[Rocketfan]

Obama to speak to "students across america"


President Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009
PreK-6 Menu of Classroom Activities: President Obama’s Address to Students Across America
Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education
September 8, 2009

Before the Speech:
• Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama and motivate students by asking the following questions:
Who is the President of the United States?
What do you think it takes to be President?
To whom do you think the President is going to be speaking?
Why do you think he wants to speak to you?
What do you think he will say to you?
• Teachers can ask students to imagine being the President delivering a speech to all of the students in the United States. What would you tell students? What can students do to help in our schools? Teachers can chart ideas about what they would say.
• Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?
During the Speech:
• As the President speaks, teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful. Students could use a note-taking graphic organizer such as a Cluster Web, or students could record their thoughts on sticky notes. Younger children can draw pictures and write as appropriate. As students listen to the speech, they could think about the following:
What is the President trying to tell me?
What is the President asking me to do?
What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?
• Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something. Students might think about: What specific job is he asking me to do? Is he asking anything of anyone else? Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people?


http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10582301/Pr ... ber-8-2009

[ALUmnus]

And this is one of the reasons why I have my school-aged daughter in a private school. It's not easy, but this is what makes it worth it.

[LUconn]

You're wasting a good opportunity to coach your daughter into throwing sass at the teacher.

[phoenix]

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (ESV)
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

That's what I'm teaching my daughter on September 8. She already knows we disagree with the President (she came home from school one day and asked if we could get rid of him, bless her heart). Teaching her to not like him doesn't seem like the best idea. Teaching her to disrespect him is out, too. So when she gets home from school, we'll talk about how to pray for people we disagree with.

[01LUGrad]

Just to point out- I teach at a public school and I WILL NOT be showing this in class.

[Rocketfan]

Just to point out- I teach at a public school and I WILL NOT be showing this in class.

Wait its a choice? I thought it was mandatory?

[Sly Fox]

Yet another reason why homeschooling is proving to be a tough but good decision for us.

[LUconn]

I don't get why everybody's freaking out about this. He's probably gonna just tell everybody to work hard and stay in school. It's not like a rotating swirly thing is gonna appear on screen and hypnotize children to agree with socialized medicine.

[TDDance234]

I don't get why everybody's freaking out about this. He's probably gonna just tell everybody to work hard and stay in school. It's not like a rotating swirly thing is gonna appear on screen and hypnotize children to agree with socialized medicine.

It's not the fact that he's doing it--it's certainly the presidents right to address children...it's that he's doing so, unchallenged, and this should not occur during school hours or without the children's parents.

[Sly Fox]

It smells of Hitler Youth political indoctrination.

[RubberMallet]

you guys are hilarious...

[LUconn]

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/13/us/bu ... drugs.html

President Bush pleaded with young people around the nation today to stop using drugs and ''not to look the other way'' when others do.

In a 15-minute nationally televised plea from the White House library, the President presented the latest round of an anti-drug campaign that began a week ago with another nationally broadcast message announcing a $7.9 billion package.

But less than a mile from the White House, a 7-year-old boy who heard the President shook his head and suggested that the President's argument was too simple.

Selton Shaw, who watched the President's speech with his classmates at Stevens Elementary School, said many youngsters in his own neighborhood, many as young as 7, were drug users.

Published: Wednesday, September 13, 1989

[adam42381]

People will make an issue out of anything. You act like this is unprecedented. Why is this a big deal?

[ALUmnus]

People will make an issue out of anything. You act like this is unprecedented. Why is this a big deal?

Yeah, and most people who sit on their hands get upset about people who don't. People see a trend continuing to build here, that's why it's been made an issue.

[LUconn]

a trend of what? Do we even know what he's going to talk about?

[flamesfan30]

from Ergun Caner's twitter:

PARENTS: If UR school is forcing UR child to watch the Prez on Tues, U have the MORAL RIGHT to keep them home. U raise kids not gov't.

[Rocketfan]

They did try to slip this one in until all heck broke loose.....

Christina Erland Culver, former deputy assistant secretary for education, said presidents have traditionally addressed classrooms on the first day of school, but the problem with the event was the accompanying materials from the Department of Education.

"That's where they kind of got into a slippery spot. Federal statute denies any authority to the Department of Education to provide any kind of curriculum or anything that can be passed down to the state, and that's part of the statute forming the Department of Education. So they kinda got themselves into this mess because they didn't really understand some of the key legal roles or the dos and don'ts at the federal Department of Ed," she said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/200 ... elp-obama/

[Liberty4Life]

I don't get why everybody's freaking out about this. He's probably gonna just tell everybody to work hard and stay in school. It's not like a rotating swirly thing is gonna appear on screen and hypnotize children to agree with socialized medicine.

It's not the fact that he's doing it--it's certainly the presidents right to address children...it's that he's doing so, unchallenged, and this should not occur during school hours or without the children's parents.

It's not even that. I don't have a problem with the President addressing students. I think he should, actually. I have a problem with the associated work that he's asking the students / teachers to do, which included a since-withdrawn call for students to 'help' Obama, and essays on what 'The President wants us to do'.

I only wish there could be an assignment such as 'what are the Constitutional limits to federal power'? And 'What did Thomas Paine mean when he said, 'governments at its best is a necessary evil, but at its worst, an intolerable one'?

[RubberMallet]

I applaud the essays and welcome then. these kid's ideas are probably 100x more plausible and intelligent than zero the idiot and his administrations…

[dompennix]

Well I guess I will throw in a students perspective. Most students care nothing about the speech, they just want a free period to talk and do other work in school. I know thats what my class will be doing during the speech if we get to watch it. Last year they made us watch one of his speechs and no one paid attention, we just want to get away from any school work.

[PAmedic]

Just to point out- I teach at a public school and I WILL NOT be showing this in class.

Wait its a choice? I thought it was mandatory?

we got an email from the school district today advising us of the event and how to opt out if you don't want your kids involved-

Other activities will be arranged for students or parents who prefer to opt out of this broadcast.

[thepostman]

hasn't this been done before? I mean maybe not to this extent, but I seem to remember watching many presidential speeches while in school. I guess its different since its directed towards them, but if you really have a problem with it then don't send your kids to school...or better yet use it as a teaching tool like I saw one other poster is going to do.

Then again Obama is Hitler the 2nd...so you better watch out!!!

[LUconn]

Could this get Dem momentum back? Conservatives have really been beating them back lately with all of the health care outrage and they haven't been able to win anything lately. All of the sudden we get a HOF overreaction in a situation where Obama controls the final outcome, republicans will look like morons. I mean, conservatives have been going crazy throwing terms out like "indoctrination" etc. scaring parents and then September 8th comes around and Obama gives a tame speech about staying in school. I think that would be a huge blow. All of your fence sitters are now thinking, boy that was a ridiculous situation. If they're that wrong about this, what else are they overreacting about? That's my theory. It may not have been planned from the beginning this way, but I definitely think at this point conservatives are getting played like a fiddle.

[BJWilliams]

You have to think that Obama's staff and handlers and PR people are really working overtime for this speech because they know that Democrats in general and Obama in particular have been getting hammered as youve said LUconn, but I dont think this necessarily will be a lethal blow to conservatives.

[Rocketfan]

Could this get Dem momentum back? Conservatives have really been beating them back lately with all of the health care outrage and they haven't been able to win anything lately. All of the sudden we get a HOF overreaction in a situation where Obama controls the final outcome, republicans will look like morons. I mean, conservatives have been going crazy throwing terms out like "indoctrination" etc. scaring parents and then September 8th comes around and Obama gives a tame speech about staying in school. I think that would be a huge blow. All of your fence sitters are now thinking, boy that was a ridiculous situation. If they're that wrong about this, what else are they overreacting about? That's my theory. It may not have been planned from the beginning this way, but I definitely think at this point conservatives are getting played like a fiddle.

If thats the case why is Obamas team changing a bunch of the language from the original press release? I mean if they feel they didn't do anything wrong ( but are now making all the assignments optional, and removing all the help the president crap) why backtrack so fast? It may end up being a tame speech but he gave america little notice and poorly worded releases......in fact in reminds me of his health care plan too....