Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Andrew Jackson and the Hermitage


Mark Stirbens
Methods of Social Studies (11:30-12:20)



The Hermitage and Government
Benchmark:  6.4.02 Describe the purposes and structure of governments.

Behavioral Objective:  The student will evaluate the relationship between a place’s physical, political, and cultural characteristics and the type of government that emerges in that place.

Set:  Have a cut out of a blank Andrew Jackson with six questions for students to answer and decipher the code to answer the name of President.  Reviewing whom Andrew Jackson was from previous lesson and diving deeper into the thoughts and beliefs of Andrew Jackson.

Instruct:    Now that Andrew Jackson’s personal background has been discussed we’ll be digging deeper into his beliefs and examining the contradictions that defined him as a man and President.

o   Give a quick overview of virtual tour from web site www.tnhistoryforkids.org
o   Have a discussion with students about the powers of the President and what they know.
o   Next, circle or underline those ideas that relate to our major topics of the day (for example, that the president is elected by all the people, is considered "the head" of the government, can veto legislation, is the leader of his political party). If any of the main ideas are missing from the list, add them. Consolidate responses that are similar.
o   Hand out the Video Viewing Guide 1 and show both Reinventing the Presidency, Part 1 and Reinventing the Presidency, Part 2 videos. When finished, discuss the answers to the viewing guide questions.

Pair in small groups due to number of computers
1 | Video Viewing Guide

Directions: While watching the videos, answer the following questions.
1. What were the intentions of the Founding Fathers regarding the power and role of the president? Who did they think should dominate the federal government?
2. How was the president initially selected?
3. What tactics did Jackson use to rally supporters?
4. Why did Jackson believe the president should dominate the federal government?
5. What is the "spoils system?"

1. How does Jackson use the presidential veto? How did this fit with his new vision of the presidency?
2. What did the Founding Fathers think of political parties? Why?
3. How did Jackson benefit from the Democratic Party?
4. Why, at times, does Congress fail to check the power of the president?

1. What was Jackson's economic vision for America?
2. What was Jackson specifically worried about??
3. What warning did Jackson issue in his farewell address?

1. Why did Jackson distrust corporations?
2. What did Jackson dislike about the Second Bank of the United States?
Why did Jackson veto the bill rechartering the Bank of the United States?

Independent work:
o   Students will break up from groups and will write a short paragraph on “Who was Andrew Jackson” by following the rubric below.

Points 5
Points 4
Points 3
3 key accomplishments
2 key accomplishments
1 key accomplishment
Proper grammar and spelling 1 mistake
2 mistakes for grammar and spelling
3 or more for mistakes grammar and spelling
Describe how he changed over time including his looks and beliefs.
Answering if he changed over time with a yes or no answer.
Leave out any changes of Andrew Jackson



Closure:  Share responses to class and close lesson with exit question on what you learned today.

Materials:  video guide sheet, computers, a handout of who is who at the Hermitage.

Online resources: 

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