The Great American Speeches

What are the elements of a great speech? And what makes that speech a great American speech? In this course, we will analyze five great American speeches in order to better understand what it means to be an American. Students will improve on their close reading skills, expand their knowledge of U.S. history, and engage in deep analysis of primary source texts.
Readings will include:
1. Excerpts from George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
2. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1863)
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address (1933)
4. President Ronald Reagan’s address on the loss of the Challenger (1986)
5. George W. Bush’s Speech to the Knesset (2008)

Anne Continetti

Anne Continetti is currently a faculty member at St. Albans's School of Public Service, a summer program for rising seniors in high school. Previously, she was a history teacher at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. and the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. She worked as a curriculum consultant designing common-core-aligned lesson plans to accompany the What So Proudly We Hail curriculum, and her lesson plan for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was featured on www.sharemylesson.com. Mrs. Continetti graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in History and received her Master's in Education from The George Washington University. Prior to teaching, Mrs. Continetti worked as an advance staffer on a presidential campaign and was a political analyst at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). She is a member of the Board and active in the PTO at her children’s school, Gesher Jewish Day School. Mrs. Continetti lives in McLean, Virginia, with her husband, Matt, and two children, Leo (7) and Charlotte (5).

The Great American Speeches

Anne Continetti

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