9/3/2009 10:55:00 PM Local schools shy away from Obama's speech
Charles Dharapak/ The Associated Press President Obama's plan to talk to students from kindergarten through 12th grade has received mixed reactions from local and state education officials.
President Barack Obama will speak to American schoolchildren next Tuesday during a nationwide broadcast at 12 p.m. EST (9 a.m. local time).
During the 15-20 minute speech, Obama will talk about persisting and succeeding in school. The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and to take responsibility for their learning.
Obama's plan to talk to students from kindergarten through 12th grade has received mixed reactions from local and state education officials.
PUSD Superintendent Kevin Kapp said, "The President's speech next week is a perfect example of a good idea gone crazy."
The White House provided schools with supporting materials and lesson plans. Officials are objecting to the lesson plans.
"This simple speech, which I thought was a wonderful idea until I read the supporting material and lesson plans moved from a good and simple idea to an overly political event. I am offended that the White House would send out 'lesson plans' for a speech by our President," Kapp said.
Kapp said he does not think PUSD should televise the speech or broadcast it via computers.
Mariela Bean, HUSD public relations director, issued the following press release: "Humboldt Unified School District has the policy of avoiding the injection of anything that might be considered as political into the continuum of our standards-based curriculum. We want to avoid at all costs the appearance of outside forces politicizing our classrooms. Therefore, Humboldt will not promote the airing of the broadcast as a building-wide activity. No doubt, Mr. Obama's address will be broadcast many times in our national and local media. Anyone wishing to listen to it may do so on his/her own time."
Kapp said if the speech had remained simply a "short speech to the students of America I would have allowed it with parent discretion to choose that their child not attend the event but participate in an alternative event such as going to the library."
Chino Valley School Superintendent Duane Noggle said he received no communication from the Arizona Department of Education or the U.S. Department of Education about the president's speech or how to access it.
"It will just be a normal day for us," Noggle said.
Noggle said it would be appropriate for the high school students to have a "free and open debate about the speech." However, he said the debate should take place after the students have watched the speech at home if their parents want them to watch it.
"This is a political event, and it would be appropriate for discussion in a government class," Noggle said.
The CVUSD superintendent said, "If anyone is going to be part of the education process, they have to go through the appropriate channels, even the President of the United States. Our policy is that all speakers must be approved."
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne criticized what he called the "worshipful tone expected of school children listening to Obama's speech."
Horne said it is obvious that "the materials were written by someone who obviously worships him. That is not the way to teach critical thinking."
Horne said the lesson plans call for the students to have "notable quotes excerpted (and posted in large print on the board)," and for students to discuss "How (Obama) will inspire us," among other things.
"There is nothing is these White House materials about approaching the speech critically, or engaging in any critical thinking whatsoever, but only adopting a reverent approach to everything they are being told," Horne said.
The Arizona School Board Association issued the following statement:
"We believe the content of the address, as expressed by the U.S. Department of Education, supports the mission of public schools," said Tracy Benson, media relations and communications specialist.
The ASBA is encouraging its member school districts to participate in this "non-partisan, non-political educational event. We also believe that the choice to participate must be a local one. It also must be noted that parents have rights, outlined in district policy, to allow their children to opt out of any curricular activity."
PUSD teacher Terri Dundas disagrees with Kapp and Horne.
In an e-mail Dundas wrote, "President Obama is addressing schoolchildren-SCHOOLCHILDREN! As no other president has done before. The idea that 'students adopt a worshipful tone' smacks of racism and partisan politics of the worst kind. I am extremely disappointed in the response of both our state superintendent and district superintendent. At the very least, you should leave the decision up to the teachers."
The U.S. Department of Education suggested activities related to President Obama's Sept. 8 speech to American students
In preparation for President Barack Obama's Sept. 8 speech to American's students, the U.S. Department of Education provided school districts with a menu for classroom activities.
The menu of activities includes suggestions for activities before, during and after the president's speech. These suggestions have raised concerns among state and local school officials.
PreK-6 Menu of Classroom
Activities:
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?
• Students can record any questions they have while he is speaking and then discuss them after the speech. Younger children may need to dictate their questions.
After the Speech:
• Teachers could ask students to share the ideas they recorded, exchange sticky notes or stick notes on a butcher paper poster in the classroom to discuss main ideas from the speech, i.e. citizenship, personal responsibility, civic duty.
• Students could discuss their responses to the following questions:
What do you think the President wants us to do? Does the speech make you want to do anything? Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us? What would you like to tell the President?
Extension of the Speech: Teachers can extend learning by having students
• Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants or puzzle pieces or trails marked with the labels: personal, academic, community, country. Each area could be labeled with three steps for achieving goals in those areas. It might make sense to focus on personal and academic so community and country goals come more readily.
• Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.
• Write goals on colored index cards or precut designs to post around the classroom.
• Interview and share about their goals with one another to create a supportive community.
• Participate in school-wide incentive programs or contests for students who achieve their goals.
• Write about their goals in a variety of genres, i.e. poems, songs, personal essays.
• Create artistic projects based on the themes of their goals.
• Graph student progress toward goals.
Grades 7-12 Menu of Classroom Activities:
Before the Speech:
• Quick Write or Think/Pair/Share (Students spend a few minutes Thinking and writing about the question; Paired with another student to discuss, then Sharing their ideas with the class as a whole). What do we associate with the words responsibility, persistence, and goals? How would we define each term? A teacher might create a web of student ideas for each of the words.
• Quick Write or Brainstorm: What are your strengths? At what are you successful as a person/student? What makes you successful at these efforts? List at least three things you are successful at and why you feel successful with these tasks.
• Short readings. Notable quotes excerpted (and posted in large print on board) from President Obama's speeches about education. Teacher might ask students to think alone, compare ideas with a partner, and share their collaborations with the class (Think/Pair/Share) about the following:
What are our interpretations of these excerpts? Based on these excerpts, what can we infer the President believes is important to be successful educationally?
• Brainstorm or Concept Web: Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us? How will he challenge us? What might he say?
• Brainstorm or Concept Web: What other historic moments do you remember when the President spoke to the nation? What was the impact? Students could create a Cause/Effect graphic organizer.
During the Speech:
• Listening with a purpose: personal responsibility, goals, persistence. Teachers might ask pairs of students to create a word bank from the web of any one of the terms (personal responsibility, goals, or persistence) at the top of a double-column style notes page. On the right-hand side, students could take notes while President Obama talks about personal responsibility, or goals, or persistence, trying to capture direct quotations. At the end of the speech, students could then write the corresponding terms from the word bank in the left hand column, to increase retention and deepen their understanding of an important aspect of the speech.
• Listening with a purpose: Inspiration and Challenges. Using a similar double-column style notes page as the one above, the teacher could focus students on quotations that either propose a specific challenge to them or inspire them in some meaningful way. Students could do this individually, in pairs or groups.
• Transition/Quick Review: Teachers could ask students to look over the notes and collaborate in pairs or small groups. What more could we add to our notes? Teachers might circulate and ask students questions such as: What are the most important words in the speech? What title would you give it? What's the thesis?
After the Speech:
Guided Discussion:
• What resonated with you from President Obama's speech? What lines/phrases do you remember?
• Who is President Obama addressing? How do you know? Describe his audience.
•We heard President Obama mention the importance of personal responsibility. In your life, who exemplifies this kind of personal responsibility? How? Give examples.
• How are we as individuals and as a class similar? Different?
• Suppose President Obama were to give another speech about being educationally successful. Who could he speak to next? Who should be his next audience? Why? What would he say?
• What are the three most important words in the speech? Rank them. What title would you give this speech? What's the thesis?
• What is President Obama inspiring you to do? What is he challenging you to do?
• What do you believe are the challenges of your generation?
• How can you be a part of addressing these challenges?
Extension of the Speech: Teachers can extend learning by having students
• Create decorated goals and steps on index card sized material. The index cards could be formatted as an inviting graphic organizer with a space for the goal at the top and several steps in the remaining space. Cards could be hung in the room to create classroom culture of goal setting, persistence and success, and for the purpose of periodic review.
• Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants or puzzle pieces or trails marked as steps. These could also be hung around the room, to be reviewed periodically and to create a classroom culture of goal setting and for the purpose of periodic review.
• Interview and share their goals with one another and the class, establishing community support for their goals.
• Create incentives or contests for achieving their personal goals.
• Write about their goals and steps in a variety of genres, i.e. poems, songs, personal essays.
• Create artistic representations of their goals and steps.
Posted: Friday, September 11, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
After reading the lesson plan, how in the world could anyone think anything other than 'pay attention becuse there's questions later'. Where did Mr. Horne get the idea that the questions had a worshipful tone to them? He and others are trying to read between the lines when there's nothing there to read. You've done our children a terrible disfavor.
Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2009
Article comment by:
George W. Bush
First of all while i'm thinking of it..hey American Citizen, i remember when i found the caps key (my parents were so proud)...just because you type really big doesn't mean you sound smart in the slightest. All this political division is very detrimental to our society, and now it seems to be effecting the very foundation of our lives...education. It makes me laugh as well as die a little inside to see so many "adults" behaving in such a childish manner. i believe in this case what the kids have probably learned is that, once you become an adult, you can do whatever you want without repercussion.
Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2009
Article comment by:
N. Valentine
WOW. My family has lived here since my mom was 7 back in the '60s...I grew up here and I came back so that my children could grow up here. Not up until this moment in time have I ever had anything bad to say about the school system here until now. I am thoroughly disgusted by this. It makes me really sad to be on the same team of "Prescotonians". Close mindedness is really unattractive. BOOOOO PUSD...you should all be ashamed
Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
If you missed that speech I'm sure you can see another one today, tomorrow, etc. He gives a speech on TV every day I think. The dude loves to give speeches.
Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Article comment by:
Christine
Kevin Kapp - PUSD Supt. asserts that it was not the speech but the lesson plan that was objectionable. If the televising of the speech was optional - why not let the children listen to the President and implement their own lesson plan. The school district would never have treated a white republican President this way. To all parents who are hysterical about their child absorbing any idea that might be different than their own (not applicable in this case) I can tell you that I have lived in countries where the schooling is rigid in curriculum and philosophy leaving no room for skills of critical analysis to be learned. Why is the most free country in the world going in the same disastrous direction of some of the countries that we despise the most?
Shame on Kapp and Horne.
Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Article comment by:
Nancy Johnson
My husband and I lived and worked in Prescott for four years in the early l980's. We have such beautiful memories of those years. I am appalled and saddened by the PUSD decision to not allow President Obama's speech to be given to Prescott school children. I don't want to visit your community anymore. Your decision is disgusting.
Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Article comment by:
carguy
Oh how small minded and sad these political school boards and superintendent's are!!
NON EDUCATORS, just political hacks!!
Now we know.
Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Article comment by:
carguy
It is a shame that the Prescott School Board and Mr.Kapp will NO longer be known as "Educators" but political promoters of right wing politics!! How sad for our students
Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Article comment by:
Mr. Kapp's Message...ditto
I ditto "Mr. Kapp's Message" ...the school district is sending our students a message that "it's okay to be unpatriotic and disrespectful of the President of the United States. And the message you are sending to our families is that PUSD is a partisan organization that does not support the President." This behavior on the part of our school districts has been disgusting.
Posted: Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Beth
There are people who are afraid of education. It is much easier to lead the ignorant than to lead the learned.
The President told students to work hard, study, stay in school.
Now who is afraid if your kids get an education? Certainly Tom Horne. And Kevin Kapp. Two men tasked with educating our youth. The outrage needs to be directed to those who thought that telling kids to study hard, set goals and stay in school is indoctrinating our youth. Who is trying to keep our youth from learning?
Posted: Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Article comment by:
American Citizen
THANK GOD THESE SUPERINTENDENTS HAD THE SENSE TO BLOCK THESE POLITICIANS FROM GETTING TO OUR CHILDREN [BEHIND THEIR PARENT'S BACKS]!!!
POLITICIANS ALWAYS HAVE AN AGENDA THAT SERVES TO PROMOTE AND BENEFIT 'THEM'...IT'S DISGUSTING THAT THEY WOULD SINK THIS LOW AND GO AFTER OUR KIDS.
Posted: Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Article comment by:
WaitWut?
@Outraged Student. I agree with you 100 percent and your parents should be very proud of you, as you should be extremely proud of yourself. It is minds like yours that will hear and understand the message of our President. It is future adults like you that will lead us into the future. It is bright young people like yourself that give me faith in humanity. Thank you.
Posted: Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Scotty
I would think the President of the United States would have better things to do, you know, like nukes in Iran, nukes in North Korea, etc. etc.... Sounds like a job for the Vice-President (remember him?) Or the First Lady.
Posted: Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Civil War
Keep up the hostility and political disputes. If we are all not careful we will see another Civil War, now that is something to be scared about. Read up, I think we all need a history lesson. (WWW.civilwar.com)
Editor's note - the remainder of this post has been removed because it was longer than most articles on this site and was not written by the blogger. Comment, don't publish; good links are the solution.
Posted: Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Zeke
Hey no name. That is a guided discussion of activities not the speech. There is nothing wrong with asking kids to think. You really are one of the closed minded ones.
