American Presidents

Daily Question:  Do you know a U.S. President?  Responses to this included President Monson and "the Prophet!" 

Toys:  Spaghetti Dolls, Potato Heads, Puzzles, and Traffic Town Rug and vehicles

We celebrate Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln  birthdays this month.

Snack:

Show N' Teach:  
Eva brought in money to teach us about Presidents today!  Eva has four pennies which she showed us.  We liked seeing Abraham Lincoln's picture on the front and looking at the back. She also brought in a Quarter (with George Washington's picture on the front and a picture of the Bald Eagle spreading his wings on the back).  We reviewed the value of each coin and talked about the men on the front of the coins. 

 
















A quarter (George Washington) and a penny (Abraham Lincoln).(Coloring page?)

Circle Time: 
The children enjoyed hearing about George Washington.  He was born on February 22, 

1. George Washington started school (was homeschooled from 6-15) when he was six years old. He left school at 15 to become a surveyor because his mother couldn't afford to send him to college.
2. At 26, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow who already had two children, Jackie and Patsy. Washington never had any children of his own.
3. At six feet, two inches tall, and 200 pounds, he was one of our biggest presidents.
4. Some of his favorite dishes were cream of peanut soup, mashed sweet potatoes with coconut, and string beans with mushrooms.
5. He bred hound dogs that he treated like members of the family. He gave some of them unusual names: Tarter, True Love, and Sweet Lips.
6. Toothaches bothered him for years. When he was 57, he had all his teeth pulled. From then on, he wore ivory false teeth set in a silver plate.
7. Although he helped plan the nation's new capital city that was named for him, he never lived there. New York City and, later, Philadelphia were the nation's capitals while he was president.

 Abraham Lincoln Fun Facts--Born Feb. 12
 

     In 1818 Abraham Lincoln nearly died after being kicked in the head
             by a horse.

     It was President Abraham Lincoln who proclaimed that there be a national
             Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November. He proclaimed this
             on October 3, 1863.

     Abraham Lincoln is the tallest president the United States has ever had.
             He stood 6 feet 4 inches tall. When he wore his stovepipe hat, he stood
              nearly 7 feet tall!

     Abraham Lincoln was granted a patent on a device that lifts boats over
             shoals, and he is the only president ever to hold a patent.

     Abraham Lincoln would keep notes and important papers in his stove-
             pipe hat.

     In 1860 a little girl named Grace Bedell from Westfield, New York wrote a
             letter to Abraham Lincoln asking him to grow a beard. She told him the
             beard would help him be elected as President of the United States. By the
             he was elected President he had a full beard. ***Lincoln was the first
             President of the United States to wear a beard.

     President Lincoln was our first U. S. President to be born outside of the
             original thirteen colonies.
 

     Today there are no direct descendents of Abraham Lincoln.
 

     There are many coincidences between Abraham Lincoln and John F.
            Kennedy.  Here are three we think are very interesting:

• Their Vice Presidents, both named Johnson, were southern Democrats, and both were in the Senate.
• Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy, Kennedy's was named Lincoln.
• Both of their secretaries warned them that they should not go to the place they were assassinated.

     Frederick Douglass visited President Lincoln at the White House after
             Lincoln was inaugurated into office.

     Abraham Lincoln helped begin the Republican Party.

     Abraham Lincoln's likeness has been featured on more than 50 U.S. Postage
             stamps. The latest is a set of four released in February, 2009.  These four
             depict Lincoln as a rail-splitter, lawyer, politician, and President.

Geaorge Washington's Hat:
Abraham Lincoln's Book:
Money Handout:

We enjoyed talking and reading about United States Presidents. Vocabulary words today included: President, United Sates of America (U.S.), America, leader, ruler, and country. We enjoyed listening to George Washington and the General's Dog.



Valentine Activity: 

We are decorating our Valentine bags today in class.

Books on Presidents:
(New)President's Day by David F. Marx (Rookie Reader)
Abe Lincoln's Hat by Martha Brenner and Donald Cook
George Washington: Our First President by Garnet Jackson

The Children's Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett; George Washington & the Cherry Tree, pg. 83
George Washington; Soldier, Hero, President by Justine and Ron Fontes (DK, 3)
Meet George Washington by Joan Heilbroner
George Washington and the General's Dog by Frank Murphy, Ill. by Richard Walz (St. 2)
Presidents Time For Learning by Melissa Blackwell Burke (Pull out poster)
America: The Making of a Nation (Little, Brown) Interactive book*
The New Big Book of U.S. Presidents by Marc Frey and Todd Davis