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trengthen map-reading skills and geography concepts, and
spark students’ interest in our country’s leaders, with this
ongoing activity. Display a large, detailed U.S. map at children’s
eye level. Post chart paper nearby and a list of all the presidents.
Challenge children to locate and list as many places as they can
that bear the name of a president. Have them record their findings
on the chart paper and mark the spots on the map with small stickynotes. (They can sign their names to the notes.)
Sue Lorey
MATH, SOCIAL STUDIES
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What do your students know about George Washington? They may know
that he was the first president and that his picture is on a coin. But when
they imagine him, do they see a man who was 6 feet 2 inches tall with size
13 feet? Bring in a pair of size 13 shoes. Let children trace around them,
then take off their own shoes and step inside. Ask: How long do you think
Washington’s feet were? Measure them to find out. Then have children trace
and measure their own feet. How much bigger were Washington’s?
SOCIAL STUDIES, LANGUAGE ARTS
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Spark students’ interest in presidential history by posing a “Mystery History”
challenge each day. Set up an eye-catching display area to post the challenge.
Provide assorted resources for locating information, and a box for children to
place their answers in. Sample Mystery History challenges include:
Who was the tallest president?
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Which president was closest to your height?
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Name a president who was born in the state of [ ].
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What is the most common first name for a president?
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Strengthen math skills with a math mat activity that connects money
and presidents.
Glue a picture of George Washington to a paper plate and label it 25¢.
Place a quarter and a jar of pennies (more than 25) at a center along
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with the paper plates. Let children visit the center, inviting them to
count out the number of pennies it takes to equal 25 cents and place
them on the paper plate with Lincoln’s picture.
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coins. Let them learn more about presidents and money by
making these self-checking riddle boards.
Give pairs of children two sheets of 4- by 4-inch posterboard
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and two of the same coin. Have children examine their coins
closely, noting as many details as they can.
Have children write their facts in the form of clues on one sheet
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their coins—one heads-up, one tails-up—to the other sheet.
Show children how to place the clues on top of the coins and
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then tape the top edges together. (The clues can then be lifted
then to reveal the coins inside.)
Display the riddles. Let students read the clues for different coins,
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Glue a picture of Abraham Lincoln to a paper plate and label it 1¢.
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urprise! Abe Lincoln kept notes stuffed
in his stovepipe hat to remind him about
important dates (and so he wouldn’t lose the
notes). Let children make their own stovepipe
hats out of black construction paper. Have
students tape notes about Abe to the outside of
the hat. Let children wear their hats as they wander about the room,
reading one another’s facts. Follow up by letting each child share one
new thing he or she learned.
Frank Murphy
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Read about a young girl who wrote Lincoln to convince him to grow a
beard. (He did!) After sharing this true story with students, you may find
that they are inspired to make their own requests of the current President.
(See Computer Connection, page 173.) For more on the sixteenth president,
share the anecdote-rich Abe Lincoln’s Hat by Martha Brenner (Random
House, 1994).
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Abraham Lincoln’s life was full of big changes—including
going from living in a log cabin as a boy to living in the
White House as president! What are some of the ways
students’ lives are different from Abe’s life as a boy? Use
pages 175 and 176 to make mini-books that compare
everyday life then and now. Have students complete each
mini-book page, then add a cover and bind.
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tart by asking children if they know what the “White House”
is. Share a picture of it and ask: <K\GR\RXWKLQNLWLVFDOOHG
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example, some of the rooms are named after colors: There is a Green
Room, Blue Room, and Red Room. One room is named after a shape:
the Oval Office. Two bedrooms are named after people: the Lincoln
Bedroom and the Queen’s Bedroom. Let children design their own
versions of the White House. Encourage them to show both interior
and exterior views of the house and its rooms, and be sure they write
or dictate labels for them. When finished, gather as a group and let
children share their new visions for 1611 Pennsylvania Avenue!
Rita Galloway
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Which president enjoyed quilting? Which one weighed only 100 pounds?
Who had two pet goats? Learn what the presidents were like in their
everyday lives—what they ate, what they did for fun, and more.
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500+ Fabulous Month-by-Month Teaching Ideas © Scholastic Teaching Resources
Did you know that one of our nation’s presidents helped to give one of our
country’s most popular toys its name? Share this story to trace the history of
the teddy bear and to discover more about Teddy Roosevelt, including his
many pets (kangaroo rats, birds, dogs, squirrels, kittens, even a pony!).
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Plan a no-cook buffet to let children sample favorite foods of the presidents.
Begin by asking: What foods do you think a president might eat? Some
surprising presidential preferences have included turtle (Theodore Roosevelt),
egg sandwiches (Franklin D. Roosevelt), and prune whip (Dwight D.
Eisenhower). For no-cook presidential foods your students can help prepare,
see the list that follows. (To learn more about presidents’ favorite foods—and
other things about their everyday lives—see Book Break, page 21, Lives of the
Presidents.)
Ulysses S. Grant liked cucumbers in vinegar for breakfast.
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Lyndon B. Johnson loved chipped beef and bread for breakfast.
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John Adams enjoyed cider.
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Richard Nixon was partial to pineapple rings with cottage cheese.
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Gerald R. Ford favored strawberries.
Zx
Ronald Reagan’s usual breakfast was bran cereal. He also enjoyed
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popcorn and, of course, jelly beans.
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fter learning about presidents and their families, graph
information to help students make comparisons and draw
conclusions. (The type of graph you use will depend on the data
gathered.) Ideas for graphing include:
How many children did each president have?
Zx
How many presidents were married when they were elected?
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How many presidents had a cat for a pet?
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How many had a dog?
How many presidents went to college?
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Which states were the presidents born in?
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Jan Armstrong Freitag
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