Letters to the President (PBL)

Read: "Letters to President Obama" - r
ead these letters that my students wrote to President Obama on Sept. 26, 2014 (Mr. Rojas)

Letters to the President Project Description

Our class will write personal letters to President Obama. You get to choose the topic(s) and areas of focus in your letter. Your goal is to write a compelling letter that gets a clear message across. The letters will be made available online as PDFs for anyone who choose to read them, your classmates, their parents and anyone else. 

Driving Question:
  • What makes a compelling letter to a president?

Questions to Consider after Reading Letters Sent to the President and Viewing the Related Videos: 
  • Do the topics that catch a president's eye change over time?
  • What is the purpose of writing letters to the president when he already gets tens of thousands per day? Is it a waste of time? Who does it benefit?
  • Why would such letters be given such a priority and devotion by presidents and their letter-answering team? 
  • What does this White House practice of answering every letter sent to the president say about our country and about our form of government?

Pre-Writing Activity - Questions to Help You Gather Ideas for Your Letter

In Order to Gather Meaningful Material to Use in Your Letter, Think About the Following Questions:

Concerns & Solutions
  • What are some problems or concerns you may have about your community, state, country and/or world? 
  • How do these problems negatively affect you, your loved ones and your community? 
  • Do you have a personal example or a moving story that will help the president really get a grasp of the inmensity of the problem? 
  • Do you have any suggestions or solutions to share with the president so he can improve the situation and deal with these problems? 

 The Good Things that are Happening
  • What is going right in your community, state, country, and/or world?
  • Do you give the president credit for any of it? If so, what has he done to make things better?
  • Do you have a personal example or a moving story that will help the president feel your joy about what is going right?
  • What is unique about our country that you and the president can celebrate? 

Inspiring Message 
  • What inspiring message might you share with the president as he faces daily challenges during his presidency?
  • What message can you share with the president that you think might re-energize him and get him excited about serving the people?

Youtube Video About Letters to the President