Letters to the President (PBL)


Contents

  1. 1 Letters to the President Project Description
  2. 2 Pre-Writing Activity - Questions to Help You Gather Ideas for Your Letter
  3. 3 Youtube Video About Letters to the President
  4. 4 All About Letters Written to U.S. Presidents



Read: "Letters to President Obama" - r
ead these letters that my students wrote to President Obama on Sept. 26, 2014 (Mr. Rojas)

Letters to the President Project Description

Project: 
Our class will write personal letters to President Obama. You get to choose the topic(s) and areas of focus in your letter. Your goal is to write a compelling letter that gets a clear message across. The letters will be made available online as PDFs for anyone who choose to read them, your classmates, their parents and anyone else. 

Driving Question:
  • What makes a compelling letter to a president?

Questions to Consider after Reading Letters Sent to the President and Viewing the Related Videos: 
  • Do the topics that catch a president's eye change over time?
  • What is the purpose of writing letters to the president when he already gets tens of thousands per day? Is it a waste of time? Who does it benefit?
  • Why would such letters be given such a priority and devotion by presidents and their letter-answering team? 
  • What does this White House practice of answering every letter sent to the president say about our country and about our form of government?

Pre-Writing Activity - Questions to Help You Gather Ideas for Your Letter

In Order to Gather Meaningful Material to Use in Your Letter, Think About the Following Questions:

Concerns & Solutions
  • What are some problems or concerns you may have about your community, state, country and/or world? 
  • How do these problems negatively affect you, your loved ones and your community? 
  • Do you have a personal example or a moving story that will help the president really get a grasp of the inmensity of the problem? 
  • Do you have any suggestions or solutions to share with the president so he can improve the situation and deal with these problems? 

 The Good Things that are Happening
  • What is going right in your community, state, country, and/or world?
  • Do you give the president credit for any of it? If so, what has he done to make things better?
  • Do you have a personal example or a moving story that will help the president feel your joy about what is going right?
  • What is unique about our country that you and the president can celebrate? 

Inspiring Message 
  • What inspiring message might you share with the president as he faces daily challenges during his presidency?
  • What message can you share with the president that you think might re-energize him and get him excited about serving the people?

Youtube Video About Letters to the President