Kindergarden Read - Aloud

Presidents and American Symbols: Supplemental Guide 8B | Barack Obama 137

Extensions 15 minutes

Sayings and Phrases: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

Note: Proverbs are short, traditional sayings that have been passed

along orally from generation to generation. These sayings usually

express general truths based on experiences and observations of

everyday life. Although some proverbs do have literal meanings— that

is, they mean exactly what they say—many proverbs have a richer

meaning beyond the literal level. It is important to help students

understand the difference between the literal meanings of the words

and their implied, or figurative, meanings.

• Ask students if they have ever heard anyone say “where there’s a will,
  there’s a way.” Have students repeat the saying with you three times.


• Tell students that in this saying will means the desire to do or get
  something you really want. Explain that this proverb is another way of
  saying that when you want something really badly and don’t give up,
  you will find a way to get it.


• Remind students that President Obama had the will or desire to be
  president of the United States. Ask students: “Do you think it is easy
  to become the president of the United States?” Remind students that
  Obama studied hard in school and got a good education so that he would
  be able to have a job where he could help people. He worked hard to
  help others. Then he became a senator (or leader of a state). Finally, he
  was elected to be the president of the United States. President Obama
  accomplished his goal of becoming president because that’s what he
  really wanted—“where there’s a will, there’s a way.”


• Ask students if they can think of times when they or someone they
  know kept on trying even though it was hard, and, in the end, things
  worked out for them. Ask two or three students to provide examples
  using the saying.


• Any day that your class has worked hard or persevered and worked
  through a solution to a tough problem, be sure to use the saying to
  describe their efforts.

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