Lesson Plan
LBJ Diaries

Teacher Name:Matt BasingerGrade level(s): 9-12Course: American History

Describe the classroom or homework activity to be performed(individual assignment, cooperative learning, cross curricular, technology based, using artifacts and/or primary sources, etc.)

  • This assignment is a primary source based activity. Students are required to analyze the presidential diaries of Lyndon B. Johnson. Research is combined with analysis to identify people and groups mentioned in the diary. Also to explain the importance of these groups and major events mentioned in the diary.

Rationale (why are you doing this?)

  • This assignment will help build skills in analyzing primary documents and researching connected ideas to main ideas.

Required time frame: Two to three 45 minute class periods.

Where in the teacher conference did you get the idea for this activity or assignment(speaker, document,photograph,activity, audio recording, other)?

  • This idea came from the Marsha Sharp’s (from the Johnson Library) presentation, “A Presidential Decision: July 21, 1965”. In this presentation, she shared links on the website to President Johnson’s presidential diaries.

Lesson objectives – the student will:

  • Identify all people, places, groups, and events of a presidential diary entry.
  • Research the importance of people, groups, and events mentioned in the diary entry.
  • Construct an informational graphic organizer using

District,state, or national performance and knowledge standards/goals/skills met (be specific when referencing):

  • District AP-6 – Analyze the evolution of American democracy, its ideas, institutions, and political processed from colonial days to present, including the struggle for civil rights.
  • District AP-8 Describe and evaluate the evolution of United States domestic and foreign policies, including: the Cold War.
  • AP-11 Examine all of the wars of the twentieth century (i.e., World War I and II), including: causes, comparisons, consequences and peace efforts
  • AP-25 List and explain criteria that give regions their identities in different periods of United States history

Secondary materials (book, article, video documentary, etc.) needed – cite title and other detailed information:

  • - This webpage within the Lyndon B. Johnson Library website contains the necessary presidential daily diaries to complete the project.
  • – This free online tool allows students and teachers to create organizational presentations that are similar to a zooming PowerPoint. View the tutorial before usage.
  • - Teacher example for the students to get a better understanding of how the final product should look.

Primary sources (document, photograph, artifact, diary or letter, audio or visual recording, etc.) needed – cite detailed information:

  • - This webpage within the Lyndon B. Johnson Library website contains the necessary presidential daily diaries to complete the project.

Fully describe the activity or assignment in detail. What will both you and the students do?

  1. After background lecture on the main events that occurred during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, assign each person a page of a presidential diary found at the above address.
  2. Students are to read through their page of the presidential diary and take notes to assess prior knowledge of the people, places, groups, and events in the primary document. This will include: historical concepts related to the document’s contents, questions they have about the document’s contents, and brief a brief summary of its contents.
  3. The teacher will have blank presentations created from the website, (See the student example).
  4. The teacher will show the student example and teach the students the basic concepts of how to create a presentation using Prezi (use tutorials if necessary). Students will need to sign up for a free account to create the project.
  5. Students will research in a computer lab to identify and find pictures of all people, places, and groups mentioned in their presidential diary with teacher guidance.
  6. Students will write a short biography (1 paragraph) of 3 people mentioned in the diary, a short description (1 paragraph) of each group mentioned in the diary, and 2 paragraph summary describing the importance of the major events mentioned. (All will be put into the Prezi presentation).
  7. Biographies – information in their biography needs to relate to the Johnson administration or the events that occurred during it. Only 3 are required, these will contain pictures as well, people without biographies only require a picture.
  8. Group Descriptions – information needs to relate to the Johnson administration. Two pictures are required to accompany the description. All groups mentioned need to follow this format.
  9. Major Events – summary needs to include a basic description and the event’s importance in American history. Two pictures needs to accompany the summary. Two related events (not necessarily related to the LBJ presidency) with pictures should be included.
  10. Places – Any places mentioned need to include pictures only.
  11. All sources should be documented (See student example).
  12. Students will construct their final products in a computer lab following the student example found at Students should add their product onto a teacher-generated template corresponding presidential date (for example, the student example is for August 6, 1965 and has room for 8 student-generated products – 1 student per page of the diary for that date). Teachers can find other presidential diary dates at

Assessment: fully explain your assessment method in detail or create and attach your scoring guide:

Name: ______/ Teacher:
Date : ______/ Title of Work: ______
Criteria / Points
1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Content / One or more components are missing. / One component is not fully completed but attempt has been made. / All components are complete but the written portions are not detailed. / Presentation contains: biography of 3 people, descriptions of all groups mentioned, and summaries of all major events mentioned. All information is complete and detailed. / ____/25
Format / One or more components are not followed. / All components are present but the layout is confusing or illogical. / All components are present but layout is simple and unattractive. / Presentation: is constructed using Prezi, uses the student example,and presents the information in a logical and appealing manner. / ____/10
Analysis / Notes are missing more than 2 components. / Notes are missing 2 components. / Notes are missing one component. / Presidential diary notes contain: assessment of prior knowledge, historical concepts related to the document's contents, questions/unknown material, and a brief summary. / ____/15
Sources / Presentation contains less than 5 sources. NOTE: if no sources are present, no credit will be given for the project. / Presentation contains 5 sources but not all are reputable. No book or journal/magazines found. / Presentation contains 7 sources from solely reputable websites. No book or journal/magazine sources found. / Presentation contains at least 5 sources. Must have at least one book and one journal/magazine. All sources are reputable. / ____/15
Visuals / Minimum number of pictures are not met. / All components are present but some pictures are distorted. / All pictures are present. Minimum number of pictures are present, are clear, and are related to the content. / People: picture for each and 1 extra with bios. Groups: 2 pictures each. Places: 1 picture each. Events: 2 pictures each. All pictures are clear and related to the content. Presentation contains more pictures than necessary without being distracting. / ____/10
Total----> / ____/75
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