Qualifications for President
Lesson Plan
Lesson Idea: Qualifications for President
Level: intermediate
Purpose: To reinforce the Constitutional
requirements that a US president be over 30 years old and a native born
citizen.
Materials: magazine photos of a variety
of people
Time: 20-40 minutes
Activity:
1. Prepare for the lesson by selecting magazine photos of people of
various ages, ethnic groups, and genders. Assign each "character"
a name, age, and birthplace, and mark them on the photo. Make sure that
there are several examples each of native and non-native citizens, and
individuals over and under 30 years old.
1. Tell the class that the Constitution includes certain rules about
who can and can't run for president: the person must be over 30 years
old, and must be a native-born citizen, that is, "born in the United
States."
2. Discuss the members of the class and their children/grandchildren.
Could any of them be president? (The students themselves could not,
but if any have children born in the US, these children are native-born
citizens and could run for president after they are 30 years old.)
3. Tell the class that you are going to show them pictures of people
who want to be president. Ask the class to think about what the Constitution
says, and decide whether each person could or could not be president.
4. As you show each picture, have the class give you their reasons
for determining who could/could not be president.
Reading Practice:
On the board or on a worksheet, give students exercises such as those
below. If desired, this can be assigned for homework.
(yes/no questions)
The US president must be over 40 years old.
The US president must be over 30 years old.
A person born in Canada can be a US president.
A person born in California can be a US president.
(completions)
The US president must be a native-born ___________.
The US president must be over _____ years old.
(sentence constructions)
president/30/US/must/the/over/old/years/be
can/native-born/be/a/citizen/president/be
(copying)
The US president must be over 30 years old.
___________________________________ .
A native-born citizen can be a US president.
___________________________________ .
Multiple-choice practice:
Give students a quiz with questions such as:
1. A US president must be at least...
a. 50 years old
b. 25 years old
c. 35 years old
d. 30 years old
2. In the United States, only a native-born citizen can...
a. be elected president
b. become a teacher
c. drive a car
d. hold a US passport
3. According to the Constitution, which of the following individuals
could legally run for president?
a. a native of Mexico who is 55 years old
b. a native of New York who is 26 years old
c. a native of Florida who is 60 years old
d. a native of Canada who is 35 years old
Citizenship test practice
Ask the class, "What are some of the requirement to be eligible
to become president?"
Ask several individuals in succession to answer the same question.
