Lessons on American Presidents.com
  Handout + MP3 + 8 Online Quizzes on Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the USA. He was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a Kenyan father and American mother. His parents divorced and his mother married an Indonesian man, thus Obama lived in Indonesia between the ages of six to ten, before returning to Hawaii in 1972. He worked his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans and went on to Harvard Law School.

Barack’s story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others. At Harvard, he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, he taught law at the University of Chicago.

Obama served as State Senator for Illinois between 1997 and 2004. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004, winning by a landslide. This made him a rising star in the Democratic Party. He was a strong opponent of the Iraq War. His presidential campaign was the first to make full use of social media. His slogan “Yes, we can” helped him become America’s first African American president in 2009.

Obama’s term in office coincided with the global financial collapse of 2008. He inherited one of America’s worst ever economies. In 2009 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He introduced major reforms to America’s healthcare system and sought a fairer taxation system. He began the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq. He also authorized the mission that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden. He was re-elected for a second term in November, 2012.

Article adapted from www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/barackobama

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the USA. He was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a Kenyan father and American mother. __________________ and his mother married an Indonesian man, thus Obama lived in Indonesia between the ages of six to ten, before returning to Hawaii in 1972. He __________________ through college with the help of scholarships __________________ and went on to Harvard Law School.

Barack’s story is the American story — values __________________, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means __________________, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others. At Harvard, he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, __________________ the University of Chicago.

Obama served as State Senator for Illinois between 1997 and 2004. __________________ the U.S. Senate in 2004, winning by a landslide. This made __________________ the Democratic Party. He was __________________ the Iraq War. His presidential campaign was the first to make full use of social media. His slogan “Yes, we can” helped him become America’s first African American president in 2009.

Obama’s term in office __________________ global financial collapse of 2008. He inherited one of America’s worst ever economies. In 2009 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He introduced major reforms to America’s healthcare system and __________________ taxation system. He began the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq. He also authorized the __________________ the death of Osama Bin Laden. He was re-elected for a second term in November, 2012.

  CORRECT THE SPELLING

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the USA. He was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a Kenyan father and American mother. His parents dordviec and his mother married an Indonesian man, thus Obama lived in Indonesia between the ages of six to ten, before uegtirnrn to Hawaii in 1972. He worked his way ohhtugr college with the help of scholarships and student loans and went on to Harvard Law School.

Barack’s story is the American story — values from the heartland, a eidldm-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of etggitn ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others. At Harvard, he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. After gtnaigraud, he taught law at the University of Chicago.

Obama served as State Senator for Illinois between 1997 and 2004. He was edeetcl to the U.S. Senate in 2004, winning by a landslide. This made him a rising star in the Democratic Party. He was a strong npopetno of the Iraq War. His presidential campaign was the first to make full use of social media. His aslgon “Yes, we can” helped him become America’s first African American president in 2009.

Obama’s term in office coincided with the global iclnifana collapse of 2008. He inherited one of America’s worst ever economies. In 2009 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He introduced major frsoerm to America’s healthcare system and sought a fairer taxation system. He began the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq. He also authorized the oinssim that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden. He was re-elected for a second term in November, 2012.

  UNJUMBLE THE WORDS

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the USA. He was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a Kenyan father and American mother. His parents and mother an divorced his married Indonesian man, thus Obama six of ages the between Indonesia in lived to ten, before returning to Hawaii in 1972. He worked his way through college help the with loans student and scholarships of and went on to Harvard Law School.

Barack’s story is the American story — values from the heartland, a in middle a - strong class family upbringing, hard work and ahead education as the means of getting, and the conviction that service to others a life so blessed should be lived in. At Harvard, he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, he taught law at the University of Chicago.

Obama served as State Senator for Illinois between 1997 and 2004. in Senate . S U the to elected was He 2004, winning by a landslide. This made him a rising star in the Democratic Party. He Iraq the of opponent strong a was War. His presidential campaign make of was to use media first full social the. His slogan “Yes, we can” helped him become America’s first African American president in 2009.

Obama’s financial global the with coincided office in term collapse of 2008. He inherited one of America’s worst ever economies. In 2009 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He introduced major reforms to America’s healthcare system and sought a fairer taxation system. He began the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq. that also led authorized to the the mission He death of Osama Bin Laden. He was re-elected for a second term in November, 2012.

  DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

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  STUDENT BARACK OBAMA SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Barack Obama in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

  WRITING

Write about Barack Obama for 10 minutes. Show your partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.

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  HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET INFO: Search the Internet and find more information about Barack Obama. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about Barack Obama. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

4. BARACK OBAMA POSTER Make a poster about Barack Obama. Show it to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your posters.

5. MY BARACK OBAMA LESSON: Make your own English lesson on Barack Obama. Make sure there is a good mix of things to do. Find some good online activities. Teach the class / another group when you have finished.

6. ONLINE SHARING: Use your blog, wiki, Facebook page, MySpace page, Twitter stream, Del-icio-us / StumbleUpon account, or any other social media tool to get opinions on Barack Obama. Share your findings with the class.