Landmark Leaders

Celebrate national leaders! Open the doors and windows of a government building to reveal memorable accomplishments of presidents and prime ministers.

• 1.

  What is a government? What skills do national leaders need to run a successful government? Flags, languages, faiths, animals, and even buildings are used as national symbols. How are your country's values and actions represented?

• 2.

  Create a building poster to share your understanding of your country's government and its leaders' actions. Choose several significant events in your country's history in which a leader played an important role. Write a list of leaders' names and their accomplishments with Crayola® Colored Pencils. Or choose just one leader and identify numerous accomplishments.

• 3.

  On large paper, use your colored pencils to outline a government building or another structure that symbolizes your country. Outline several windows and doors. Fill in details with Crayola Metallic FX Crayons.

• 4.

  How could each moment in history that you chose be portrayed in a visual way? For example Canada's Prime Minister (PM) Lester Pearson guided Canada through the process of designing a maple-leaf emblazoned flag. PM William Mackenzie King is called Canada's first citizen. These images are embedded in the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa, Canada's capital city.

• 5.

  With Crayola Scissors, cut out three-sided windows and doors in your government edifice. Cut enough holes for each of the leaders you will honor, or for the number of accomplishments of an individual.

• 6.

  Put another paper under your drawing. Trace the cutouts on the second paper. Inside these spaces, draw symbolic representations of your leader's important actions with colored pencils and crayons the.

• 7.

  Place the second piece of paper under the first, matching the holes with the drawings. Attach with a Crayola Glue Stick.

• 8.

  Fold open each window or door. Write the name of the leader honored inside the flap. Include dates, too. If your windows open from the top, make and glue tiny flaps to keep the windows from flopping down.

• 9.

  Share your findings with other students. What are the similarities and differences in your choices of leaders and their accomplishments?

Benefits

• Students research the civic accomplishments of contemporary and historic national leaders, such as presidents or prime ministers.
• Students examine a country's political history to record landmark events and the names of leaders who were in power at those times.
• Students show the connections between leaders and their civic accomplishments in a visual presentation of a government building.

Adaptations

• In Canada, the Prime Minister is called "first among equals." Analyze what this phrase means and debate whether this concept is possible.
• Explore various systems of government. Compare parliamentary, democracy, monarchy, and other systems. What components are the same? Which are different? What are the roots of these types of government?
• List ways that individuals make a difference within various systems of government. What qualities are essential for leadership in each type?
• Select different countries to portray. Compare and contrast accomplishments and leadership qualities.