Presidents Day Writing Activity Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
Presidents' Day Writing Lesson Objective: To write about Presidents' Day. Materials: Picture of George (template included) Picture of (template included) Presidents Day writing page (template included) Picture of the Monument (template included) Pictures of the Memorial (template included) Cut-outs of George & (template included) 1. Read a book about the meaning of Presidents Day like Presidents Day by David F. Marx (2002. New York: Scholastic) or read a short book about George and. 2. Share some history about George. Part of the history about George should be a review of the previous week s lessons. Spend extra time learning about. 3. Display pictures of George and (template in Activity Sheets for the Week). George 4. Discuss some of the following information that the two Presidents have in common: George and were both famous and important Presidents of the United States of America. George was the first President and was the 16 th President. Important wars in the U.S. history helped make both presidents famous. a. George helped win the American Revolution and helped win the Civil War. b. The American Revolution helped the colonies win their freedom from Great Britain.
c. The Civil War helped the African-Americans win their freedom from slavery. Both Presidents George and were known for their courage and honesty. a. George was the 1 st President of the United States of American and was known for his honesty and guidance in establishing the United States of American. When George was only 21 years old, he became a successful officer during his first military experience in the French and Indian War. In 1775, Congress chose him to be in charge of the American troops in the American Revolution in which the colonies battled against Great Britain for their freedom. After the Revolutionary War, General George retired to his home in Mount Vernon. Since the colonies were now becoming an independent country, a group of colonists came together to establish the Constitutional Convention. They gathered to draw up the guidelines for the government of the United States of America. This Constitutional Convention elected George as their president. As president of the Constitutional Convention, George helped its members draw up a constitution that would establish the rules for the new government. This government decided that it would have a President to help guide the country in making important decisions for the people Since the citizens of this young country knew and admired George, he was elected the first President of the United States of America. guided the formation of the new government which has lasted over 200 years with honesty and strength. b. was the 16 th President of the United States of American. He was known as the President who rid the country of slavery. When he won the Presidential race, seven states seceded (or broke) away from the United States. They wanted slavery and decided to make their own country. They called this country The Confederate States of America. President begged these southern states to come back and become one country again. The southern states answered President by firing on Fort Sumter in South Carolina on April 12, 1861.
sent troops to stop the fighting. Four more states joined the South and decided not to be a part of the United States of America. Four years of fighting followed. In January 1863, President declared the slaves to be free citizens in a document known as the Emancipation Proclamation. was assassinated for his beliefs. He was shot on April 14, 1865 and died the next day. The fighting continued until the northern states won the Civil War in May of 1865. was a very courageous President who stood up for his beliefs. George and both have a monument built in their honor in, DC. Display a picture of the monuments (template in Activities for the Week). Monument Memorial The Monument is 555 feet tall or about as tall as a 55 story building. The stone in the monument weighs 82,421 tons which is about the same weight as 40,000 garbage trucks. The monument is built out of white marble from around the United States. The memorial was built to be grand, elegant, and important like George. The Memorial was designed like a Greek Temple with 36 columns that symbolize the number of states at s death. On the South wall is a famous speech by known as the Gettysburg Address. a. delivered this speech during the Civil War on the fields of battle in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. b. It is a famous three-minute speech about the equality of all people. A statue of is in this building.
On the wall is a mural of an angel that represents truth. The angel is freeing a slave. 5. Distribute Presidents Day writing page and the cut-outs of the two Presidents (template in Activity Sheets for the Week). Cut-Outs of the Presidents George 6. Suggest that students may want to draw the monuments to the men on their page, cut-out and glue the pictures of them (template in Activity Sheets for the Week), or simply illustrate their own ideas at the top of the writing page. 7. Students write about what they learned about this holiday. Move among students asking them to tell you what they wrote. If a student is beginning to use appropriate phonetics, you may want to jot down what the students says that he/she wrote. I usually write this info on the back of the page with pencil for my own use at a later time. I ask them if I can write myself a note for later on the back of their paper. They usually agree. Sometimes I will write their words on a Post-It note to place on their writing page at a later time. This note writing is only important if the student is beginning to use his/her sound-print association but the writing cannot be discerned without the Post-It reminder. In this way, I can track a particular student s phonetic improvement. 8. Writers share their work. One or two members of the listening audience should give positive feedback to the writer. This feedback should be specific. For example, I like the part where you described the building as being as bigger than a football field. Constantly model positive specific feedback rather than generic praise like I like your writing. Writers need to know exactly what the writer enjoyed about his/her writing. By knowing exactly what the listener/reader enjoyed about their writing, the author will continue to develop his/her craft.
George (Presidents Day Pictures of Presidents)
( Monument) (Photo: Deborah Robinson)
( Memorial) (Photo; Deborah Robinson)
( Memorial Statue) (Photo: Deborah Robinson)
(Presidents Day Writing Page)
George George George George George George (Cut-Outs for Presidents Day Writing Page)