The White House  

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  Procedures: 

1.              Introduce information about the White House to students by having them read through “Lesson 1:  White House Welcome,” at the White House Historical Association’s Learning Center (“Students 4-8”) website (http://www.whitehousehistory.org/02_learning/02_learning_b.html):

a.       Have students work in groups of four to discuss four interesting facts they have discovered (each student should present one fact to their group).

b.      Have each student write a journal entry to answer the following question:  Why do you think the White House is an important symbol?

2.            Using the White House Scavenger Hunt worksheet, have students in groups of four visit the official White House website, and take the White House Online Tour: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/index.html looking through the rooms of the White House to locate interesting facts and the various objects listed on the worksheet.

            3.        Using the “History” section (“Timeline” and “Architecture” sections) of the White   House Historical Association’s (http://www.whitehousehistory.org/04_history/04_history.html), and the White House Online Tour (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/index.html), have students compare and contrast the White House of today with that of the White House of earlier years.  Have a class discussion about the similarities and differences that students find.

4.             Have students visit the “Tours and Exhibits” section of the White House Historical Association’s website (http://www.whitehousehistory.org/), and proceed to the “The Marine Band Exhibit" (http://www.whitehousehistory.org/03_visiting/03_visiting.html).  Have students read about the Marine Band, and listen to clips of some of their music.  Have a class discussion about the exhibit.  

To conclude this lesson, students could take a virtual tour of the White House, which shows how various rooms look today and how they appeared in the past.  Go to "Tours and Exhibits" and then to "A Tour of the White House" (http://www.whitehousehistory.org/03_visiting/03_visiting.html).

 


 
Center for Technology and Teacher Education, University of Virginia,
This module created by Tammy Bird, University of South Florida.