Aug. 3, 2005: Presidential Libraries

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. What 10 items would you put in your library? Draw pictures of the items and write a sentence for each telling why that item is important.

2. Select news photos or headlines from the newspaper that give a picture of what life is like in this country today. Make a collage of your items.

3. Collect newspaper headlines about the president. Paste the headlines on a piece of paper. Under each headline, write a brief paragraph explaining why the story is important.

4. Research each of the libraries in today’s Mini Page to find the following information: (a) which libraries are located in the president’s hometown, (b) which libraries are located in the president’s home state, and (c) which libraries are located in a city or state different from the one in which the president was born?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about one of the presidential libraries in today’s Mini Page. Use these questions to guide your research:

• Why was this site selected?
• What items from the president’s childhood are included in the collection?
• What items from the president’s pre-presidential life are included?
• What items from the president’s term of office are included?
• How many visitors does it have each year?
• What is one unique thing about the library?
  
  

This week's standard:

• Students understand that history relates to events and people of other times and places by identifying examples of interesting Americans. (Social Studies: History)
  
  (standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi