Take your classroom on a political and historical journey through this Presidential Pal's WebQuest.  While completing this WebQuest, students will not only use the internet to research an assigned US president, but also create and PowerPoint to show the information that they gain and write a paper applying their knowledge to themselves.  This WebQuest is designed for fourth grade students and can be used for a social studies lesson to gain further knowledge about the history of the Presidents of the United States.

Graphic: personal collection/ Presidential photograph's: www.loc.gov

From the creation of the US, we have had forty-three dedicated presidents lead our country.  Each of them has guided the land of liberty through terrible wars, devastating natural disasters, national depression, and exciting victories.  It is time to get to know these great men and for you to find your own presidential pal.  Let’s go make a new friend!

Graphic:  http://www.coppit.org/gallery2/d/362-2/Image13.jpg

You have the exciting task of making a new friend in class today, your own presidential pal.  Through the Word Almanac for Kids, you will get to know all about the president you are assigned.  After you have become acquainted with your president, you will answer the questions on the worksheet your teacher gives you.  Then, you will create a PowerPoint presentation on the information that you found.  With the help from what you know about your new presidential pal, you should have a pretty good idea of how being the president of a country works.  Now it is your turn to be the US president.  You will write about what you would do if you were president of the United States of America.

Graphic:  http://www.womensmemorial.org/Education/images/US-Flag.gif

1. Go to The World Almanac for Kids.  At this website, you will research the president that your teacher has assigned to you. 
2. After reading about your president, complete the worksheet that your teacher has given you.
3. Once you have completed the worksheet, create a PowerPoint presentation on the information that you discovered about your new presidential pal.  Your presentation must be at least four slides long and include a picture of your president, along with one other picture on each page of your presentation.  Find the pictures from the clipart gallery in Microsoft PowerPoint and make sure that they apply to your presentation.
4. When your PowerPoint presentation is finished, write a one page paper on what you would do if you were the next US president.  Once everyone in the class is complete, you will share with your peers what you would do, so think hard about the job.  Here are some things to think about when writing: 
   • What things did your presidential pal do that you liked?
   • What are some changes that you think need to be made to make the United States better?
   • What are some things that about our country that you would keep the same?
5. If you finish before the other student in your class, your teacher has some patriotic coloring pages for you to color.
6. Share your paper with the class.

Graphic:  http://jeffmiller.house.gov/_images/seals/pres_large_seal.gif