Alabama Social Studies SS24.USG.5b
The Standard
- SS24.USG.5
- Analyze how the functions and authority of the executive branch evolve through changes in the scope of presidential powers, executive orders, executive agreements, and the role of the president in foreign and domestic policy.
Describe how the president of the United States uses informal powers to shape public opinion, including interaction with media and the public, head of party, and symbolic powers of the Oval Office.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how presidents use news coverage, public messages, party leadership, and the Oval Office setting to win support. They identify who each message is meant to reach and how it might affect public opinion.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain why a president might give a speech from the Oval Office instead of at a party rally. They can tell the difference between persuading people and using a formal power, such as signing a bill.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think an Oval Office speech makes a policy into law. They may also think being head of a party lets a president order members of Congress to vote a certain way.
How to Assess It
- Give students a photo of a president speaking from the Oval Office. Ask: What might this setting make viewers think about the message, and why?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Hand out a presidential statement and an Oval Office photo; pairs circle persuasive words and point to symbols that add weight to the message.
Ask students to write why a president might announce the same policy at a party rally and in an Oval Office address.
Put press conference, party rally, and Oval Office address on cards; teams sort them by how each could shape opinion and explain their choices.
Play a local news clip of a presidential speech; students note which lines the report repeats and how that choice might affect viewers.
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Related Standards
- SS24.USG.9
Explain the role of the media in the political process, including how they shape public opinion.
- SS24.CWI.4
Compare and contrast the functions and powers of United States government entities which shape official responses to international issues and events.
- SS24.USG.5a
Describe how the president of the United States utilizes formal powers to achieve policy goals, including veto power, addressing the nation in the State of the ...
- SS24.USG.5
Analyze how the functions and authority of the executive branch evolve through changes in the scope of presidential powers, executive orders, executive agreemen...
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