10:0812927311

Cook, Jane Hampton. What Does the President Look Like? Kane/Miller, 2011. ISBN-10:1935279637

Cook, Michelle. Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack and the Pioneers of Change. Bloomsbury USA, 2009. ISBN-10:1599904187

Cooney, Barbara. Eleanor. Viking Juvenile, 1999. ISBN-10 0670861596

Editors of Time Magazine for Kids. TIME For Kids President Obama: A Day in the Life of America's Leader. Time for Kids, 2009. ISBN-10:1603208291

Edwards, Roberta. Barack Obama: An American Story. Grosset & Dunlap, 2007. ISBN-10:0448447991

Edwards, Roberta. Barack Obama: United States President (Updated and Expanded). Grosset & Dunlap, 2009. ISBN-10:0448452340

Falk, Laine. Meet President Barack Obama. Children's Press, 2009. ISBN-10:0531235246

Feinstein, Stephen. Barack Obama (African-American Heroes). Enslow Elementary, 2008. ISBN-10:0766028933

Grimes, Nikki. Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope. Simon & Schuster, 2008. ISBN-10:1416971440

Hogan, Margaret, and C. James Taylor, eds. My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams. Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2010. ISBN-10:0674057058

Obama, Barack. Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters. Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. ISBN-10:037583527X

Olexer, Barbara J. Presidential Education: Prelude to Power. Joyous Publishing, 2008. ISBN-10:0980051401

Pyatt, Sue. Call Me Madame President. Imagination Station Press, 2003. ISBN-10: 0974257508

Ruth, Greg. Our Enduring Spirit: President Barack Obama's First Words to America. HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN-10:0061834556

Smith, Lane. John, Paul, George, and Ben. Hyperion Books, 2006. ISBN-10:0786848936

Schanzer, Rosalyn. George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides. National Geographic Children's Books, 2007. ISBN-10:1426300425

Smith, Lane. Madam President. Hyperion Books, 2008. ISBN-10:1423108469

St. George, Judith. So You Want to Be President? Philomel, 2004. ISBN-10:0399243178

Washington, George. George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. Applewood Books, 1989. ISBN-10:155709103X.