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Name ____________________ Date _____ Class ____ _

History and Cultures ofthe United States and Canada

DiHerentiated Instruction

The 100 Most Influential Americans The December 2006 edition of Atlantic Monthly included this list of

the 100 most influential figures in American history.

1 Abraham Lincoln 35 Jackie Robinson 69 James Gordon Bennett 2 George Washington 36 William Jennings Bryan 70 Lewis and Clark 3 Thomas Jefferson 37 J. P. Morgan 71 Noah Webster 4 Franklin Delano Roosevelt 38 Susan B. Anthony 72 Sam Walton 5 Alexander Hamilton 39 Rachel Carson 73 Cyrus McCormick 6 Benjamin Franklin 40 John Dewey 74 Brigham Young 7 John Marshall 41 Harriet Beecher Stowe 75 George Herman "Babe" Ruth 8 Martin Luther King Jr. 42 Eleanor Roosevelt 76 Frank Lloyd Wright 9 Thomas Edison 43 W. E. B. DuBois 77 Betty Friedan

10 Woodrow Wilson 44 Lyndon Baines Johnson 78 John Brown 11 John D. Rockefeller 45 Samuel F. B. Morse 79 Louis Armstrong 12 Ulysses S. Grant 46 William Lloyd Garrison 80 William Randolph Hearst 13 James Madison 47 Frederick Douglass 81 Margaret Mead 14 Henry Ford 48 Robert Oppenheimer 82 George Gallup 15 Theodore Roosevelt 49 Frederick Law Olmsted 83 James Fenimore Cooper 16 Mark Twain 50 James K. Polk 84 Thurgood Marshall 17 Ronald Reagan 51 Margaret Sanger 85 Ernest Hemingway 18 Andrew Jackson 52 Joseph Smith 86 Mary Baker Eddy 19 Thomas Paine 53 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 87 Benjamin Spock 20 Andrew Carnegie 54 Bill Gates 88 Enrico Fermi 21 Harry Truman 55 John Quincy Adams 89 Walter Lippmann 22 Walt Whitman 56 Horace Mann 90 Jonathan Edwards 23 Wright Brothers 57 Robert E. Lee 91 Lyman Beecher 24 Alexander Graham Bell 58 John C. Calhoun 92 John Steinbeck 25 John Adams 59 Louis Sullivan 93 Nat Turner 26 Walt Disney 60 William Faulkner 94 George Eastman 27 Eli Whitney 61 Samuel Gompers 95 Sam Goldwyn 28 Dwight Eisenhower 62 William James 96 Ralph Nader 29 Earl Warren 63 George Marshall 97 Stephen Foster 30 Elizabeth Cady Stanton 64 Jane Addams 98 Booker T. Washington 31 Henry Clay 65 Henry David Thoreau 99 Richard Nixon 32 Albert Einstein 66 Elvis Presley 100 Herman Melville 33 Ralph Waldo Emerson 67 P. T. Barnum 34 Jonas Salk 68 James D. Watson

Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer these questions.

1. Speculat ing Why do you suppose more men than women are on the list?

2. Analyzing What criteria do you think were used to determine the figures ' importance?

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-Teaching Strategies for Different Learning Styles

The following activities are ways the basic lesson can be modified to accommodate students' different learning styles.

English Learners (EL)

Ask students to identify five figures on the list with whom they are familiar, and write one sentence about each.

Verbal/Linguistic; Intrapersonal

Have students write a three-page biogra­phy of an individual from the list with whom they are not familiar.

Logical/Mathematical

Assign students to classify the figures in the list into categories of their own choosing. Possible categories might include politicians, scientists, inventors, sports figures, entertain­ers, and so on. When students have completed the assignment, lead the class in a brief dis­cussion about the various categories students used. Were any of the people listed in more than one category? Why?

Visual/Spatial; Kinesthetic

Ask students to create a collage that includes photos of as many figures on the list as they can find online. Display students' works around the classroom.

Verbal/Linguistic; Interpersonal

Lead a classroom discussion about the peo­ple who are- and who are not- on the list. Do students think any of the figures do not belong on the list? Would students rank any of the figures higher or lower? Why? Can students identify important figures they think belong on the list but were left off? Urge students to defend their ideas with facts and persuasive arguments.

Advanced Learners

Ask students to use library or Internet resources to compile a similar list of influential figures in Canadian history. (You may want to limit the list to about 20.) Students' lists should

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include the names of their choices along with one or two sentences identifying and explain­ing the figures' importance. Stude~ts should also write a paragraph explaining the criteria they used for making their selections.

Auditory/Musical

Have students write a short song or rap about one of the figures on the list of the 100 Most Influential Americans. Students' compo­sitions should explain why the individual is important or famous. Invite students to per­form their songs in class.

Visual/Spatial

Have students draw a cartoon about one of the individuals on the list of the 100 Most Influential Americans that illustrates why that person is an influential figure in American history.

Verbal/Linguistic

Assign students to create a crossword by making short clues for at least 20 of the people on this list. For example, "He gave us the assembly line and the Model T, and he also sparked America's love affair with the auto­mobile" might be a clue for which Henry Ford is the answer. After students have completed their puzzles, have them trade with a class­mate and solve each other's puzzles.

Below Grade Level

Ask students to write one page in their journals about which figure on the list they would most like to meet, and why.