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Learning Activity: Placing the State of the Union in historical context

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(CNN Student News) -- Students will place tonight's State of the Union speech in a historical context.

Remind students that Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution states, "The President shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." Then, distribute to students the Extra!: History of the State of the Union, and have them review the history of and reasons for State of the Union addresses. Have students consider the value of these speeches as historical documents. Ask: Are State of the Union speeches accurate snapshots of the challenges facing the United States and its president?

Direct students to the related resource links to identify past State of the Union addresses, and have each student (or small groups of students) select one State of the Union address. Instruct students to read through their speeches, and have them examine to what extent the speeches reflect the times in which they were delivered. Use the following questions to help guide students' research:

After students have presented their findings, have them discuss and list the domestic and foreign policy issues facing the United States today. Challenge students to predict what President George W. Bush might say about social issues, the economy, national security and foreign affairs.

For homework, encourage students to watch the State of the Union address, using the following categories to chart the main themes of President Bush's speech:

Have students compare the challenges and recommendations presented by President Bush in tonight's speech with those presented by previous presidents in their State of the Union addresses. Have students consider how the state of the union in 2006 compares with the states of the union in the years that they have examined.

Correlated Standards

The Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/) are published by the National Council for Social Studies (http://ncss.org/).

II. Time, Continuity and Change: Students will learn about the ways human beings view themselves in and over time.

VI. Power, Authority and Governance: Students will understand the historical development of structures of power, authority and governance and their evolving functions in contemporary U.S. society as well as other parts of the world.

X. Civic Ideals and Practices: Students will examine the ideals, principles and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic.

McREL: Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education (Copyright 2000 McREL) is published online by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) (http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks), 2550 S. Parker Road, Suite 500, Aurora, CO 80014.

Civics Standard and Benchmarks: What is Government and What Should it Do?

Standard 1: Understands ideas about civic life, politics, and government

Keywords

State of the Union

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