The 100 Most Influential Americans - Burnet Middle School

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 th e 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

u 23 Wright Brothers

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24 Alexander Graham Bell

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25 John Adams

57 Robert E. Lee 58 John C. Calhoun 59 Louis Sullivan

91 Lyman Beecher 92 John Steinbeck 93 Nat Turner

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26 Walt Disney

u0 27 Eli Whitney

60 William Faulkner 61 Samuel Gompers

94 George Eastman 95 Sam Goldwyn

f 28 Dwight Eisenhower

62 William James

96 Ralph Nader

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29 Earl Warren 30 Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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63 George Marshall 64 Jane Addams 65 Henry David Thoreau

97 Stephen Foster 98 Booker T. Washington 99 Richard Nixon

E5 32 Albert Einstein

66 Elvis Presley

100 Herman Melville

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33 Ralph Waldo Emerson

67 P. T. Barnum

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1: 34 Jonas Salk

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68 James D. Watson

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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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