{"id":295641,"date":"2010-02-08T16:26:09","date_gmt":"2010-02-08T21:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/2372"},"modified":"2010-02-08T16:26:09","modified_gmt":"2010-02-08T21:26:09","slug":"teaching-civics-with-children%e2%80%99s-literature-madam-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/295641","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Civics with Children\u2019s Literature: Madam President"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \"Madam<\/a><\/h3>\n

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\u201cA President has to lead by example, even if it means cleaning her own room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madam President<\/a> is a fun and clever book written by Lane Smith.\u00a0 It follows a girl as she explains some of the duties of the president, but through the wonderfully modern illustrations the girl takes us through what those duties mean to a young lady at school and at home.\u00a0 She vetoes tuna casserole in the lunchroom, and her goldfish is Secretary of Underwater Exploration.\u00a0 Get your singing voice ready, as she also takes the school band through her own version of “Hail to the Chief”.\u00a0 Don’t forget to turn all the pages, or you’ll miss the Secret Service cat’s last word.<\/p>\n

Curriculum Connections<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would recommend this book for grades 1-4.\u00a0 It is fun and not only teaches children about what a President’s job is, but it also subtly lets kids know that a girl can grow up to be anything she wants, including President of the United States.<\/p>\n

This book is perfect for addressing the roles and powers of the executive branch of government, Virginia Civics and Government SOL CE.7b: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how public policy is made at the local, state, and national levels of government by describing the roles and powers of the executive branch.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is a great game that kids can play on their own or in groups of two or three called If You Were President.<\/a>\u00a0 I would recommend this game for grades 3 and up.\u00a0 Balancing the budget on the third slide is a little tricky, and it asks you to explain why different aspects (Military, Health Care, Education, etc) are important to you, and it ends by creating a newspaper article about President (your name here).<\/p>\n

For the lower grades, here is a page of President Coloring Pictures.<\/a>\u00a0 They suggest it for President’s Day, but I say you can use it whenever you like.<\/p>\n

And here are slide shows of Presidents<\/a> and Presidential Pets.<\/a><\/p>\n

General Information<\/strong><\/p>\n