Teddy Roosevelt:  A Singular Life

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum

Theodore Roosevelt Day

(His birthday is October 27th)

Follow-up Activity:

Set up five stations around your classroom, with one of the following activities at each station.

Station One:  Teddy Bear Food

Have your students bring in anything that is shaped like a bear.  (Teddy Grahams, bear shaped cake, cookies, etc…)

Station Two:  Political Cartoons

            Display examples of TR depicted in political cartoons.  Have each student make a political cartoon about Teddy Roosevelt or any of the other three progressive presidents.

Station Three:  Bio-Poem

            Have students write a Bio-poem from TR’s first and last names.  They should begin each line of the poem with a letter from his name.  Each line of the poem must contain a fact about Teddy Roosevelt’s life and / or career.  You may want to provide additional resources for your students to review while working on this project.  (chronologies, biographies, web sites, etc…)

Station Four:  National Park System

            During Roosevelt’s administration the idea of a national park system began to grow substantially.  Students can select one of two activities at this station.

1.      On a United States map, locate, label, and date each national park created by the Roosevelt administration.

2.      Make a travel brochure for one of the parks TR established.  (You may want to provide several examples.)

Station Five:  The Reformer

            Roosevelt was unique to his time and to his party in that he believed that the government should take an active role in creating a level playing field.  One of the things he did was to go after monopolies.  Another was to push for laws that would improve products, such as the Pure Food and Drug Act.  At this station, students would read excerpts from Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.  After reading the excerpts, each student should write two new important points from their reading.