Biography of a President Timeline

The highest member of the Executive Branch is the president of the United States. The U.S. has had forty-five presidents and each one of them has had a great impact on the country.

Students will research a president and create a timeline of the major events of their lives. The timeline of the president should span his life and include his path to the White House, along with any events that occurred after the presidency. The suggestions below provide a mix of events and other factual aspects of the presidents’ lives.

For an alternative to the timeline layout, have students create a timeline poster to incorporate into a presentation or gallery walk. You can add more than one template to this assignment to give students lots of options and adjust the instructions accordingly.

Possible topics to research:

• The education of the president
• Laws passed while in office
• Possible service in the military
• Possible service in Congress
• Controversies surrounding the president
• Notable children
• Hobbies or interests
• Political viewpoints

Extended Activity

For this extended activity, students will either continue with the president from the previous activity, or select a new president. Students will create a storyboard that visualizes specific quotes from their president. Students will select the quotes that they found to be the most profound and insert the quote in the text below the storyboard. Students will then visualize the meaning of the quote in the space above it.

Student Instructions

Create a timeline outlining the life of one of the Presidents of the United States.

1. Click "Start Assignment".
2. Add additional cells as needed.
3. Identify important events and moments in that president's life and type them into the titles of each cell.
4. Write a summary of the event in the description box.
5. Create an illustration using appropriate scenes, characters, and items.
6. Save and exit when you're done.