President's Day!

I love President's Day! Maybe it is because I used to be a history teacher, maybe it is because my kids are really interested in history....Whatever the reason, I was really looking forward to President's Day this year.

Beginning last week we started reading books about the Presidents. We made a Venn Diagram comparing Abe Lincoln and George Washington. We looked at money and talked about the presidents on the face side. In Writer's Workshop, students wrote about what they would do if they were president. It was a riot.
-I would walk my dog and look in the (tele)scope. -I would have a butler and maid. -I would make the rules so you had to go to school. Even if you had a million dollars, you have to go to school. -I would help people with their problems. (Her drawing totally looked like a psychiatrists office!) -I would fight in the army. -I would make the rules. -I would make speeches. -I would buy a hot tub!
*Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of these.

My all time favorite project is making toilet paper roll presidents. My husband (a U.S. history teacher) makes fun of these every year, but I still think they are pretty cool! I let students pick Abe or George. They make a president using a template from DLTK learning (here's Lincoln, here's Washington) and a toilet paper roll. They love these! I make them write at least three complete sentences with facts about their chosen president. They love their guy so much that they usually end up writing more! These turned out great! P.S. For some reason Washington has no legs on the DLTK site. I just have my kids make them....but I just noticed that my example is legless! LOL!


Okay....so here are the pictures of their handiwork.

George is pretty good. It says: My President is George Washington. He is nice. He was born February 22, 1732. He lived on a farm. He was a President of the U.S.A. He wore a wig. He wore a black suit. (He may have written about the color of the suit becasue I told the kids I only wanted to see traditional suit colors. I pointed out that Presidents don't wear orange or purple suits. I don't want to stifle creativity...but the history teacher in me just can't stand crazy colors on historical figures! HA HA)

I LOVE the Abe Lincoln paper. It says: My President is Abraham Lincoln. He was a good guy. And he is my favorite president! He put very important papers in his BIG tall hat! I don't like him I LOVE him as a president! I am very glad he died because he can be with God. It really doesn't get any better than that! This girl worked on her paper meticulously. She really thought about where to put exclamation points and were to put words in all caps. She told me all about her choices during her writing conference. I LOVE IT!

Finally, we finished up today by reading Abe Lincoln's Hat. Then we made hats and put facts about old Abe inside. The kids LOVED their hats! I thought it was hilarious watching the kids trying to balance their top hats as they walked out the door at the end of the day! :) Happy President's Day!!!