. . .although I admit it may be difficult, considering it doesn't exist.
What am I talking about exactly?
I'm talking about this document:
http://www.docstoc.com/...
Apparently, this document is being distributed to K thru 6th grade teachers to help guide student's through President Obama's speech to our youth on September 8th.
According to a conservative friend of mine, this guide sheet is "clearly propaganda" so I decided it was time to take a piece-by-piece look through it to try and find the propaganda. As you'll see, it proved quite difficult.
Before the Speech:
• Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama and motivate students by asking the following questions:
Who is the President of the United States?
What do you think it takes to be President?
To whom do you think the President is going to be speaking?
Why do you think he wants to speak to you?
What do you think he will say to you?
This part is basically self-explanatory. Only thing is, it would be a shame if some wing-nut parents have poisoned their children to answer the final two questions with something along the lines of " . . .because he wants us to be socialists." I'm not particularly worried about that though, because chances are the people that do feed other people that sort of information are just the same people who actually will be keeping their children out of school that day.
• Teachers can ask students to imagine being the President delivering a speech to all of the students in the United States. What would you tell students? What can students do to help in our schools? Teachers can chart ideas about what they would say.
Wow, he wants students to get to help make schools better places to learn! That communist!
• Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?
Notice that they don't just say Democratic mayors, senators, members of congress, or the governor. Respect should be had for all elected leaders, this is nothing new. We've been told the same thing for a very very long time.
During the Speech:
• As the President speaks, teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful. Students could use a note-taking graphic organizer such as a Cluster Web, or students could record their thoughts on sticky notes. Younger children can draw pictures and write as appropriate. As students listen to the speech, they could think about the following:
What is the President trying to tell me?
What is the President asking me to do?
What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?
This part needs to be taken into the context of what President Obama actually says during his speech. Considering he'll be telling students simply to work hard and such during his speech and not trying to turn them into socialists, I'd say this is just to encourage students to continue working diligently.
• Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something. Students might think about: What specific job is he asking me to do? Is he asking anything of anyone else? Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people?
Why is he asking all Americans to work hard? Is it because he knows that if people work hard and are passionate about their jobs, we can improve this place?
• Students can record any questions they have while he is speaking and then discuss them after the speech. Younger children may need to dictate their questions.
Let's discuss what President Obama said, and find out why he wants us to work hard.
The rest of the guide to the speech is basically the same, the questions need to be taken in the context of what is actually said in the speech. As I mentioned above, considering the speech is not about indoctrinating youth and is about simply getting youth to work hard, this basically means nothing in terms of "propaganda."