Inside the Head of William Howard Taft - CET

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Assessment This rubric rates the historical head on several criteria. You might also consider using a peer evaluation form for students to rate each other on their participation in both home and expert groups. Criterion 4 3 2 Images—head contains at least 7 images or symbols that represent the ideas, life events, accomplishments, or motivations of Taft Design—project is colorful, appealing, neat, and creative Descriptions—all images are numbered and explained clearly on a separate sheet Head has required number of images; all images are appropriate and accurately reflect Taft’s life Excellent artwork, shows creativity All explanations are logical, accurate, and numbered correctly Head has required number of images though one image is inappropriate or does not accurately reflect Taft’s life Good effort resulting in appealing project Explanations are mostly accurate Lesson Extensions and Additional Resources Head lacks required number of images or two or more images do not accurately reflect Taft’s life Basic effort lacking creativity and appeal Explanations lack detail and include several inaccuracies 1. At the time Taft ran for President, candidates did not attend the political conventions of their party to give their acceptance speech. Instead, after the convention, a committee of party leaders made a formal visit to the candidate’s home to notify him of the nomination. This was an occasion for celebration in the candidate’s home town. Research the Notification Day process of other candidates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Here is one description (from http://think3institute.blogspot.com/2008/08/obamas-notification-day.html) “Like Victorian gentlemen maintaining their double standard of sexual morality, American politicians one hundred years ago still pretended to despise politics. It was still considered bad form for any aspiring office holder to promote himself for the job. Accordingly, candidates didn’t campaign much, letting surrogates speak for them as much as possible. It was also absolutely taboo for front-runners to appear at their party conventions. As a result, there were no acceptance speeches like those we expect today -- at least not at the convention. Our ancestors were not unskilled in creating what we would call “media events.” The way they did it in those days was to have conventions appoint notification committees whose job was to travel to the candidate’s home and inform him that he had been nominated. Of course, the candidate knew this from the news wires within moments after the final ballot, but awaiting the notification committee, which might take a month before making its visit, gave the candidate time to polish his acceptance speech, and his town time to prepare a big blowout for the notification ceremony, from artillery salutes for the committee and parades through town to fireworks after dark when the speeches were done.” 2. Taft had a number of medical conditions that impacted his overall health. During the 2008 election cycle, there was concern about John McCain’s health. It has become the norm that that presidential candidates release their medical records so that voters can factor that into their voting decisions. Discuss whether medical conditions should preclude a candidate from running or being elected. 3. Discuss how being President differs from being Chief Justice. What kinds of skills are needed for each job? Develop a Venn diagram that compares the duties and responsibilities of the executive and judicial branches of government. 4. Students can create an online scrapbook of William Howard Taft by visiting the Ohio Memory website at http://www.ohiomemory.org. Follow the directions there.
Lesson Extensions and Additional Resources, cont. 5. Compare Helen Taft to other First Ladies. 6. Some of the most famous political cartoons of the past appeared in the pages of Puck magazine. Learn more about Puck here: http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Puck_(magazine) 7. Several political cartoons are linked in this lesson. Consider an additional lesson that examines and analyzes them. The National Archives offers this form for cartoon analysis: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/ worksheets/cartoon.html 8. The National Archives has an online lesson plan called “Teaching with Documents: Political Cartoons Illustrating Progressivism and the Election of 1912.” 9. A gallery walk is another idea for exploring political cartoons. Search for cartoons at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/pphome.html. Select eight to ten political cartoons relating to Taft and the elections of 1908 and 1912. Enlarge cartoons on a copier and mount each one on flip chart paper or large sheets of colored paper. Display them around the classroom as in an art gallery. Give students markers or pens and tell them this is an interactive gallery. They are encouraged to write their thoughts, observations, and questions about the cartoons on the edges of the paper each cartoon is mounted on. Students move silently at their own pace, as if they were in an art gallery. Suggest students spend one to two minutes at each cartoon. Debrief the activity using a think-pair-share. First students write their thoughts in a notebook, then they pair up and share their ideas with a partner, followed by a whole class discussion. Here are some questions to guide the discussion. What were the artists saying about the political figures? What issues did the cartoons portray? What symbols were used? How might the cartoons affect you if you saw them in a newspaper of the times?
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