And the Nominee Is

Summary

Teams of students research commemorative coin honorees and share the reasons for the recognition with the class. Then the teams select individuals they believe deserve to be on a coin, write short essays explaining their selection, and illustrate coin designs.

Objectives

Students will develop evaluation, paragraph writing, and art skills.

Subject Area

  • History & Government

Grades

  • 3rd
  • 4th
  • 5th

Class Time

  • Total Time: 0-45 Minutes minutes

Materials

  • Research books
  • Internet access
  • Paper
  • Art supplies

Lesson Steps

  1. Visit the U.S. Mint website to research and select Commemorative Coin honorees for students to research at https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/commemorative-coins 
  2. Divide the class into small groups, and assign one of your selected honorees to each group.
  3. Have each group research its commemorative coin honoree and why the person was selected. Then have the groups present their findings.
  4. As a class, brainstorm a list of reasons why people are honored on commemoratives.
  5. Have the groups select a person they believe should be honored with a commemorative coin. Caution them that they will need to be able to cite at least one reason for each team member.
  6. Have each team member write a paragraph supporting his or her reason for choosing the person and draw a coin design that reflects the reason.
  7. Have the teams compile the paragraphs and drawings into a report. In addition, ask them to select their team's most convincing reason.
  8. Have each team present the chosen paragraph and drawing to the whole class.

Assess

Use a standard writing rubric that includes any criteria set by you or the students to judge the merits of the commemorative coin presentations.

Connections to Related Material

Common Core Standards

This lesson plan is not associated with any Common Core Standards.

National Standards

This lesson plan is not associated with any National Standards.