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Obama’s Inauguration Seen as Teachable Moment

As school marching bands and student groups from Florida to Washington state head to the nation’s capital for what is expected to be one of the largest gatherings ever for a presidential inauguration, teachers across the country are preparing learning activities that connect the historic events with class content and civic goals.

Thousands of students and educators are slated to take part in events in Washington, including the traditional parade, a youth conference, and inaugural balls. Many more are likely to watch from their classrooms and auditoriums Tuesday as Barack Obama is sworn in as the first African-American president of the United States.

The halls and classrooms of Democracy Prep Charter School in New York City’s Harlem have been bustling for weeks in preparation for the day. Some three dozen of Democracy Prep’s 300 students will kick off the school’s inaugural program today when they travel to Washington to recite the “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, as the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. did more than 45 years ago. Back home, the school will host an assembly for 6,000 local students and community members to observe the Jan. 20 swearing-in, a culmination of a semester of civic lessons...