First Lady Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama is an inspiring figure in our nation's history. She is the first African-American First Lady being the wife of our 44th President, Barack Obama. I remember many lessons of the Presidents of the United States when I was in school but I do not recall a meaningful lesson on any of the First Ladies. Even though Michelle Obama identifies herself first as the mother of her daughters, Sasha and Malia, she has studied at Princeton and is a graduate of Harvard Law. She has also held high profile jobs for Chicago City Hall and The University of Chicago. Today, Michelle Obama focuses on current social issues making her a valuable figure to introduce in the classroom. I believe it is important to highlight inspirational figures in the classroom. With the Let's Move! Campaign, Obama fights childhood obesity by promoting exercise and eating healthier food. This is an easy segue into both physical education and health education. Michelle Obama also started the first vegetable garden on the White House's South Lawn since Eleanor Roosevelt. This garden and the accompanying book can inspire your own school's garden project. This lesson can be used as a jumping-off point to investigate the First Ladies in our history. After this lesson, students can each select a First Lady to research and present their finding to the class. This lesson can also be used to encourage healthier habits in your students both inside and outside your classroom.

Who is Michelle Obama?

Michelle Obama is more than our 44th First Lady. She is a mom, a lawyer, an advocate for military families and a proponent of the Let's Move! campaign: a fight against childhood obesity.

Michelle Obama Bio

A short biography giving Michelle Obama's education and work background and how she met her husband and our current president, Barack Obama.

On the Campaign Trail

At first, Michelle was reluctant to support her husband's run for the presidency, she has since quit her job in support of her husband's dream. As seen in this photo from February 2008, Michelle is on the move backing her husband during his first run for President.

Inauguration

Inauguration Day: January 20, 2009. Michelle Obama supports her husband as our 44th President of the United States.

A picture of the crowd during inauguration: a monumental event with an estimated 1.8 million people in attendance!

The First Family

Smithsonian's American History Museum

This is a behind the scenes video on the Smithsonian's First Ladies exhibition. Michelle Obama donated the gown she wore on Barack's inauguration. I happened to be working at the American History Museum at this time and I remember my co-workers and visitors being so excited to view this gorgeous dress designed by Jason Wu.

The Garden at the White House

Michelle Obama planted the garden in 2009 on the South Lawn of the White House. It is the first vegetable garden planted at the White House grounds since Eleanor Roosevelt. The garden serves as inspiration for Obama's Let's Move! campaign to fight childhood obesity. The accompanying book has ideas on how to start school gardens, how to get children to like eating healthier foods, and encouraging children to exercise. Add author to Michelle Obama's resume. Here's a link to her book about the garden she put in at the White House. http://www.amazon.com/American-Grown-Kitchen-Gardens-America/dp/0307956024/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351639106&sr=8- 1&keywords=michelle+obama And a NY Times article about her book: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/us/politics/michelle-obama-writes-american-grown.html?_r=0

Michelle Obama working with students in the garden.

Let's Move!

As First Lady, Michelle Obama started the Let's Move! campaign in 2010. Let's move! is an effort to partner families and communities to fight childhood obesity. The overarching goal of Let's Move! is "to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation" (whitehouse.gov) by supporting families, providing healthier food in schools, encouraging kids to exercise and most importantly, having healthy food be available and affordable. Michelle Obama at work in the schools:

Here is a link to the Let's Move! Official Website: http://www.letsmove.org

Joining Forces

In 2011, Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden partnered to create Joining Forces, an initiative supporting service members and their families in education, wellness and employment. Here is a video outlining the Joining Forces Initiative:

DNC Speech 2012 - On the Campaign Trail Again

2012 brought Michelle Obama out on the campaign trail again as Barack Obama seeks re-election. Here is the footage of her speech from the Democratic National Convention on September 4, 2012.

References

References in order of blog: 

White house. (2011, 07 09). Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/first-lady-michelle-obama Michelle obama - mini-bio [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/michelle-obama-307592/videos/michelle-obama-mini-bio-2087069137

Saulny, S. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/us/politics/14michelle.html 

Michelle Obama - Inaugural FashionPhoto of Barack and Michelle Obama from About.com: Accessories: http://accessories.about.com/b/2009/01/20/michelle-obama-inaugural-fashion.htm

Inauguration Crowd Photo from Channel One News: http://www.channelone.com/news/gal_yt-responses-inauguration/6/ 

White house. (2011, 07 09). Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/first-lady-michelle-obama

Smithsonian. (Producer). (2010). Preparing the gowns for the first ladies exhibition. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeBMGCpf3g0 

Photo from The LA Times Blog: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/03/michelle-obamas-inaugural-gown-goes-to-smithsonian-jason-wu-too.html 

 Information on White House Garden: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/22/first-lady-invites-children-across-country-white-house-kitchen-garden-pl

 Photo from NY Daily News: http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-06-19/entertainment/17926442_1_first-lady-michelle-obama-week-s-harvest-lettuce

 Photo from Let's Move.gov: http://www.letsmove.gov/blog/2012/08/24/4000-schools-meet-first-ladys-challenge

 (2012). Retrieved from White House website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces CBS News [Web series episode]. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7420528n