Let students know that Obama delivered his final address to the nation as president in Grant Park in Chicago, IL, just days before the inauguration of his successor. President Obama used his farewell address to name what he saw as his administration’s biggest successes and articulate his hope for the future of the nation. 

As a large group, discuss:

*What do you think is the role of a president’s farewell address?

*How might the address be related to how the resident wants their administration to be remembered?

Let students know that you are going to watch a clip from Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union that includes excerpts of Obama’s final address as president, given on January 10, 2017. After they watch this clip, students will be working with additional excerpts of the speech to learn more. 

Film Clip One: Obama’s Farewell Address (4:05)

This clip is an excerpt of Obama’s final speech as president, delivered at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois on January 10, 2017.

Discuss:

* In your own words, what would you say is the main message of this speech?
* What do you think Obama hopes is the impact of his administration on the nation?

Project or share the images online and ask students to “read” them critically, the same way they would if they were reading text or film. 

Discuss:

*What do you see in the image?

*What is the emotional impact of the image?

*What do you think happened just before or after the image was taken?

*What question might you ask the photographer about the image?

*Taken together, what story do these images tell about the impact of Obama’s administration?

Let students know that the part of the speech in the film is an excerpt from Obama’s full address (video of the full speech available at obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/farewell).

Have students number off into six groups and assign each group to conduct a close read of one part of Obama’s farewell address to gain a deeper understanding of Obama’s vision of the threats and opportunities for America’s future:

Handout One: Introduction, The Capacity for Change

Handout Two: Economic Opportunity and Equality

Handout Three: Racial Equity

Handout Four: Healthy Debate

Handout Five: The Institutions of Democracy

Handout Six: Conclusion, Yes We Can

In their groups, have students complete a close read of their assigned part of the speech, underlining words and phrases they identify as Obama’s beliefs about the impact of his administration and his vision for the future of America. While reading for ideas, ask students to also look for patterns and repetitions in the speech that Obama uses for rhetorical power or emphasis.

Each group will prepare answers to the following questions to report to the rest of the class:

*What does Obama see as the impact of his administration?

*How does he characterize the challenges he sees ahead of us as a nation? How does he believe we can act to address those challenges?

Media Literacy prompt: After reading about or hearing the full speech, why do you think the filmmakers chose the excerpt they did to capture it? Would you have chosen to add anything or cut it differently?

Distribute Handout Seven: The More Perfect Union Venn. Fill in their thoughts and notes in the “Obama” circle the main ideas they heard about Obama’s hopes and vision for the impacts his administration had. 

*Educator Note: If you are teaching the lessons in a series, students will already have this Venn Diagram handout.

Ask students to share with a partner about the main points that Obama articulated in his farewell address: 

*Of all the themes and ideas he raised in his address, which parts are still relevant today?

*What do you see as the impacts of his administration that can still be felt today?

Have students choose one of the themes from Obama’s farewell address, or another topic that arose from the film clips and interviews, to learn more about what has happened and evolved in that area since Obama left office January 20, 2017. Using information sources that students are able to corroborate or verify, or books and articles written by the interviewees in the film, students can investigate events, laws, people, or other influences that illustrate how their chosen aspect of Obama’s legacy has changed or evolved, where it is today, how it is seen by different groups. 

Students will use what they learn to fill in the “America” circle of their Venn diagrams, and what they think about it themselves in the “You” circle of their Venn diagrams.

Extended learning suggestion: Students may write short essays about their findings.

President Obama worked with a team on writing all of his speeches.

Watch Interview Segment - Jon Favreau, Speechwriter

Introduce the segment (runtime 3:54) letting students know that Jon Favreau, Obama’s speechwriter, is going to describe the process of writing the “More Perfect Union” speech with President Obama and other members of the campaign team, where Obama provided the main ideas, and the team would work together to polish the phrasing and the cadence. 

Enter the Speech-Writing Room

Let students know they are each going to write an inspirational speech, two to three minutes in length, in which they will choose from the topic prompts on Handout Eight: Speech-Writing Prompts (or create their own) and describe what they’ve learned about that topic from the lessons, film, and interview threads, as well as their own ideas about the work that remains to be done toward achieving a more perfect union. Speeches will incorporate their thoughts about why the topic matters to them, include points of view from the film, interviews, or President Obama himself, and communicate their vision of the work we need to do as a nation to realize their ideal. 

In the style of President Obama’s speech-writing team, students will work together to bounce ideas and thoughts off one another for topics and themes, and offer constructive feedback. In small groups, students will review content from their Venn diagrams and help each other identify key issues and patterns that emerge for each person. 

The speeches can be presented in many creative ways:

In school:

**Students can prepare and deliver their speech live in front of the class.

*In an assembly for multiple classes or grades.

In community:

*Students can submit recordings of their speeches to community radio programs or podcasts that report on the topics that they chose.

*Students can reach out to local nonprofit organizations or local governments who work with the topic of each students’ choosing.

*Class members can post the speeches to a social media account made for this assignment and tweet them to President Obama or other relevant policy makers.