U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently sent a message to school principals telling them about a televised speech Obama will deliver Sept. 8 to the nation?s public school students. It?s supposed to be a back-to-school kick-off from the president.

Free Republican has the text of the letter, which in part reads:

This is the first time an American president has spoken directly to the nation?s school children about persisting and succeeding in school. We encourage you to use this historic moment to help your students get focused and begin the school year strong. I encourage you, your teachers, and students to join me in watching the President deliver this address on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. It will be broadcast live on the White House website www.whitehouse.gov at 1:00 p.m. eastern standard time.

In advance of this address, we would like to share the following resources: a menu of classroom activities for students in grades preK-6 and for students in grades 7-12. These are ideas developed by and for teachers to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education in their lives. We are also staging a student video contest on education. Details of the video contest will be available on our website www.ed.gov in the coming weeks.[Emphasis mine].

Classroom activities like this and this?