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| President Obama delivers the State of the Union address in 2011 |
K-12 Civic Learning Opportunity: The State of the Union
The State of the Union address will be January 24, 2012 at 9:00 PM. It will be televised on major networks and news channels. The text is usually printed the next morning in the newspaper, and the video available online. GenerationNation will post the text and video on its Civic Learning Center, http://www.kidsvotingcharlotte.org/ (also accessible from the main website http://www.generationnation.org/).
[Video and text links will be posted in the Learn More section, below]
Watch how the White House prepares - a view behind the scenes
The
address is held at the US Capitol, in Washington, DC. It happens each
January, after each year of the President’s 4-year term begins on
January 20. It is an annual address presented before a joint session of
Congress and held in the House of Representatives Chamber at the U.S.
Capitol. The address reports on the nation, and allows the President to
outline his legislative agenda and national priorities to Congress and
the American public.
Who attends?
Three
branches of the federal government: Executive (President and Cabinet),
Legislative (Congress) and Judicial (Supreme Court). At least one
important official is selected to not attend. This is so that someone is
available in the event something bad happens to the many important
leaders who will be meeting in one location.
First
Lady and Special Guests: often, the President will invite guests who
have been newsworthy or who represent a topic he will address. For
example, if he plans to talk about education he may invite a teacher.
The guests sit in the balcony with the First Lady.
What is discussed?
The President may cover a variety of topics such as:
- Afterschool Programs
- Children/ Youth
- Cities
- College
- Economy
- Environment
- Global issues
- Government
- Graduation rate
- Health
- Housing
- Jobs
- Justice
- K-12 Education
- Leadership
- Military
- NASA
- Political parties
- Research
- Safety
- Taxes
- Technology
- Terrorism
- Working together
Learning opportunity
The
State of the Union is a great civic learning opportunity. Students
watch or read the State of the Union address and think critically about
the speech, its content, how it is communicated and how it is reported.
Fun, educational activities are available from GenerationNation. Teachers and parents can modify based on grade
level or subject area. For example, focus students on the community,
North Carolina, the United States or another country. Connect this to
history, literature or in a global community. Write a headline and
compare the headlines from different news sources. Evaluate the
President's communication skills.
Students
may watch the State of the Union live, watch it in class or read the
text. There are many opportunities for writing, reading, small group
discussion and oral presentation. The activity aligns with several core
standards.
Skills include:
- Persuasion
- Critical thinking
- Analysis
- Reading
- Active listeninge
- Writing
- Civic literacy
- Media literacy
- Collaboration
- Civic leadership
- Local and State Government
- Federal Government
- Effective communication
- Family dialogue
- Group discussion
- Connecting historic events, personal knowledge, current events or global life
Learn more
Download State of the Union Activities from GenerationNation http://bit.ly/GN_SOTU12 Includes predicting and evaluating the topics, connecting to
government, writing and analyzing news headlines, active listening,
communications skills and more
2012 State of the Union Address interaction, text and video http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2012
Text of 2011 State of the Union Address http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/25/remarks-president-state-union-address
Video of 2011 State of the Union Address
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/01/25/2011-state-union-address-enhanced-version
YouTube version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdEmjtF6HE
Text of Opposition Response http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/25/official-gop-state-of-the-union-response-by-rep-paul-ryan/
Video of Opposition Response http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5CcdffQ0Ic2012 State of the Union Address interaction, text and video http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2012
Text of 2011 State of the Union Address http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/25/remarks-president-state-union-address
Video of 2011 State of the Union Address
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/01/25/2011-state-union-address-enhanced-version
YouTube version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdEmjtF6HE
Text of Opposition Response http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/25/official-gop-state-of-the-union-response-by-rep-paul-ryan/
2010 State of the Union (text and video) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address
The American Presidency Project http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ History of State of the Union Address, copies of speeches, lists of guests, opposition responses and more
Factcheck.org http://www.factcheck.org/ Check out the facts from the State of the Union address and the Opposition Response
CSPAN http://www.cspan.org/ Videos and news from a variety of sources
CSPAN http://www.cspan.org/ Videos and news from a variety of sources
News media (variety of sources - access links for news headline activity on Activity page)
New York Times Learning - Students, write your response http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/whats-your-response-to-obamas-third-state-of-the-union-address/
View or download K-12 activities below or here:
New York Times Learning - Students, write your response http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/whats-your-response-to-obamas-third-state-of-the-union-address/
View or download K-12 activities below or here:
