CURRICULAR RESOURCES
Innovative lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits feature archival materials to fit your classroom needs.
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Explore photographs of JFK's Oval Office desk, the Kennedy children, dignitaries and other visitors, and the president
giving his iconic 1963 civil rights address.
Media Galleries
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Explore "The President's Desk: A Resource Guide for Educators" and discover more than fifty-five curricular-relevant lesson plans and activities for grades 4-12 based on the online interactive exhibit, "The President's Desk."
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Provided for in the US Constitution, the oath of office is a key component of a presidential inauguration and symbolizes a peaceful transition of power. This lesson, which introduces students to the president’s official pledge, begins with examining an artifact, the top hat Kennedy wore on January 20, 1961.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts
Grade: 4, 5, 6
Time: 1-2 hours
Students discover the meaning of the symbols in the Seal of the President of the United States, and create a seal of their own design.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Time: 0-1 hour
Students act as members of President Kennedy's Press Office with an assignment to brief him for a news conference. They research issues and events of the early 1960s by exploring the Kennedy Library's website. The lesson culminates with a simulated press conference.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Students analyze the rhetoric surrounding civil rights in the early 1960s, focusing on a speech by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, a section from Martin Luther King Jr.’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and President Kennedy’s June 11, 1963 speech on civil rights.
Guided Programs
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 2-3 hours
Explore photographs, documents, and objects that relate to the Kennedy family and the sea.
Media Galleries
Subject: US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
In this lesson plan, students act as civil rights advisors to the president. They examine a variety of responses to the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and assess what different groups believed should be done to address the situation. They examine the president’s response, its strengths and weaknesses from the perspective of the federal government, and reflect on how it might contribute to making progress on civil rights.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Explore photographs that focus on John and Jacqueline Kennedy's wedding and honeymoon.
Media Galleries
Subject: US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
After investigating primary source material on the March on Washington, students put themselves in the role of a civil rights leader and write a letter to President Kennedy.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 2-3 hours
Explore videos that focus on Kennedy's presidential campaign and events during his first year in office.
Media Galleries
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Explore videos that focus on events related to Kennedy and his family during 1962.
Media Galleries
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History, World History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Explore videos that focus on events during Kennedy's third year in office.
Media Galleries
Subject: The Arts, Civics and US Government, Economics, US History, World History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Read transcripts from Vietnam and the Presidency, an historic two-day conference held at the Kennedy Library on March 10-11, 2006, examining the history of the Vietnam War and the Cold War foreign policies of five US presidents. Participants included General Alexander Haig, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Special Counsel to President Kennedy Theodore Sorensen, and Special Assistant to President Johnson Jack Valenti.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: US History, World History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
This 20-page booklet tells the story of voting rights during the Kennedy administration and beyond through photographs and documents. Includes guiding questions and a bibliography.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
In this activity, students will read a transcript and listen to an excerpted audio recording of a secretly taped phone conversation excerpt between President Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett. The students’ goal is to identify information the audio recording can provide beyond what they have learned from reading the transcript of the phone conversation.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Students read and analyze segregation ordinances, and learn how Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists challenged these unjust laws through peaceful protest and civil disobedience during the 1963 civil rights campaign in Birmingham, Alabama. The lesson highlights the vital role that young people played in the campaign.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 7, 8
Time: 3-4 hours
Use examples of historic presidential china to inspire your students to create their own design with a paper plate and craft materials.
Hands-On History Activities
Subject: US History
Grade: 1
Time: 0-1 hour