The United States has a new president.
Donald Trump was “sworn in” or “inaugurated” last Friday as the country’s 45th president. That means he was officially given the job, and Barack Obama is no longer the president of the United States.
Trump gave a speech, which he said he wrote himself (as opposed to having a speech-writer), saying that he’s going to put the American people first. He said his presidency marks a big change in the way the United States will be run.
“Jan. 17, 2017, will be known as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again,” he said.
Donald Trump is not a politician. He is a businessman who recently headed up a reality TV show, The Apprentice. In his speech, he said the US is now out of the hands of politicians and will now be represented by someone who will stand up for average Americans. However, some people worry that his definition about what an average American is, doesn’t include women, gays, non-Whites, non-Christians, people who need healthcare and many other types of people. That’s because, in the past, he has talked about taking away services or even some rights from those groups.
While tens of thousands of Trump-supporters watched the inauguration, protests took place in New York and near the inauguration in Washington, DC. Some of the protests grew violent, with some people smashing store windows and cars, and some threw bricks at police.
On Saturday, the day after Trump’s inauguration, millions of (mostly) women around the world held protest marches; it was known as the Women’s March. They say they are worried that President Trump doesn’t respect women and may not help them, as President. (Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has often publicly said that he is a feminist.)
Shortly after Trump’s inauguration on Friday, Barack Obama sent out a tweet saying that, as a private citizen, he and Michelle Obama are starting up a new organization called The Obama Foundation. Its job will be to ask the public for good ideas and suggestions about how to improve the country, and then help to put those projects in place. But first, the Obamas said, they’re going to sleep in and get some rest!
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
The Women’s March brought together millions of people around the world who were speaking up for women’s and minorities’ rights. As the article explains, “They say they are worried that President Trump doesn’t respect women and may not help them, as President. (Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has often publicly said that he is a feminist.)”. What does it mean to be a feminist? Write your own definition and then compare it to the definition in a dictionary. Are you a feminist?
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
The Obama Foundation is calling on the public for good ideas and suggestions about how to make the United States better. Reflect on your own country and think of one idea or suggestion that might make your country better. Who could you share this idea with in order to make it come to life?
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME: Reading, 1.6).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME: Reading, 1.6).
Language Feature: Synonyms
There are many words that mean “to say.” For instance, “declares” was used in this article. What other words can you think of, for “said”?
