US Presidents Curriculum

Did you know that the first president of the United States took office in 1789? Yes, the US is a young nation, but its democracy has become a model for all people-centred governments in the world. Since Washington’s presidency, the role and responsibilities of American presidents evolved as necessitated by time. Check this US President’s curriculum for tips on how to teach the highest government official in the US meaningfully.

See the fact file below for more information on putting together a US Presidents Curriculum, or you can download our 17-page US Presidents Curriculum pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Short video explainer

• Before we start, watch a short video explainer about a president’s job found in the PDF download.

What to consider

• Presidents are people – Like us, US presidents are real people who have different characteristics, challenges, and individuality. They are not perfect individuals who need to be presented in a mythical, almost deified, or romanticized way. 
• Contextualization – As educators, we are expected to present everything in its proper place in time. The historical context always has its way of justifying events that happened and why people today are sometimes out of line with opinions.
• Oversimplification – Having content-driven activities does not mean less fun and more seriousness or too fun activities and less learning. Remember that content-driven yet fun activities are more meaningful than oversimplification in attempts to make any discussion fun to the point of losing the president’s sense of leadership. 
• If you’re concerned about upsetting your students with dark aspects of history during a time of what is supposed to be informative and interactive learning. We have a useful blog that will help you navigate teaching and an impartial recount of the facts. This might come particularly in handy when discussing the presidencies of George W. Bush and the 9/11 disaster; Roosevelt and Truman during WW2; Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson, and Eisenhower during the War in Vietnam, etc.

How to deliver

• Everything and everyone has a history. Fortunately, some have explanations, while a few are still mysteries. Both knowledge and intrigues get us to hook in taking a walk in the past as we hopefully see the light in things we deemed gray before. 
• Before we dwell on the greatness and shortcomings of every American president, let us first introduce in our class a framework of themes in teaching American history. See the simple diagram found in the PDF download highlighting “Politics & Power” as our central theme for this curriculum pack. 
• In this introductory discussion, emphasize the part of political beliefs, groups, and institutions that make America today. The changes in the political system, its processes, and how the people of America are influenced and became influential since its inception. It is significant to have a structure in associating these themes whenever we teach and learn American history to refrain from mainstreaming and over dwelling.  
• There are different strategies to open a session about American presidents for elementary to high school learners. For young learners, celebrating President’s Day every third Monday of February is perfect timing for the topic. We can start with their experiences on the previous year’s President’s Day. A picture or story sharing would be a great motivation or check-in activity to know their meaning of the event.
• For high school learners, we can start with an inferencing activity using a picture or statement. In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s character, speak “The only fear we have to fear is fear itself”, or flashes on the screen, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” ― Barack Obama, and ask for their thoughts. If we are lucky, our learners may answer the historical context of the statements. If they apply its essence about courage and a sense of responsibility, we are fortunate too. Nothing can go wrong with this check-in activity, as everyone has a point of view. 
• An alternative to statements is images. They say that picture speaks a thousand words; let’s prove it right! See the images in the PDF download.
• From our learners’ schema, continue the discussion on the brief history of the United States government. Yes, we are not moving yet to the adventures of Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt or the stories of assassinations. But do not worry! For this curriculum, we will only focus on the executive department, literally anything related to the president (just the basics 🙂 )

At this time, our learners are most likely knowledgeable of America as a British colony, including the origins of the revolution, the speeches of Patrick Henry, the Declaration of Independence while the war was ongoing, how George III refused but later agreed to the breakaway, the Articles of Confederation and the blueprint of the Constitution, and finally the actual separation from Britain giving birth to the United States of America. 

• Using more recent photographs, introduce the branches of the US government. Hitting two birds with one stone is strategic, especially when dealing with such a broad topic. So, use photographs that have more meaning than just their structure. See samples in the PDF download.
• In discussing the executive branch of the US government, let’s have a role play of aspiring presidents and engage them in campaigns. This activity could be a grade-level or school-wide engagement in which our students, in campaign teams, will present their supposed platforms similar to a student body candidate to their constituents. 
• Student-organized activities informing the school community of the basic qualifications and expected roles of a president could also be conducted. A survey using sample ballots could be used to know the most popular US presidents in school. Supposed voters (higher grade level students) could write the names of their top 3 presidents of all time. Afterwards, let the class make a tally of the votes. The result of the mock election will surely tap their curious minds.
• Sample follow up questions may include:
  • Why do you think Abraham Lincoln is so famous?
  • What could be the reasons for Richard Nixon’s unpopularity?
  • Why do you think JFK is more popular than FDR?
  • Why did Chester Arthur have no single vote?
  • How popular is Barack Obama?
  • Who is more popular among the Bushes?
• Like most history topics, we can teach the American Presidents in chronology. However, as of 2022, the US has had 46 presidents. Thus it comes along with a long list of terms of office, and memorizing these dates have never been fun for most students. One interactive strategy is to gamify learning like a treasure hunt or amazing race-themed activities. In groups of 3 to 4 students, place flashcards or clues strategically within the school. The first group to successfully reach the final clue and answer it correctly will be the group manager of the week, and of course, let’s provide positive reinforcement like bonus points. Other mind-motivating activities include quiz bee, president themed top trump cards, bingo card, and family feud. See samples in the PDF download.
• Other collaborative/teamwork activities include puppetry and reenactments of significant events during a president’s term, such as;
  • The Era of Good Feelings and the Monroe Doctrine
  • The Era of Common Man and the Jacksonian Democracy
  • The Great Depression and FDR’s New Deal

• An issue-based strategy in teaching US Presidents is also advisable, especially if our learners know of some of the most significant events in American history. We can present the discussion in a timeline or a concept map. A timeline is a perfect tool to show the chronology of events, while a concept map is more helpful for connecting ideas. Below are some pivotal issues associated with a particular president.
  • George Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion
  • Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase
  • James Polk, Manifest Destiny, and the war with Mexico
  • Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and slavery
  • Andrew Johnson and the failures of the Reconstruction Era
  • Theodore Roosevelt and “trust-busting”
  • Woodrow Wilson, WWI, and the pressure for women’s rights
  • Wilson to Roosevelt: the Prohibition Era and American values
  • Harry Truman and the question of morals in the bombings of Japan
  • Richard Nixon, Vietnamization, and the Watergate Scandal
  • Ronald Reagan and the PATCO strike
  • Bill Clinton, Lewinsky, and impeachment
  • George W. Bush, the 9/11 attack, and terrorism
• Devising a timeline or any teaching materials involving chronology and concepts without in-depth analysis is near to ineffective memorization. It is crucial for us teachers to emphasize the ideologies of the majority at the time and how they impacted the election of particular presidents. The values of American society towards events such as the proliferation of organized crime and temperance societies during the Prohibition Era, and women stepping into “men’s jobs” in WWI which pressured Wilson to hear the call for suffrage, and how such events or political responses affected a president’s popularity, are great points to synthesize. 
• They may also act like Sherlock Holmes and unearth the details and conspiracy theories behind assassination attempts and scandals. In this activity, use their excitement to identify fact from fiction, especially what is available today, including film adaptations, docu-series, and Youtube videos. They may work on several plots, including the deaths of incumbent presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy. Teddy Roosevelt and Reagan were injured in attempted assassinations, while others, including Jackson, Taft, Hoover, FDR, Truman, Nixon, Ford, Carter, the Bushes, Clinton, Obama, and Trump, were targeted too. Some associated the deaths of Taylor and Harding with murders. Take note of developing and highlighting their analytical skills in identifying and comprehending facts from fiction. I bet Abe Lincoln is not a vampire hunter! 
• High school students may engage in more complex activities such as historical analysis and perspective of primary and secondary sources, including presidential proclamations, orders, and speeches. For this activity, let’s serve as facilitators of learning instead of lecturers. Ahead of time, our students may engage in a small group discussion regarding the source (e.g. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation or George W. Bush’s statement following the 9/11 attacks). In the large group discussion, we can toss questions to stimulate what they learned from the small group discussion. Questions may include knowledge of evaluation-based inquiries.  In the PDF download is a classroom structure showing small and large group discussions. 
• Another point of interest that teachers can cover is the gender play in American politics, particularly the ladder women today attempt to climb. Amidst diversity in American society, it is noticeable that its politics were dominated by white men, though with a great leap from when the Founding Fathers decided the structure of the new nation. Ironically for the model of modern democracy, the US had not elected a single female president. From Victoria Woodhull (1872) to Hillary Clinton (2008), a woman had not claimed the presidency. Today, Vice President Kamala Harris holds the highest political position a woman achieved in US history. 
• One of the material reminders of presidential legacies is the monuments and museums worth visiting. We can tour significant places from the White House up to Mount Rushmore on an educational trip! Moreover, there are several memorials built in their honor. If you’re in Houston, which is about 1,408 miles away from Washington, D.C., you can virtually get there through Google Earth or this nps.gov compilation. Diorama or gallery walk-making is a perfect project to accommodate creativity and measure student learning.  
• A self-reflection on the idea of citizenship or community caring is an excellent check-out activity. After learning all characteristics, contributions, and issues of American presidents, our learners can devise a leadership chart consisting of the qualities they are looking for in a president, which could be their personal guide when they become eligible to vote. See a sample in the PDF download.

Learning outcomes

• At the end of the lesson, students should be able to imbibe the significance of leadership and its crucial role in a nation’s history. American presidents are as human and as unique as we are. Given the accessible historical evidence, our learners should be wise in determining misinformations since the subject is most of the time romanticized. 
• Learning the history of past US presidents serves as a tool in explaining and understanding America today. Pivotal events driven and addressed by politics and power shaped American society as we know it now. 
• As citizens, we must be politically aware of and responsible for our chosen leaders. Not being blinded by half-truths is a step forward to active citizenship. Part of this responsibility is the development of our learners’ critical thinking skills in choosing their president in the future and not being driven by the dominant political ideology within the family or community or being swept up by misinformation and disinformation campaigns. 

US Presidents Worksheets

This is a fantastic curriculum bundle that includes everything you need to know about US Presidents across 17 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about US Presidents, the highest government leader in the United States since 1789.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

• Teaching US Presidents
  1. Short video explainer
  2. What to consider
  3. How to deliver
  4. Learning outcomes
• Lesson Plan Template
• Suggested Worksheets

Frequently Asked Questions

Have there been 45 or 46 presidents?

Since 1789 there have been 46 presidencies. The current or 46th (2022) president is Joe Biden, but there are only 45 individuals who served as president. Grover Cleveland became the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. He was the only one elected to two non-consecutive terms.

Who is the number 1 best president?

According to surveys, Abraham Lincoln takes first place as the best president. Followed by George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Who are the five most recent presidents?

The five living former presidents are Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

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